Elmidae, commonly known as riffle beetles, is a
family of
beetles in the superfamily
Byrrhoidea described by
John Curtis in 1830. Both adults and larvae are usually aquatic, living under rocks in fast-flowing shallow areas of streams, such as
riffles, feeding on algae and biofilms.[1] There are more than 150 genera and 1,500 described species in Elmidae.[2][3][4][5] The oldest record of the group is Cretohypsilara from the
Cenomanian aged
Burmese amber.[6]
Lobl, I.; Smetana, A., eds. (2006). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, Volume 3: Scarabaeoidea - Scirtoidea - Dascilloidea - Buprestoidea - Byrrhoidea. Apollo Books.
ISBN978-90-04-30914-2.
Sanderson, M. W. (1953). "A revision of the Nearctic genera of Elmidae". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 26 (4): 148–163.
JSTOR25082074.
Shepard, William D. (2002). "Family 43: Elmidae Curtis, 1830". In Arnett, Ross H. Jr.; Thomas, Michael C.; Skelley, Paul E.; Frank, J. Howard (eds.). American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. pp. 117–120.
ISBN978-0-8493-0954-0.