Myxophaga contains about 100 described species in four families, mostly very small, including skiff beetles (Hydroscaphidae) and minute bog beetles (Sphaeriusidae).
Their phylogenetic relationship is uncertain, with the most popular hypothesis being that Polyphaga and Myxophaga are most closely related, with Adephaga an outgroup to those two, and Archostemata an outgroup to the other three.
The extraordinary number of beetle species poses special problems for classification, with some families consisting of thousands of species and needing further division into subfamilies and tribes.
Evidence for the relationship of Polyphaga and Myxophaga in this phylogeny is based on a shared reduction in the number of larval leg articles.
Evidence for the Polyphagan relationship to the remaining suborders is based on characters of wing venation and articulation (Kukalova-Peck and Lawrence, 1993).
This new phylogeny placed Polyphaga sister to Adephaga with Myxophaga sister to the Polyphaga+Adephaga clade and Archostemata sister to the rest of the suborders (Figure 5).
www.beetlelady.com /?page_id=3 (1504 words)
Beetles Weevils(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
Myxophaga, Adephaga, and Polyphaga) are divided into 16
The Myxophaga includes four families with fewer than
gard the Polyphaga either as the sister group of Myxophaga
On the spiracles of the larvae of the suborder Myxophaga (Coleoptera)
The structure of the spiracles in larvae of three (Hydroscaphidae, Sphaeriidae, Torridincolidae) of the four known families of the suborder Myxophaga is described.
Further evidence that supports the validity of the suborder Myxophaga is provided by the unusual nature of the respiratory systems of the three families.
The Australian aquatic and semi-aquatic beetles fall into three suborders: Myxophaga (1 family: Microsporidae), Adephaga (6 families: Carabidae through Gyrinidae in the key), and Polyphaga (12 families: Hydrophilidae through Brentidae in the key).
Myxophaga is a small suborder comprising minute, globose beetles.
Adephaga includes a wide range of body sizes and two general body shapes: one in which the head, prothorax and hindbody are well separated from each other, the other in which they fit closely together to give a smooth lateral outline and overall a boat-shaped appearance.
38.Beutel, R. Phylogenetic analysis of Myxophaga (Coleoptera) with a redescription of Lepicerus horni (Lepiceridae).
Anton, E. and Beutel, R. (in press) Onthe head morphology of Lepiceridae (Coleoptera: Myxophaga) and thesystematic position of the family and suborder.
1: Morphology and Systematics (Archostemata,Adephaga, Myxophaga, Polyphaga (partim).
That are of the hind wing between the median bar (MP1+2) and the anal fold (between AA and AP).
In Myxophaga and Polyphaga, the propleuron is more or less reduced and fused to the trochantin, and in the latter group it is not or only slightly visible externally.
The posteriorly-projecting, intercoxal process of the prothoracic sternum; the process may be absent or very short, so that the coxal cavities are confluent, or it may extend behind the procoxae and overlap the mesoventrite (in rare cases reaching the metaventrite).
Beutel, R. Phylogenetic analysis of Myxophaga (Coleoptera) with a redescription of Lepicerus horni (Lepiceridae).
1: Morphology and Systematics (Archostemata, Adephaga, Myxophaga, Polyphaga partim).
Beutel, R. Phylogenetic analysis of Adephaga based on characters of larvae and adults with special emphasis on Carabidae.
www.coleoptera.org /p1918.htm (1857 words)
E-Fauna BC Beetles(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
There are at least six times as many beetles as vertebrate species and 90 times more than the number of mammals.
The order is usually divided into four suborders (Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga and Polyphaga) and about 150 families.
Perhaps the single most important factor in the success of the Coleoptera is the development of the elytra, which protect the folded hind wings, permitting the occupation of enclosed spaces and hidden habitats by adults.
On base of comparison of DNA, for example, a conclusion on monophyly as Geadephaga as Hydradephaga is made, although according to the author opinion the latter were 3 times settling the swimming in water (it is a paradox “Important monograph on water beetles of China”).
A.P. Vogler arranged the families examined in an original dendrogram, where the suborder Myxophaga is located closer to the base (at Archostemata) than subordera Adephaga and Polyphaga.
It is interesting that the author came to conclusion on the “monophyly” of Staphyliniformia and Scarabaeiformia, which are in accordance with that by M. Hansen (1991, 1995).
The classification of this enormous number of forms is extremely difficult.
The order is generally divided into four suborders, namely, Archostemata, Adephaga, Myxophaga, and Polyphaga; these are, in turn, subdivided into series and super families.
The families are further divided into subfamilies, and these are subdivided into tribes and genera.
Abdomen with 8 or 9 distinct segments, often terminated by urogomphi (absent in Spercheidae).
Inhabit mud, soil and send near water edge, where they build their tunnels; feed on algae and other planctonic forms.
Psephenidae) or moderately long (suborder Myxophaga); stemmata of normal sizes or assembled in one "eye" on each side; body nonvermicular, sides or posterior margins of segments are fringed by cilia or thickened setae.
Adults of most of this species rest and hunt for prey under stones and rubble along the margins of cool or cold streams; a few inhabit wet places in forested areas, and rest under leaf litter; high montane species hunt for prey on snow fields at night.
