Belongs within: Adephaga.
Contains: Noteridae, Dytiscidae.
The Dytiscoidea is a clade of predatory beetles united by the possession of extensively fused mesal metacoxal walls (Ribera et al. 2002). Though all dytiscoids are found in damp habitats, advanced swimming abilities through simultaneous strokes of the hind legs are only found in species of Noteridae and Dytiscidae. Hygrobiidae swim with alternate movements of the hind legs, while Amphizoa and Aspidytes do not swim. Meru phyllisae is known from a whitewater cascade in Venezuela, where it crawls over submerged dead leaves lying on the exposed bedrock (Bouchard 2014). Simultaneous strokes also appear to have been the swimming mode used by the Coptoclavidae, known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous; these beetles were mostly excellent swimmers and several genera even became adapted to marine environments (Beutel et al. 2013).
<==Dytiscoidea [Dytiscides] |--+--NoteridaeRB02 | `--Meru [Meruidae]BW13 | `--M. phyllisae Spangler & Steiner 2005B14 |--CoptoclavidaeBW13 | | i. s.: Coptoclavella minorBW13, S02 | | Pseudohydrophilus avitusBW13 | | OvonectesBW13 | |--Charonoscapha [Charonoscaphinae]BW13 | | `--C. grossa Ponomarenko 1977BW13 | |--+--Exedia plana Ponomarenko 1977BW13 | | `--+--Daohugounectes primitivus Wang et al. 2009BW13 | | `--HispanoclavinaBW13 | `--+--Stygeonectes jurassicus Ponomarenko 1977BW13 | `--Coptoclava [Coptoclavinae]BW13 | |--C. africanaS02 | `--C. longipoda Ping 1928BW13 `--+--DytiscidaeMW15 `--+--+--AspidytidaeVB21 | | |--Sinaspidytes wraseiVB21 | | `--Aspidytes Ribera, Beutel et al. 2002RB02 | | |--*A. niobe Ribera, Beutel et al. 2002RB02 | | `--A. wraseiB14 | `--Amphizoa LeConte 1854MW15, PX01 [incl. Dysmathes Mannerheim 1853PX01; Amphizoidae, Amphizoinae] | |--A. insolens LeConte 1853B14 | |--A. lecontiRB02 | `--A. striataPX01 `--+--Parahygrobia [Parahygrobiidae]BW13 | `--P. natans Ponomarenko 1977BW13 `--Hygrobia Latreille 1804MW15, LM87 (see below for synonymy) | i. s.: H. davidiB14 | H. nigra (Clark 1862) [=Pelobius niger]LM87 | H. tardaM01 | H. wattsiB14 |--*H. hermanni (Fabricius 1775)LM87, RB02, B14 [=Dystiscus hermanniLM87, *Hydrachna hermanniLM87] `--+--H. australasiae (Clark 1862)RB02, LM87 [=Pelobius australasiaeLM87] `--H. maculata Britton 1981RB02, LM87 Dytiscoidea incertae sedis: NecronectulusS02 Colymbothethis [Colymbotethidae]BW13 `--C. antecessor Ponomarenko 1993BW13 Protodytiscus johillaensisBW13 Liadytidae [Lyadytidae]BW13 |--MemptusS02 `--LiadytesRB02 |--L. dajensis Ponomarenko 1987RJ93 |--L. longus Ponomarenko 1977BW13 `--L. major Ponomarenko 1985RJ93
Hygrobia Latreille 1804MW15, LM87 [=Hydrachna Fabricius 1801 non Müller 1776LM87, HygriobiaLM87; HygrobiidaeRB02, Pelobiidae]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[BW13] Beutel, R. G., B. Wang, J.-J. Tan, S.-Q. Ge, D. Ren & X.-K. Yang. 2013. On the phylogeny and evolution of Mesozoic and extant lineages of Adephaga (Coleoptera, Insecta). Cladistics 29 (2): 147–165.
[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature’s gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).
[LM87] Lawrence, J. F., B. P. Moore, J. E. Pyke & T. A. Weir. 1987. Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 4. Coleoptera: Archostemata, Myxophaga and Adephaga. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.
[MW15] McKenna, D. D., A. L. Wild, K. Kanda, C. L. Bellamy, R. G. Beutel, M. S. Caterino, C. W. Farnum, D. C. Hawks, M. A. Ivie, M. L. Jameson, R. A. B. Leschen, A. E. Marvaldi, J. V. McHugh, A. F. Newton, J. A. Robertson, M. K. Thayer, M. F. Whiting, J. F. Lawrence, A. Ślipiński, D. R. Maddison & B. D. Farrell. 2015. The beetle tree of life reveals that Coleoptera survived end-Permian mass extinction to diversify during the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution. Systematic Entomology 40 (4): 835–880.
[M01] Miller, K. B. 2001. On the phylogeny of the Dytiscidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) with emphasis on the morphology of the female reproductive system. Insect Systematics and Evolution 32: 45–92.
[PX01] Philips, T. K., & W. Xie. 2001. Amphizoidae LeConte, 1853. In: Arnett, R. H., Jr & M. C. Thomas (eds) American Beetles vol. 1. Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia pp. 153–155. CRC Press: Boca Raton.
[RB02] Ribera, I., R. G. Beutel, M. Balke & A. P. Vogler. 2002. Discovery of Aspidytidae, a new family of aquatic Coleoptera. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B—Biological Sciences 269: 2351–2356.
[RJ93] Ross, A. J., & E. A. Jarzembowski. 1993. Arthropoda (Hexapoda; Insecta). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 363–426. Chapman & Hall: London.
[S02] Sinitshenkova, N. D. 2002. Ecological history of the aquatic insects. In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 388–426. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.
[VB21] Vasilikopoulos, A., M. Balke, S. Kukowka, J. M. Pflug, S. Martin, K. Meusemann, L. Hendrich, C. Mayer, D. R. Maddison, O. Niehuis, R. G. Beutel & B. Misof. 2021. Phylogenomic analyses clarify the pattern of evolution of Adephaga (Coleoptera) and highlight phylogenetic artefacts due to model misspecification and excessive data trimming. Systematic Entomology 46: 991–1018.