Scarabaeoidea Explained

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.^[1] Its constituent families are also undergoing revision presently, and the family list below is only preliminary. This superfamily includes some of the largest beetles extant today, including rhinoceros beetles, (Dynastinae), the Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) and Goliath beetles (Goliathus sp.).

The oldest confirmed member of the group is the extinct genus Alloioscarabaeus from the Middle Jurassic period Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China.^[2]

Families

The following families are listed in Bouchard (2011):

• Belohinidae Paulian, 1959
• Diphyllostomatidae Holloway, 1972 (false stag beetles)
• Geotrupidae Latreille, 1802 (earth-boring dung beetles)
• Glaphyridae MacLeay, 1819 (bumble bee scarab beetles)
• Glaresidae Kolbe, 1905 (enigmatic scarab beetles)
• Hybosoridae Erichson, 1847 (scavenging scarab beetles)
  • inclusive of Ceratocanthidae (pill scarab beetles)
• Lucanidae Latreille 1804 (stag beetles)
• Ochodaeidae Mulsant and Rey 1871 (sand-loving scarab beetles)
• Passalidae Leach, 1815 (bess beetles)
• Pleocomidae LeConte 1861 (rain beetles)
• Scarabaeidae Latreille 1802 (scarab beetles)
• Trogidae MacLeay 1819 (hide beetles)
• † Coprinisphaeridae Genise, 2004 (ichnotaxon)
• † Pallichnidae Genise, 2004 (ichnotaxon)
• † Passalopalpidae Boucher, et al., 2016

See also

• List of subgroups of the order Coleoptera

In Peru alone, there are 1042 known species of Scarabaeoidea as of 2015.^[3] This is due to Peru's high biodiversity and endemism.

External links

• Checklist of the Scarabaeoidea of the Nearctic Realm (2003)
• Scarabs of the Levant
• Scarabaeoidea Movies from Tree of Life Project
• Scarabeoidea of Italy

Notes and References

1. 32 . Zootaxa . 1–48 . 2002 . A checklist of the Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) of Panama . Brett C. Ratcliffe .
2. Bai . Ming . Ahrens . Dirk . Yang . Xing-Ke . Ren . Dong . April 2012 . New fossil evidence of the early diversification of scarabs: Alloioscarabaeus cheni (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China: New fossil evidence of scarabs from China . Insect Science . en . 19 . 2 . 159–171 . 10.1111/j.1744-7917.2011.01460.x. 54930162 . free .
3. 10.2317/kent-88-02-186-207.1 . Beetles (Coleoptera) of Peru: A Survey of the Families. Scarabaeoidea . 2015 . Ratcliffe . B. C. . Jameson . M. L. . Figueroa . L. . Cave . R. D. . Paulsen . M. J. . Cano . Enio B. . Beza-Beza . C. . Jimenez-Ferbans . L. . Reyes-Castillo . P. . Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society . 88 . 2 . 186–207 .