Helotidae is a family 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 insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s, in the suborder Polyphaga. The family includes about five extant genera, ''Helota'' MacLeay, ''Neohelota'' Ohta, ''Afrohelotina'' Kirejtshuk, ''Metahelotella'' Kirejtshuk, and ''Strophohelota'' Kirejtshuk. Helotidae are found mainly in the Old World tropics and are absent from Australia and Madagascar. The antennae are clubbed on the final three segments and is retractable within grooves under the head. The wings have reduced venation with just 4 anal veins. Helotids are known to be associated with sap, fruit and flowers, and the larvae of some species are known to bore into wood in order to pupate. A few fossil genera have been described including ''Palaeohelota'' from the Lower Cretaceous ( Aptian)

Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation (; formerly transcribed as Yihsien Formation) is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans the late Barremian and early Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. It is known for its exq ...

in China, ''Burmahelota,'' ''Metahelotella'' and ''Trihelota'' from the Upper Cretaceous ( Cenomanian)

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...

of Northern Myanmar. Another fossil genus ''Laodiscis'' placed in this family originally is now considered of uncertain taxonomic position.

References

Additional sources

* Ritsema C. (1915) '' A systematic catalogue of the Coleopterous family Helotidae in the Leiden Museum''

Zoologische Mededelingen ''Zoologische Mededelingen'' was a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal publishing papers and monographs on animal systematics. The publisher was the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis in the Netherlands. The first issue appear ...

, Vol. 1 P. 125-13
PDF
* Wegrzynowicz P. (2000) ''Catalogue of the Helotidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea)'',

, Vol. 73 P. 391-41
PDF
Cucujoidea families {{Cucujoidea-stub