Encyclopedia of Life

Cleroidea

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Clerid beetle attacks lady beetle

Cleroidea is a small superfamily of beetles. Most of the members of the group are somewhat slender, often with fairly soft, flexible elytra, and typically hairy or scaly.

It contains about 10,000 species in the families^[1]:

Acanthocnemidae Crowson 1964
†Boleopsidae Kirejtshuk & Nel, 2013
Chaetosomatidae Crowson 1952
Cleridae Latreille 1802 (checkered beetles)
Mauroniscidae Majer, 1995
Melyridae Leach 1815 (soft-winged flower beetles) (includes Malachiidae and Dasytidae)
Metaxinidae Kolibáč, 2004
Phloiophilidae Kiesenwetter 1863
Phycosecidae Crowson 1952
Prionoceridae Lacordaire 1857
Thanerocleridae Chapin, 1924
Trogossitidae Latreille 1802 (bark-gnawing beetles)

The vast majority of species belong to the families Cleridae and Melyridae, followed by Trogossitidae.

References

^ Bouchard, P.; Bousquet, Y.; Davies, A.; Alonso-Zarazaga, M.; Lawrence, J.; Lyal, C.; Newton, A.; Reid, C.; Schmitt, M.; Ślipiński, A.; Smith, A. (2011). "Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta)". ZooKeys. 88 (88): 1–972. doi:10.3897/zookeys.88.807. PMC 3088472. PMID 21594053..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""'"'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}

Cleroidea

Brief Summary

Comprehensive Description

References