Cryptocephalinae

{{short description|Subfamily of beetles}}

{{Automatic Taxobox

| image = Cryptocephalus nitidus01.jpg

| image_caption = Cryptocephalus nitidus

| taxon = Cryptocephalinae

| authority = Gyllenhaal, 1813

| subdivision_ranks = Tribes

| subdivision =

Clytrini

Cryptocephalini

Fulcidacini

Mylassini

Pachybrachini

}}

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.Chaboo, C.S., C.G. Brown, & D.J. Funk. 2008. Faecal case architecture in the gibbosus species group of Neochlamisus Karren, 1972 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cryptocephalinae: Chlamisini). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 152:315–335.

The tribes Fulcidacini and Clytrini were formerly considered subfamilies of their own, and are presently treated only as tribes.

The most recently created tribe Mylassini was erected in 2021 for the monotypic genus Mylassa.

Species in at least 14 genera of Clytrini and Cryptocephalini are myrmecophilous, living with ants.Agrain F.A., M. Buffington, C.S. Chaboo, M.L. Chamorro, & M.E. Schöller. 2015. Leaf beetles are ant-nest beetles: the curious life histories of the juvenile stages of case-bearers (Chrysomelidae: Cryptocephalinae). ZooKeys 547:133–164. Most species exhibit polyphagy but there are patterns of constraints with certain plant lineages.Agrain, F.A., B. Vento, V. Flinte, C.A.M. Reid, & C.S. Chaboo. 2024. Global macroecological patterns in host-plant associations of Cryptocephalinae case-bearer leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 20:1-20.https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blae041

File:Exema larval case.jpg|Exema, fecal case

File:Exema larva.jpg|Exema, larva

File:Neochlamisus larval case.jpg|Neochlamisus, fecal case

File:Neochlamisus larva.jpg|Neochlamisus, larva removed from larval fecal case