Polyphaga is the largest and most diverse

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s. It comprises 144 families in 16 superfamilies, and displays an enormous variety of specialization and adaptation, with over 350,000 described species, or approximately 90% of the beetle species so far discovered. Key characteristics of Polyphaga are that the hind coxa (base of the leg) does not divide the first and second abdominal/ventral plates which are known as

sternites The sternum (pl. "sterna") is the ventral portion of a segment of an arthropod thorax or abdomen. In insects, the sterna are usually single, large sclerites, and external. However, they can sometimes be divided in two or more, in which case the ...

. Also, the

notopleural The notopleuron (plural notopleura) is a region on an insect thorax. Notopleura are useful in characterizing species, particularly, though not uniquely, in the Order Diptera (the "true flies"). The notopleuron is a thoracic pleurite (a sclerite ...

suture (found under the pronotal shield) is not present.

Etymology

The name of ''polyphaga'' is derived from two Greek words: , meaning 'many', and , meaning 'to eat', so the suborder is called the “eaters of many things”.

Classification

The five main infraorders are: *

Bostrichiformia Bostrichiformia is an infraorder of polyphagan beetles. It contains two superfamilies, Derodontoidea and Bostrichoidea, which includes the Dermestidae, Ptinidae, Bostrichidae The Bostrichidae are a family of beetles with more than 700 desc ...

— including

furniture beetle The common furniture beetle or common house borer (''Anobium punctatum'') is a woodboring beetle originally from Europe but now distributed worldwide. In the larval stage it bores in wood and feeds upon it. Adult ''Anobium punctatum'' measure in ...

s and

skin beetle Dermestidae are a family of Coleoptera that are commonly referred to as skin beetles. Other common names include larder beetle, hide or leather beetles, carpet beetles, and khapra beetles. There are over 1,100 species described. Dermestids have ...

s *

Cucujiformia Cucujiformia is an infraorder of polyphagan beetles, representing most plant-eating beetles. The infraorder contains the seven superfamilies: * Chrysomeloidea (~7 families including longhorn beetles and leaf beetles) * Cleroidea (checkered beet ...

— includes

lady beetle Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...

longhorn beetle The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and Herbivore, herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They b ...

checkered beetle Cleridae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. They are commonly known as checkered beetles. The family Cleridae has a worldwide distribution, and a variety of habitats and feeding preferences. Cleridae have many niches and feed ...

s and

leaf beetle The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle ...

s *

Elateriformia Elateriformia is an infraorder of polyphagan beetles. The two largest families in this group are buprestids, of which there are around 15,000 described species, and click beetles, of which there are around 10,000 described species. The infraor ...

— includes

click beetle Elateridae or click beetles (or "typical click beetles" to distinguish them from the related families Cerophytidae and Eucnemidae, which are also capable of clicking) are a family of beetles. Other names include elaters, snapping beetles, spr ...

s and

fireflies The Lampyridae are a family (biology), family of Elateroidea, elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are bioluminescence, light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, ...

Scarabaeiformia Scarabaeoidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of beetles, the only subgroup of the infraorder Scarabaeiformia. Around 35,000 species are placed in this superfamily and some 200 new species are described each year. Its constituent families are a ...

— includes

scarab beetle The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

stag beetle Stag beetles are a family of about 1,200 species of beetles in the family Lucanidae, currently classified in four subfamilies.Smith, A.B.T. (2006). A review of the family-group names for the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) with corrections ...

s, and

dung beetles Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...

Staphyliniformia Staphyliniformia is a large infraorder of beetles. It contains over 70,000 described species from all regions of the world. Most species occur in moist habitats - various kinds of rotting plant debris, fungi, dung, carrion, many live in fresh wat ...

— includes

rove beetle The rove beetles are a family (Staphylinidae) of beetles, primarily distinguished by their short elytra (wing covers) that typically leave more than half of their abdominal segments exposed. With roughly 63,000 species in thousands of genera, the ...

s and water scavenger beetles Phylogenetic studies have also suggested that Scirtoidea (

Scirtidae Scirtidae is a family of beetles ( Coleoptera). These beetles are commonly referred to as marsh beetles, as the larvae are typically associated with stagnant water, but can be found in flowing water. Adults prefer decomposing plant material nea ...

Decliniidae Decliniidae is a family of beetles belonging to Scirtoidea. It contains the single genus ''Declinia'' with two species, ''D. relicta'' and ''D. versicolor'', found in the Russian Far East and Japan, respectively. Little is known of their ecology, ...

), Clamboidea (

Clambidae Clambidae is a family of beetles. They are known commonly as the minute beetlesMajka, C. G., & Langor, D. (2009)Clambidae (Coleoptera) of Atlantic Canada.''Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society'' 5(7), 32-40. or the fringe-winged beetles.< ...

Derodontidae Derodontidae is a family of beetles, in its own superfamily, Derodontoidea, sometimes known as the tooth-necked fungus beetles. Beetles of this family are small, between 2 and 6 mm in length, typically with spiny margins on their pronotum (p ...

