Cryptocephalinae

The Cryptocephalinae are a subfamily of the leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), and belong to the group of case-bearing leaf beetles called the Camptosomata. The cases are made from the feces of larvae, passed from one instar to the next, and ultimately serves as a pupation chamber.^[1]

Cryptocephalinae
Cryptocephalus nitidus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Cucujiformia
Family:	Chrysomelidae
(unranked):	Camptosomata
Subfamily:	Cryptocephalinae Gyllenhaal, 1813
Tribes
Clytrini Cryptocephalini Fulcidacini Mylassini Pachybrachini

The tribes Fulcidacini and Clytrini were formerly considered subfamilies of their own, and are presently treated only as tribes.^[2] The most recently created tribe Mylassini was erected in 2021 for the monotypic genus Mylassa.^[3]

Species in at least 14 genera of Clytrini and Cryptocephalini are myrmecophilous, living with ants.^[4] Most species exhibit polyphagy but there are patterns of constraints with certain plant lineages.^[5]

• 
  Exema, fecal case
• 
  Exema, larva
• 
  Neochlamisus, fecal case
• 
  Neochlamisus, larva removed from larval fecal case