Polyphaga | |
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Cetonia aurata | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Suborder: | Polyphaga Emery, 1886 |
Infraorders | |
Bostrichiformia |
The Polyphaga is the largest and most diverse suborder of beetles. The name is got from two Greek words: poly-, meaning 'many', and phagein, meaning 'to eat', so the suborder is called the “eaters of many things”. Polyphaga has 144 families in 16 superfamilies, and shows an enormous variety of specialization and adaptation. It has over 315,000 described species, about 90% of all beetle species so far discovered.[1][2]