Cleroidea

Cleroidea
Cleroidea
Trogodendron fasciculatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Superfamily: Cleroidea
Latreille, 1802
Families

See text.
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:

  • Acanthocnemidae Crowson 1964
  • Chaetosomatidae Crowson 1952
  • Cleridae Latreille 1802 (checkered beetles)
  • Melyridae Leach 1815 (soft-winged flower beetles) (includes Malachiidae and Dasytidae)
  • Phloiophilidae Kiesenwetter 1863
  • Phycosecidae Crowson 1952
  • Prionoceridae Lacordaire 1857
  • Trogossitidae Latreille 1802 (bark-gnawing beetles)

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

External links


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