True weevils and bark beetles | |
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Cholus cinctus, Panama | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
Clade: | Phytophaga |
Superfamily: | Curculionoidea |
Family: | Curculionidae Latreille, 1802 |
Diversity | |
Some 20 subfamilies (see text) |
The Curculionidae are a family of weevils, commonly called snout beetles or true weevils. They are one of the largest animal families with 6,800 genera and 83,000[1] species described worldwide. They are the sister group to the family Brentidae.[2]
They include the bark beetles as the subfamily Scolytinae, which are modified [unreliable source?] in shape in accordance with their wood-boring lifestyle. They do not much resemble other weevils, so they were traditionally considered a distinct family, Scolytidae. The family also includes the ambrosia beetles, of which the present-day subfamily Platypodinae was formerly considered the distinct family Platypodidae.