Scirtoidea 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 insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s. It is traditionally considered to consist of four families:

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.< ...

, Decliniidae,

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 ...

and

Scirtidae Scirtidae is a Taxonomic rank, 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 plan ...

. However, genetic studies have suggested that Clambidae and Eucinetidae belong to a separate superfamily Clamboidea, which also includes

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 ...

. Scirtoidea and Clamboidea are the two earliest diverging lineages of living polyphagans. Two extinct families have also been assigned to this group: *† Mesocinetidae Kirejtshuk and Ponomarenko 2010 Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (Asia) *† Elodophthalmidae Kirejtshuk and Azar 2008 monotypic,

Lebanese amber Lebanese amber is fossilized resin found in Lebanon and southwest Syria. It dates back approximately 130-125 million years to the Barremian of the Early Cretaceous. It formed on what was then the northern coast of Gondwana, believed to be a tropi ...

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is precede ...

References

External links

Tree of Life
Beetle superfamilies {{Scirtoidea-stub