The vast majority of recent family descriptions is based on the already known taxa for which a new systematic placement was recovered by the use of phylogenetic analyses 2, 3, 4, 5. Because this group has been intensively studied since the age of early systematists, and most of the major higher-level taxa had already been described by about a century ago, discoveries of new beetle families are nowadays a rare occurrence. Approximately 400,000 species have been described, and many new ones are still frequently being discovered even in regions with historically high collecting activity 1. The discovery of a new beetle family, which is due to the limited dispersal capability and cryptic lifestyle of its wingless females bound to long-term stable habitats, highlights the importance of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest as a top priority area for nature conservation.Ĭoleoptera (beetles) is by far the largest insect order by number of described species. This placement is supported by several larval characters including the modified mouthparts.
Molecular phylogeny recovered Jurasaidae within the basal grade in Elateroidea, sister to the well-sclerotized rare click beetles, Cerophytidae. We provide a formal description of this lineage for which we propose the new family Jurasaidae. We identified three species in two genera, which differ in morphology of all life stages and exhibit different degrees of neoteny in females. Here, we report the discovery of a completely new lineage of soft-bodied neotenic beetles from the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest, which is one of the most diverse and also most endangered biomes on the planet. In the 21st century, thus far, only three beetle families have been described de novo based on newly collected material. Consequently, the vast majority of their higher-level taxa had already been described about a century ago. Beetles are the most species-rich animal radiation and are among the historically most intensively studied insect groups.
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