Amara Bonelli, 1810

Bousquet, Yves, 2012, Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico, ZooKeys 245, pp. 1-1722 : 587

Subgenus Amara Bonelli, 1810

Amara Bonelli, 1810: Tabula Synoptica. Type species: Carabus vulgaris Linnaeus sensu Panzer, 1797 (= Amara lunicollis Schiødte, 1837) designated by Westwood (1838: 4).

Linomus Fischer von Waldheim, 1829a: 16. Type species: Carabus lucidus Duftschmid, 1812 by monotypy. Synonymy established by Bousquet (2002c: 176).

Agronoma Gistel, 1848b: [2]. Type species: Carabus familiaris Duftschmid, 1812 designated by Bouchard et al. (2011: 145). Synonymy established by Bouchard et al. (2011: 145).

Pangetes Gistel, 1856: 358. Type species: Carabus ovatus Fabricius, 1792 designated by Bousquet (2002b: 37). Synonymy established by Bousquet (2002b: 37).

Diversity.

Eighty-seven species (Hieke 2007) in North America (29 species, of which six are adventive), Middle America (four species of which one, Amara dolosa Say, is endemic), Asia (about 55 species), Europe and northern Africa (about 25 species, most shared with western Asia), and the Afrotropical Region (nine species). Two species are Holarctic ( Amara littoralis and Amara lunicollis ).

Identification.

No taxonomic revision has been published for the species of this group and such study is much needed. Hieke (2000) revised the six species of the impuncticollis group found in North America. Lindroth (1968) covered all but three ( Amara haywardi , Amara pomona , and Amara sera ) of the currently valid North American species known at the time. Since his publication, four taxa listed by Lindroth as synonyms ( Amara neoscotica , Amara otiosa , Amara tenax , and Amara turbata ) have been revalidated (Hieke 1994, 2000, 2003b), two new species described (Hieke 2002), and three adventive species ( Amara communis , Amara eurynota , and Amara ovata ) discovered on this continent. Identifications of some species are difficult and require examination of the male genitalia for confirmation.