Scirtoidea is a
superfamily of
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
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
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
The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Вос ...
,
Eucinetidae
Eucinetidae is a family (biology), 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 ...
and
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 near ...
.
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 ...
. 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,
Barremian
The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 125.77 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma (Historically, this stage was placed at 129.4 million to approximately 125 million years ago) It is a ...
References
External links
Tree of Life
Beetle superfamilies
{{Scirtoidea-stub