Eucinetidae Eucinetidae is a family of beetles, notable for their large coxal plates that cover much of the first ventrite of the abdomen, sometimes called plate-thigh beetles. The family is small for beetles, with about 50 species in 11 genera, but are ...

), ''

Rhinorhipus ''Rhinorhipus'' is a genus of beetles that contains a single species, ''Rhinorhipus tamborinensis'' from southern Queensland, Australia. It is the sole member of the family Rhinorhipidae and superfamily Rhinorhipoidea. It is an isolated lineage n ...

'' and

Nosodendridae Nosodendridae is a family of beetles, with only 67 species in three extant genera, which are found worldwide. '' Nosodendron'', the largest genus, is found in forests and attracted to yeast generated slime on the wounds of trees, and likely consu ...

are independent lineages of Polyphaga that lie outside these groups. The internal classification of Polyphaga involves several superfamilies or series, whose constituents are relatively stable, although some smaller families (whose rank even is disputed) are allocated to different clades by different authors. Large superfamilies include

Hydrophiloidea Hydrophiloidea, known as water scavenger beetles, is a superfamily of beetles. Until recently it included only a single family, the Hydrophilidae (water scavenger beetles), but several of the subfamilies have been removed and raised to family ra ...

Staphylinoidea Staphylinoidea is a superfamily of beetles. It is a very large and diverse group with worldwide distribution. Description Adult staphylinoids are generally small beetles no more than a few millimetres long, though Staphylinidae can reach 50 m ...

Scarabaeoidea Scarabaeoidea is a superfamily of beetles, the only subgroup of the infraorder Scarabaeiformia. Around 35,000 species are placed in this superfamily and some 200 new species are described each year. Its constituent families are also undergoing r ...

Buprestoidea Buprestoidea is a superfamily of beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insect ...

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 ...

Elateroidea The Elateroidea are a large superfamily of beetles. It contains the familiar click beetles, fireflies, and soldier beetles and their relatives. It consists of about 25,000 species. Description Elateroidea is a morphologically diverse group, i ...

, and

Bostrichoidea Bostrichoidea is a superfamily of beetles. It is the type superfamily of the infraorder Bostrichiformia. Description The Bostrichoidea are united by the following features: modified cryptonephridism, the structure of the aedeagus in males, and ...

. The infraorder

includes the vast majority of

phytophagous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpar ...

(plant-eating) beetles, united by cryptonephric

Malpighian tubule The Malpighian tubule system is a type of excretory and osmoregulatory system found in some insects, myriapods, arachnids and tardigrades. The system consists of branching tubules extending from the alimentary canal that absorbs solutes, water, ...

s of the normal type, a cone

ommatidium The compound eyes of arthropods like insects, crustaceans and millipedes are composed of units called ommatidia (singular: ommatidium). An ommatidium contains a cluster of photoreceptor cells surrounded by support cells and pigment cells. The ou ...

with open

rhabdom The compound eyes of arthropods like insects, crustaceans and millipedes are composed of units called ommatidia (singular: ommatidium). An ommatidium contains a cluster of photoreceptor cells surrounded by support cells and pigment cells. The ou ...

, and lack of functional

spiracle Spiracle or spiraculum may refer to: * Spiracle (arthropods), opening in the exoskeletons of some arthropods * Spiracle (vertebrates), openings on the surface of some vertebrates * Spiraculum, a genus of land snails in family Cyclophoridae Cycl ...

s on the eighth abdominal segment. Constituent superfamilies of Cucujiformia are

Cleroidea Cleroidea is a small superfamily of beetles containing over 10,000 species. Most of the members of the group are somewhat slender, often with fairly soft, flexible elytra, and typically hairy or scaly. Description Cleroidea is defined by the fo ...

Cucujoidea Cucujoidea is a superfamily of beetles. This group formerly included all of the families now included in the superfamily Coccinelloidea. They include some fungus beetles and a diversity of lineages of "bark beetles" unrelated to the "true" bark ...

Tenebrionoidea The Tenebrionoidea are a very large and diverse superfamily of beetles. It generally corresponds to the Heteromera of earlier authors. Taxonomy Tenebrionoidea contains the following families: * Aderidae Winkler 1927 (ant-like leaf beetles) * ...

Chrysomeloidea The Chrysomeloidea are an enormous superfamily of beetles, with tens of thousands of species. The largest families are Cerambycidae, long-horned beetles, with more than 35,000 species, and Chrysomelidae, leaf beetles, with more than 13,000 specie ...

, and

Curculionoidea Weevils are beetles belonging to the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and Herbivore, herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They b ...

. Evidently adoption of a phytophagous lifestyle correlates with taxon diversity in beetles, with Cucujiformia, especially

s (

), forming a major radiation.

References

External links

Phylogeny of Insects

Site devoted to Staphyliniformia

site devoted to stag beetles

news article highlighting the damage caused by Longhorn beetles
* Insect suborders {{Polyphaga-stub

Etymology

Classification

See also

References

External links