Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 9, 2026

Elmidae

Elmidae, commonly known as riffle beetles, is a family of beetles in the superfamily Byrrhoidea described by John Curtis in 1830. Both adults and larvae are usually aquatic, living under rocks in fast-flowing shallow areas of streams, such as riffles, feeding on algae and biofilms. There are more than 150 genera and 1,500 described species in Elmidae. The oldest record of the group is Cretohypsilara from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber.

Last revised
Jun 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
366 w
Citations
6
Source
Elmidae
Temporal range:
Ancyronyx schillhammeri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Elateriformia
Superfamily: Byrrhoidea
Family: Elmidae
Curtis, 1830
Subfamilies
Diversity
at least 150 genera
Hydora picea illustration by Des Helmore source ↗

Elmidae, commonly known as riffle beetles, is a family of beetles in the superfamily Byrrhoidea described by John Curtis in 1830. Both adults and larvae are usually aquatic, living under rocks in fast-flowing shallow areas of streams, such as riffles, feeding on algae and biofilms.1 There are more than 150 genera and 1,500 described species in Elmidae.2345 The oldest record of the group is Cretohypsilara from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber.6

See also

See also

References

References

  1. White, D.S. (2009), "Coleoptera (Beetles) in Aquatic Ecosystems", Encyclopedia of Inland Waters, Elsevier, pp. 144–156, doi:10.1016/b978-012370626-3.00160-5, ISBN 978-0-12-370626-3, retrieved 2020-09-30
  2. "Elmidae Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  3. "Elmidae". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  4. Bouchard, Patrice; Bousquet, Yves; Davies, Anthony E.; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel A.; et al. (2011). "Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta)". ZooKeys (88): 1–972. doi:10.3897/zookeys.88.807. PMC 3088472. PMID 21594053.
  5. Cai, Chenyang; Maier, Crystal A.; Huang, Diying (2018-09-01). "A new riffle beetle in Upper Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Elmidae)". Cretaceous Research. 89: 154–159. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.03.022. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 135138679.
Further reading

Further reading

External links
  • Media related to Elmidae at Wikimedia Commons