There are 160 different families of beetles worldwide, containing over 300 000 species. In Australia 117 families are represented with over 28 200 different species. The families of beetles are divided into 4 main groups or suborders, the Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga and Polyphaga. The majority of beetles are classified into families within the Polyphaga suborder. Follow the links below to find out more on beetle families. Those in bold represent the beetle families present in Australia.

For more beetle species visit the Australian Insect Common Names - Coleoptera section found here.