Amara (Curtonotus), Stephens, 1827

Bousquet, Yves, 2012, Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico, ZooKeys 245, pp. 1-1722 : 563

Subgenus Curtonotus Stephens, 1827

Curtonotus Stephens, 1827: 67. Type species: Carabus convexiusculus Marsham, 1802 designated by Westwood (1838: 4). Etymology (original, see page 138). From the Greek cyrtos (curved, by extension convex) and notos (back, upper surface), alluding to the convex body ("body ... very convex") of the adult [masculine].

Leirus Dejean, 1828: 457. Type species: Carabus aulicus Panzer, 1796 designated by Jeannel (1942: 946). Synonymy established by Zimmermann (1832: 38). Note. This name has been credited to Zimmermann (1832: 38) by most authors and to Fischer von Waldheim (1829a: 16) by Bousquet (2002c: 176). However, Dejean (1828: 457) first described the taxon without citing any species with it. The species first associated with Leirus are those listed by Fischer von Waldheim (1829a: 16). The name Leirus was proposed by Johann Karl Megerle von Mühlfeld and first made available by Dahl (1823: 6) but his work has been suppressed by the Commission (ICZN 1964).

Cyrtonotus Agassiz, 1846: 108, 114. Unjustified emendation of Curtonotus Stephens, 1827.

Lirus Agassiz, 1846: 204, 213. Unjustified emendation of Leirus Dejean, 1828.

Leirodema Tschitschérine, 1894: 394. Type species: Amara sifanica Tschitschérine, 1894 designated by Hieke (1995a: 54). Synonymy established by Kryzhanovskij (1974: 177).

Feronalius Casey, 1918: 226. Type species: Amara pterostichina Hayward, 1908 by original designation. Synonymy established by Hieke (1993: 149).

Paracurtonotus Habu, 1942: 494. Type species: Leirus giganteus Motschulsky, 1844 by original designation. Synonymy established by Habu (1953: 39). Etymology. From the Greek para (beside, near) and the generic name Curtonotus [q.v.] [masculine].

Paracyrtonotus Baliani, 1943: 48. Type species: Amara mixta Baliani, 1943 by monotypy. Synonymy established by Hieke (1993: 102). Etymology. From the Greek para (beside, near) and the generic name Cyrtonotus [q.v.] [masculine].

Diversity.

Eighty-five species (Hieke 2007) in the arctic, subarctic, boreal, and temperate regions of North America (15 species of which three extend into Mexico), Asia (about 60 species), and Europe (13 species, all but possibly one shared with Asia). Six species are Holarctic and one is adventive in eastern North America.

Identification.

There is no modern taxonomic revision of the species and such study would be useful. Lindroth (1968, as aulica group) covered ten of the 15 species found in North America.