Editing Polyphaga

{{Short description|Suborder of beetles}}
{{Distinguish|Polyphagia}}
{{For|the genus of Blattodea (cockroaches)|Polyphaga (cockroach)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Triassic|Present|earliest=Late Permian}}
| image = Cetonia-aurata.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Cetonia aurata]]''
| taxon = Polyphaga
| authority = [[Carlo Emery|Emery]], 1886
| subdivision_ranks = Infraorders
| subdivision = [[Bostrichiformia]]<br />
[[Cucujiformia]]<br />
[[Elateriformia]]<br />
[[Scarabaeiformia]]<br />
[[Staphyliniformia]]
}}

'''Polyphaga''' is the largest and most diverse [[suborder]] of [[beetle]]s. It comprises 144 families in 16 superfamilies, and displays an enormous variety of specialization and adaptation, with over 350,000 described species, or approximately 90% of the beetle species discovered thus far.

Key characteristics of Polyphaga are that the hind [[Arthropod coxa|coxa]] (base of the leg) does not divide the first and second abdominal/ventral plates which are known as [[sternites]]. Also, the [[notopleuron|notopleural]] suture (found under the pronotal shield) is not present.<ref name="Johnson">{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Norman F. |last2=Triplehorn |first2=Charles A. |title=Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects |edition=7th |year=2004 |publisher=Brooks/Cole |location=Belmont |isbn=0-03-096835-6 |pages=365–400, 428–429}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The name of ''polyphaga'' is derived from two Greek words: {{transliteration|grc|poly-}}, meaning 'many', and {{transliteration|grc|phagein}}, meaning 'to eat', so the suborder is called the “eaters of many things”.

==Classification==
The five main infraorders are:

* [[Bostrichiformia]] — including [[furniture beetle]]s and [[skin beetle]]s
* [[Cucujiformia]] — includes [[lady beetle]]s, [[longhorn beetle]]s, [[weevil]]s, [[checkered beetle]]s and [[leaf beetle]]s
* [[Elateriformia]] — includes [[click beetle]]s and [[firefly|fireflies]]
* [[Scarabaeiformia]] — includes [[Scarabaeidae|scarab beetle]]s, [[stag beetle]]s, and [[dung beetles]]
* [[Staphyliniformia]] — includes [[rove beetle]]s and [[Hydrophilidae|water scavenger beetles]]
Phylogenetic studies have also suggested that Scirtoidea ([[Scirtidae]], [[Decliniidae]]), Clamboidea ([[Clambidae]], [[Derodontidae]], [[Eucinetidae]]), ''[[Rhinorhipus]]'' and [[Nosodendridae]] are independent lineages of Polyphaga that lie outside these groups.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cai |first1=Chenyang |last2=Tihelka |first2=Erik |last3=Giacomelli |first3=Mattia |last4=Lawrence |first4=John F. |last5=Ślipiński |first5=Adam |last6=Kundrata |first6=Robin |last7=Yamamoto |first7=Shûhei |last8=Thayer |first8=Margaret K. |last9=Newton |first9=Alfred F. |last10=Leschen |first10=Richard A. B. |last11=Gimmel |first11=Matthew L. |last12=Lü |first12=Liang |last13=Engel |first13=Michael S. |last14=Bouchard |first14=Patrice |last15=Huang |first15=Diying |date=March 2022 |title=Integrated phylogenomics and fossil data illuminate the evolution of beetles |journal=Royal Society Open Science |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=211771 |doi=10.1098/rsos.211771 |issn=2054-5703 |pmc=8941382 |pmid=35345430|bibcode=2022RSOS....911771C }}</ref>

The internal classification of Polyphaga involves several superfamilies or series, whose constituents are relatively stable, although some smaller families (whose rank even is disputed) are allocated to different clades by different authors. Large superfamilies include [[Hydrophiloidea]], [[Staphylinoidea]], [[Scarabaeoidea]], [[Buprestoidea]], [[Byrrhoidea]], [[Elateroidea]], and [[Bostrichoidea]].

The infraorder [[Cucujiformia]] includes the vast majority of [[phytophagous]] (plant-eating) beetles, united by cryptonephric [[Malpighian tubule]]s of the normal type, a cone [[ommatidium]] with open [[rhabdom]], and lack of functional [[Spiracle (arthropods)|spiracle]]s on the eighth abdominal segment. Constituent superfamilies of Cucujiformia are [[Cleroidea]], [[Cucujoidea]], [[Tenebrionoidea]], [[Chrysomeloidea]], and [[Curculionoidea]]. Evidently adoption of a phytophagous lifestyle correlates with taxon diversity in beetles, with Cucujiformia, especially [[weevil]]s ([[Curculionoidea]]), forming a major radiation.

== See also ==
* [[List of subgroups of the order Coleoptera]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

*{{Cite book|last1=Cranston|first1=Peter S.|title=Encyclopedia of Insects|last2=Gullan|first2=Penny J.|publisher=Academic Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-12-374144-8|editor-last1=Resh|editor-first1=Vincent H.|edition=Second|pages=780–793|chapter=Phylogeny of Insects|editor-last2=Cardé|editor-first2=Ring T.}}

== External links ==
{{Wikispecies|Polyphaga (Coleoptera)}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160819092349/https://www.zin.ru/animalia/coleoptera/pdf/Gullan_Insects_2014.pdf Phylogeny of Insects]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051018185209/http://www.kbinirsnb.be/collections/entomo/staphy/ Site devoted to Staphyliniformia]
* [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/peet_staph/project_sum.html Project devoted to studying rove beetles]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050307184527/http://www.insects.org/entophiles/coleoptera/cole_en005.html Image of a click beetle]
* [http://maria.fremlin.de/stagbeetles/ site devoted to stag beetles]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060610061035/http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/longhorned_beetle/ news article highlighting the damage caused by Longhorn beetles]
*{{cite web |title=''Polyphaga'' |work=Atlas of Living Australia |url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:17babfba-1818-4371-bb03-f09595452fa6}}

{{Coleoptera|4}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q147877}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polyphaga}}
[[Category:Polyphaga| ]]
[[Category:Insect suborders]]
[[Category:Extant Triassic first appearances]]