Chrysomeloidea
Chrysomeloidea | |
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Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata | |
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Superfamily: | Chrysomeloidea Latreille, 1802
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Families | |
Cerambycidae - long-horned beetles |
Chrysomeloidea is an enormous superfamily of beetles. There are tens of thousands of species, mostly in the families Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles) and Chrysomelidae, the leaf beetles.
Several species in these two families are important plant pests. The spotted cucumber beetle is a serious pest of vegetables and is a very common insect on all sorts of flowers. The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, attacks potatoes and other members of the Solanaceae. The Asian long-horned beetle is a serious pest of trees where it has been introduced.
Some authorities have suggested removing the Cerambycidae and related families (Disteniidae, Oxypeltidae, and Vesperidae) from Chrysomeloidea to create a separate superfamily "Cerambycoidea" (e.g., [1]), but in the absence of evidence to support the monophyly of the resulting groups, this proposal has not yet been accepted by the scientific community.
References
- ^ P. Svacha and M.L. Danilevsky (1990) Cerambycoid larvae of Europe and Soviet Union (Coleoptera Cerambycoidea). Part I. Entomologia Generalis, 15(3): 202.