Resumo

CHERMAN, Mariana Alejandra  e  MORON, Miguel Ángel. Validity of the family Melolonthidae Leach, 1819 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). Acta Zool. Mex [online]. 2014, vol.30, n.1, pp.201-220. ISSN 2448-8445.

Melolonthidae Leach, 1819 was defined by Endrödi in 1966 as a cosmopolitan group mainly composed by the subfamilies Melolonthinae, Dynastinae, Rutelinae and Cetoniinae. They are formed by phytophagous or phytosaprophagous taxa, unlike other groups of Scarabaeoidea. Despite being commonly used in Latin America since 1976, it is questioned by many authors of morphological and phylogenetic studies that support the North American classification, formed by the above cited subfamilies and the coprophagous Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae within Scarabaeidae Latreille, 1802. This review aimed to assess the validity of Melolonthidae with modifications. Thus, different classifications used throughout history were gathered as well as analyzes of relationships between different groups of Scarabaeoidea. Taking into account the latest information and with reserve for future studies on comparative morphology and the support of new accurate molecular data, the present work intends to validate the name of the taxon so called Melolonthidae, formed by the clade Dynastinae-Rutelinae-Melolonthinae. It is also suggested to remove Cetoniinae from Melolonthidae and raise it to family category and, by other hand, to test the relationships of Orphninae with the other members of Melolonthidae. Because of the high abundant and diversity taxa, in order to achieve a worldwide taxonomic consensus, phylogenetic analyzes of Melolonthidae with representative samples of all subfamilies and tribus from all over the world are needed using characters of larvae and adults, to confirm their monophyly, and the relationships with other groups of Scarabaeoidea.

Palavras-chave : Suprageneric classification; Cetoniinae; Melolonthinae; Rutelinae; Dynastinae; Orphninae; Scarabaeidae.