Results for Polyphaga
On this page:
 
(pə′lif·ə·gə)

(invertebrate zoology) A suborder of the order Coleoptera; members are distinguished by not having the hind coxae fused to the metasternum and by lacking notopleural sutures.


 
 
Wikipedia: Polyphaga
Polyphaga
Milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus
Milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Emery, 1886
Infraorders

Bostrichiformia
Cucujiformia
Elateriformia
Scarabaeiformia
Staphyliniformia

Wikispecies-logo.svg
Wikispecies has information related to:

Polyphaga is the largest and most diverse suborder of beetles. Polyphaga comprises 144 families in 16 superfamilies, and displays an enormous variety of specialization and adaptation, with over 300,000 described species, or approximately 90% of the beetle species so far discovered.

Classification

There are 5 infraorders :

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, Staphylinoidea, Scarabaeoidea, Buprestoidea, Byrrhoidea, Elateroidea, and Bostrichoidea.

The infraorder Cucujiformia includes the vast majority of phytophagous (plant-eating) beetles, united by cryptonephric Malpighian tubules of the normal type, a cone ommatidium with open rhabdom, and lack of functional spiracles on the eighth abdominal segment. Constituent superfamilies of Cucujiformia are Cleroidea, Cucujoidea, Tenebrionoidea, Chrysomeloidea, and Curculionoidea. Evidently adoption of a phytophagous lifestyle correlates with speciosity in beetles, with Cucujiformia, especially weevils (Curculionoidea), forming a major radiation.

References

  • Peter S. Cranston and Penny J. Gullan, University of California,Phylogeny of Insects, page 893.

External links


 
 

Join the WikiAnswers Q&A community. Post a question or answer questions about "Polyphaga" at WikiAnswers.

 

Copyrights:

Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Polyphaga" Read more

Search for answers directly from your browser with the FREE Answers.com Toolbar!  
Click here to download now. 

Get Answers your way! Check out all our free tools and products.

On this page:   E-mail   print Print  Link  

 

Keep Reading

Mentioned In: