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Gyrinidae

Whirlygig beetles

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taxon links [up-->]Spanglerogyrus [down<--]Adephaga Interpreting the tree
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The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

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Tree from Beutel (1990)
Containing group: Adephaga

Characteristics

Gyrinids are highly modified for life at the air-water interface. Their compound eyes are divided in two:

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Right side of Gyrinus sp.

When the beetles are swimming on the surface of the water, the dorsal portion of the eye is in air, and the ventral portion in water.

Other Names for Gyrinidae

References

Beutel, R. G. 1989a. The head of Spanglerogyrus albiventris Folkerts (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae). Contribution towards clarification of the phylogeny of Gyrinidae and Adephaga. Zool. Jb. Anat. 118(4): 431-461.

Beutel, R. G. 1989b. The prothorax of Spanglerogyrus albiventris Folkerts, 1979 (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae) Contribution towards clarification of the phylogeny of Gyrinidae. Entomologica Basiliensia 13: 151-173.

Beutel, R. G. 1990. Phylogenetic analysis of the family Gyrinidae (Coleoptera) based on meso- and metathoracic characters. Quaestiones Entomologicae, 26:163-191.

Beutel, R. G., and R. E. Roughley. 1988. On the systematic position of the family Gyrinidae (Coleoptera: Adephaga). Z. zool. Syst. Evolut.-forsch, 26:380-400.

Beutel, R. G., and R. E. Roughley. 1994. Phylogenetic analysis of Gyrinidae based on characters of the larval head (Coleoptera: Adephaga). Entomologica scandinavica 24: 459-468.

Burmeister, E.G. 1990. The female genital structures of Spanglerogyrus albiventris Folkerts, 1979: A contribution to the systematic position of the Gyrinidae. Spixiana 13(3): 253-265.

Folkerts, G. W. 1979. Spanglerogyrus albiventris, a primitive new genus and species of Gyrinidae (Coleoptera) from Alabama. The Coleopterists Bulletin 33(1): 1-8.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Dineutus
Location USA, Arizona, Pima Co.
Source Dineutus sublineatus - whirligig beetle
Copyright © Alex Wild
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Page: Tree of Life Gyrinidae. Whirlygig beetles. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Tree of Life Web Project. 1995. Gyrinidae. Whirlygig beetles. Version 01 January 1995 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Gyrinidae/8882/1995.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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