Scarabaeoidea is a superfamily of beetles, the only subgroup of the infraorder Scarabaeiformia. Around 35,000 species are placed in this superfamily and some 200 new species are described each year.[1] Its constituent families are also undergoing revision presently, and the family list below is only preliminary. This superfamily includes some of the largest beetles extant today, including rhinoceros beetles, (Dynastinae), the Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) and Goliath beetles (Goliathus sp.).

Scarabaeoidea
Temporal range: Jurassic–Recent
Scarabaeoidea from Central Europe
with anatomical details
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Scarabaeiformia
Crowson, 1960
Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea
Latreille, 1802

The oldest confirmed member of the group is the extinct genus Alloioscarabaeus from the Middle Jurassic period Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China.[2]

Families

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The following families are listed in Bouchard (2011):[3]

See also

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In Peru alone, there are 1042 known species of Scarabaeoidea as of 2015.[4] This is due to Peru's high biodiversity and endemism.

References

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  1. ^ Brett C. Ratcliffe (2002). "A checklist of the Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) of Panama" (PDF). Zootaxa (32): 1–48.
  2. ^ Bai, Ming; Ahrens, Dirk; Yang, Xing-Ke; Ren, Dong (April 2012). "New fossil evidence of the early diversification of scarabs: Alloioscarabaeus cheni (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China: New fossil evidence of scarabs from China". Insect Science. 19 (2): 159–171. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7917.2011.01460.x. S2CID 54930162.
  3. ^ Bouchard, Patrice; Bousquet, Yves; Davies, Anthony E.; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel A.; et al. (2011). "Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta)". ZooKeys (88). Pensoft Publishers: 1–972. doi:10.3897/zookeys.88.807. ISSN 1313-2989. PMC 3088472. PMID 21594053.
  4. ^ Ratcliffe, B. C.; Jameson, M. L.; Figueroa, L.; Cave, R. D.; Paulsen, M. J.; Cano, Enio B.; Beza-Beza, C.; Jimenez-Ferbans, L.; Reyes-Castillo, P. (2015). "Beetles (Coleoptera) of Peru: A Survey of the Families. Scarabaeoidea". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 88 (2): 186–207. doi:10.2317/kent-88-02-186-207.1.
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