| Archostemata | |
|---|---|
| Tenomerga mucida | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Archostemata Kolbe, 1908 |
| Families | |
|
Crowsoniellidae |
|
Archostemata is the smallest suborder of beetles, consisting of fewer than fifty known species organized into five families. Archostemata is an ancient lineage with a number of primitive characteristics. They are similar in morphology to the first beetles, which appear in the fossil record approximately 250 million years ago. Antennae filiform or moniliform. This suborder also contains the only paedogenic beetles, Micromalthus debilis.
These beetles are considered rare. Fossil deposits from the Permian suggest that Archostemata were once much more common and dispersed over a wide portion of the globe, and the species that remain are but scattered vestiges of their former population. There are today five families worldwide (Crowsoniellidae, Cupedidae, Jurodidae, Micromalthidae, and Ommatidae), with only two (Cupedidae and Micromalthidae) occurring in North America.