Elateroidea

Elateroidea
Denticollis linearis, a click beetle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Elateriformia
Superfamily:	Elateroidea Leach, 1815
Families
About 15-20, see text

The Elateroidea are a large superfamily of beetles. It contains the familiar click beetles, fireflies, and soldier beetles and their relatives.

Certain clusters of families within the superfamily are more strongly related to one another; for example, the Elateridae have close ties to the Anischiidae, Cerophytidae, Eucnemidae, and Throscidae, and some of these beetles can also "click".

Likewise, the Lampyridae are very closely related to the Drilidae, Omalisidae, Phengodidae (which includes Telegeusidae), and the doubtfully distinct Rhagophthalmidae; members of these families are also bioluminescent, at least as larvae. This group of families also includes many taxa whose females are larviform, though this is also known from a few other families in the superfamily.

The validity and relationships of some families, such as Podabrocephalidae, Rhagophthalmidae, and Rhinorhipidae, are not fully resolved.

Families

• Anischiidae
• Artematopodidae Lacordaire, 1857 – soft-bodied plant beetles (= Eurypogonidae)
• Brachypsectridae Leconte & Horn, 1883 – Texas beetles
• Cantharidae – soldier beetles
• Cerophytidae – rare click beetles
• Drilidae Blanchard, 1845
• Elateridae – click beetles (including Ampedidae, Dicronychidae, Lissomidae, Prosternidae, Protelateridae, Pyrophoridae, Synaptidae)
• Eucnemidae Eschscholtz, 1829 – false click beetles (including Perothopidae)
• Lampyridae – firefly beetles
• Lycidae – net-winged beetles
• Omalisidae Lacordaire, 1857 (= Homalisidae, Omalysidae)
• Omethidae LeConte, 1861 – false firefly beetles
• Phengodidae LeConte 1861 – glowworm beetles (including Telegeusidae)
• Plastoceridae Crowson, 1972
• Podabrocephalidae Pic, 1930
• Rhagophthalmidae (sometimes in Phengodidae, might belong in Lampyridae)
• Rhinorhipidae Lawrence, 1988
• Throscidae Laporte, 1840 – false metallic wood-boring beetles (= Balgidae, Trixagidae)

External links

• Tree of Life - Elateroidea