Chrysomeloidea | |
---|---|
Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
(unranked): | Phytophaga |
Superfamily: |
Chrysomeloidea Latreille, 1802 |
Families | |
Cerambycidae - long-horned beetles |
Cerambycidae - long-horned beetles
Chrysomelidae - leaf beetles
Disteniidae
Megalopodidae
Orsodacnidae
Oxypeltidae
Vesperidae
The Chrysomeloidea are an enormous superfamily of beetles, with 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., ), 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.