Chelonariidae

Chelonariidae or turtle beetles is a family of beetles in the superfamily Byrrhoidea. It was described by Blanchard in 1845.^[1] There are 3 genera with around 300 described species. Little is known of their ecology, though it seems they are associated with the roots of orchids and the nests of ants and termites. Their exoskeletons are heavily sclerotised and their limbs can be effectively retracted into their bodies due to the presence of socket-like cavities.^[2] Adult specimens have seed-shaped bodies that are typically colored brown or black with lighter patches.^[3]

Chelonariidae Temporal range: Barremian–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Brounia thoracica
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Elateriformia
Superfamily:	Byrrhoidea
Family:	Chelonariidae Blanchard, 1845

Genera

• Brounia Sharp, 1878 (New Zealand)
• Chelonarium Fabricius, 1801 (Americas, Asia, Australia, with fossil species known from European Baltic amber^[4])
• Pseudochelonarium Pic, 1916 (South & Southeast Asia, New Guinea)
• †Eochelonarium Kirejtshuk in Kirejtshuk and Azar 2013 Lebanese amber, Early Cretaceous (Barremian)^[5]

Gallery

• 
  Chelonarium haemorrhoum
• 
  Chelonarium ornatum

References

1. Callirhipidae Archived October 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine at insects.tamu.edu.
2. Beutel, Rolf G. and Leschen, Richard A. B.. "Chelonariidae Blanchard, 1845: Coleoptera, Beetles". Handbook of Zoology Online, edited by Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016.
3. Shepard, William D. (July 2016). "Beetles (Coleoptera) of Peru: A Survey of Families Chelonariidae Blanchard, 1845". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 89 (3): 254–255. doi:10.2317/0022-8567-89.3.254. ISSN 0022-8567.
4. Alekseev, Vitalii I.; Mitchell, Jerit; McKellar, Ryan C.; Barbi, Mauricio; Larsson, Hans C. E.; Bukejs, Andris (2021-02-10). "The first described turtle beetles from Eocene Baltic amber, with notes on fossil Chelonariidae (Coleoptera: Byrrhoidea)". Fossil Record. 24 (1): 19–32. doi:10.5194/fr-24-19-2021. ISSN 2193-0074.
5. Kirejtshuk, A. G. and Azar, D.: Current knowledge of Coleoptera (Insecta) from the Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber and taxonomical notes for some Mesozoic groups, Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews, 6, 103–134, doi:10.1163/18749836-06021061, 2013.