Scarabaeoidea
| Scarabaeoidea Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Scarabaeoidea from Central Europe with anatomical details | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Scarabaeiformia Crowson, 1960 |
| Superfamily: | Scarabaeoidea Latreille, 1802 |
Scarabaeoidea is a superfamily of beetles, the only subgroup of the infraorder Scarabaeiformia. Around 35,000 species are placed in this superfamily and some 200 new species are described each year. Some of its constituent families are undergoing revision, and the family list below is provisional. This superfamily includes some of the largest beetles extant today, including rhinoceros beetles (Dynastinae), especially the Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) and the Goliath beetles (Goliathus sp.).
The oldest confirmed member of the group is the extinct genus Alloioscarabaeus from the Middle Jurassic period Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China.