Byrrhidae, the pill beetles, is a
family of
beetles in the superfamily
Byrrhoidea
Byrrhoidea is a superfamily of beetles belonging to Elateriformia that includes several families which are either aquatic or associated with a semi-aquatic habitat. Other than the superfamily Hydrophiloidea, most of the remaining Polyphagan beetle ...
. They are generally found in damp habitats within cooler-high latitude regions of both hemispheres. Most byrhhids feed on moss, lichens and algae, though some species feed on vascular plants.
[Maier, Crystal A., Lawrence, John F. and Leschen, Richard A. B.. "Byrrhidae Latreille, 1804: Coleoptera, Beetles". ''Handbook of Zoology Online'', edited by Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016.] The oldest undoubted record of the family is ''
Lidryops'' from the earliest Late Cretaceous
Charentese amber of France, with other less certain records going back to the Middle Jurassic, but these possibly belong to Byrrhoidea. There around 500 extant species in 40 genera.
Taxonomy
There are about 450 species in this family.
[Lawrence, J. F., Slipinski, A., Jaeger, O., & Pütz, A. (2013)]
The Australian Byrrhinae (Coleoptera: Byrrhidae) with descriptions of new genera and species.
''Zootaxa'' 3745(3), 301-29.
Genera include:
Byrrhidae.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
*'' Amphycyrta''
*'' Arctobyrrhus''
*'' Byrrhus''
*'' Chaetophora''
*'' Curimopsis''
*''Cytilus
''Cytilus'' is a genus of pill beetles in the family Byrrhidae. There are about eight described species in ''Cytilus''.
Species
These eight species belong to the genus ''Cytilus'':
* ''Cytilus alternatus'' (Say, 1825)
* ''Cytilus auricomus'' (D ...
''
*''Eusomalia
''Eusomalia'' is a genus of pill beetles in the family Byrrhidae
Byrrhidae, the pill beetles, is a family of beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are ...
''
*''Exomella
''Exomella'' is a genus of pill beetles in the family Byrrhidae
Byrrhidae, the pill beetles, is a family of beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are h ...
''
*''Lioligus
''Lioligus'' is a genus of pill beetles in the family Byrrhidae
Byrrhidae, the pill beetles, is a family of beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are h ...
''
*'' Lioon''
*''Listemus
''Listemus'' is a genus of pill beetles in the family Byrrhidae. There are at least four described species in ''Listemus''.
Species
These four species belong to the genus ''Listemus'':
* ''Listemus acuminatus'' (Mannerheim, 1852)
* ''Listemus fo ...
''
*'' Morychus''
*''Porcinolus
''Porcinolus'' is a genus of pill beetles in the family Byrrhidae. There are at least three described species in ''Porcinolus''.
Species
These three species belong to the genus ''Porcinolus'':
* ''Porcinolus crescentifer'' Casey
* ''Porcinolus h ...
''
*'' Sierraclava''
*'' Simplocaria''
References
External links
*
*
Polyphaga families
{{Byrrhidae-stub