Home > Phylum selection > Arthropoda > Coleoptera > Colydiidae
Home How to cite this site Terms & conditions Disclaimer Contact Site tutorial / Help Links	Familia Colydiidae General information Originally this family contained a heterogenous, polyphyletic assemblage of xylobiont species. Some of the species actually belong to other families (e.g. Tenebrionidae, Mycetophagidae) and have been transferred to the correct families. The remaining species are still a very heterogenous group and their monophyly is highly debated. Dajoz (1977) split the genera Anommatus and Abromus from the rest of Colydiidae and erected a new family, Anommatidae, for them. Klausnitzer (1989) elevated the tribe Bothriderini (comprising the genus Bothrideres) to family level (Bothrideridae). At the same time he united the tribe Cerylini (comprising the genus Cerylon) with the subfamily Murmidiinae (comprising the genus Murmidius) and elevated the new grouping to family rank: Cerylonidae. The Anommatidae of Dajoz were transferred by Klausnitzer (1989) to the Merophysiidae (which is currently a subfamily of the Endomychidae). Slipinski et al. (1989) recognized that the Anommatidae are not closely related to either  Endomychidae or Colydiidae and rather are related to the genus Bothrideres. Hence they transferred the Anommatidae as a subfamily to the Bothrideridae. They also removed the genera Teredus and Oxylaemus from the Colydiidae and transferred them to the Bothrideridae. Slipinski and Lawrence (1999) have argued that the Colydiidae s. str. are a subgroup of the Zopheridae and have united the two groups under the older name Zopheridae. However, the extensive analysis of Coleoptera phylogeny by Hunt et al. (2007) clearly shows that Colydiidae and Zopheridae are not closely related. The analysis by Hunt et al. (2007) supports the monophyly of Cerylonidae, Bothrideridae, Zopheridae and Colydiidae and I adopt this taxonomy here. Only the genus Pycnomerus, formerly classed with the Colydiidae, belongs in the Zopheridae according to the analysis of Hunt et al. (2007) . A number of Colydiidae species (in Germany: the genera Langelandia, Coxelus and Diodesma) are sometimes separated from the Colydiidae and placed in the Cerylonidae. This is debated and unless conclusive evidence is presented that shows close relationships of these species with Cerylonidae I retain these species in the Colydiidae. The placement of Aglenus brunneus is unclear and it is sometimes regarded as a species of Colydiidae, and sometimes it is transferred to the Salpingidae. The placement in the Salpingidae is not well-supported and unless conclusive evidence for a relationship with the Salpingidae is presented I retain this species in the Colydiidae. This page has been updated on June 26, 2009 This site is online since May 31, 2005 Copyright © by Nikola-Michael Prpic. All rights reserved.	Related information: Species list References