Family of beetles From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zopheridae is a family of beetles belonging to Tenebrionoidea. It has grown considerably in recent years as the members of two other families have been included within its circumscription; these former families are the Monommatidae and the Colydiidae, which are now both included in the Zopheridae as subfamilies or (in the former case) even as tribe of subfamilyZopherinae. Some authors accept up to six subfamilies here, while others merge all except the Colydiinae into the Zopherinae.
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The family has approximately 190 genera and 1700 species, which are found worldwide. A large number of members of the family feed on rotting wood or fungus associated with rotting wood, though some members of Colydiinae are predatory, or feed on living plant tissue such as roots, stems, flower stalks and fruit.[1]
The oldest fossils of the family are Paleoendeitoma (subfamily Colydiinae, tribe Synchitini) and Cretomysteria from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Burmese amber from Myanmar.[2]
Ślipinśki, Adam and Lawrence, John F.. "11.9. Zopheridae Solier, 1834". Volume 2 Morphology and Systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim), edited by Willy Kükenthal, Richard A.B. Leschen, Rolf G. Beutel and John F. Lawrence, Berlin, New York: De Gruyter, 2011, pp. 548-559