80

Beetle classification

BEETLE CLASSIFICATION

Our system for classification of beetles dates back

to the Swedish physician and botanist Carolus

Linnaeus (1707–78), who published the basis for

zoological nomenclature in the tenth edition of

his Systema Naturae (System of Nature). Linnaeus

recognized what he considered to be distinct species,

and gave each a Latin-based binominal name

consisting of a genus, which it shared with other

similar creatures, and a species name that was

unique within each genus. The result was that every

species received an exclusive name, but was also in

a genus with similar creatures. We would, of course,

say “related” today, and it is difficult to remember

that Linnaeus was working on imposing order on

the astonishing diversity of life, without any

evolutionary framework, and that his classification

predates the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species

(1859) by more than a hundred years. He was

recognizing similarity without the philosophical

tools to comprehend the reasons for it.

Linnaeus’s visionary nature is reflected in the

fact that we still use his system today, and the

“Scientific Names”—also called “Latin Names”

or “Latin Binominals”—are regulated by the

International Commission on Zoological

Nomenclature, a body of distinguished scientists

from around the world that is currently based

in Singapore. Linnaeus’s importance was

recognized by his contemporaries. Indeed, the

philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sent him the

message: “Tell him I know no greater man on

earth,” while Goethe wrote “With the exception

of Shakespeare and Spinoza, I know no one …

who has influenced me more strongly.”

Linnaeus’s genius was in devising a simple

system that could be extended and was effectively

future-proof. He used Latin simply because it was

the language of scholarship at the time, but this

was ultimately fortuitous, because it meant that

scientists could communicate about organisms

using a universal language.

Subsequent generations, starting with

Linnaeus’s students and followers, added more

taxonomic ranks, which became like a system

of nesting boxes, each one (as one goes up the

classification) more inclusive than the one before.

Ranks above genus are distinguished by their

endings, and sometimes called the “Higher

Classification.” There are conventions for how

Scientific Names are written, for example the

above | Pierre André Latreille (1762–1833), almost

a victim of the French Revolution, first recognized and

named many of the beetle families that we use today.

opposite | Phylogeny showing a hypothesis of the

relationships for beetle higher groups, adapted from

a study by Chinese and Australian coleopterists in 2018.

Recent technological advances have improved our

ability to study the higher classification of beetles at a

scale and pace not possible previously. A wealth of new

data continue to be incorporated in phylogenetic studies

that test established classifications.