Larvae of Some Genera of Anthribidae (Coleoptera)

Most investigators who have been concerned with the relationships of the Anthribidae have believed that the family is at least related to the Rhynchophora. Several have included the family in that large group. Leconte (1876) stated that the Anthribidae should be placed in the Rhynchophora, since there were not sufficient reasons for excluding them. Boving and Craighead (1931), drawing their conclusions principally from studies of the larvae, have treated the Anthribidae as a superfamily, equal in rank to the Chrysomeloidea and the Curculioidae. They have placed that superfamily, in a linear arrangement, between these latter two but have not indicated that they believed the Anthribidae more closely related to the Curculionidae than to the Chrysomelidae. Gardner, who has published one comprehensive paper (1936) and two smaller ones (1932, 1937) on the larvae of the Anthribidae of India, believes that the family belongs in the Rhynchophora. Emden (1938) also places it there. Crowson (1944), who has studied the metendosternite in Coleoptera, considers the Anthribidae to comprise one of six families of Rhynchophora.