Genus Pogonus Dejean, 1821

Pogonus Dejean, 1821: 9 .

Type species

Carabus littoralis Duftschmid, 1812 .

Diagnoses

Tegument with metallic sheen, at least in the head and pronotum. Supraocular sulcus deep and long, surpassing the level of the anterior supraocular seta and ending close to the posterior one. Pronotum always wider than the head, with different shape among species. Up to 5 setigerous pores along the 3 rd interstria (commonly 3). 8 th and 9 th interstriae of the same width.

Description

Length: 5.0–8.0 mm. Tegument with variable coloration from green to bronze (not always uniform between the parts of the body). Antennae and palps yellow, testaceous or brown. Pronotum cordiform or sub-cordiform, in general convex and more transverse in some species than in others. Anterior angles of the pronotum glabrous or with fine setae. Base as, or almost as, wide as the anterior margin of the elytra, with a marked and deep punctuation that is limited by a well-developed carinula. Except in P. riparius and P. meridionalis, the base is oblique near the hind angles, so they are obtuse and more or less protruding. Elytra parallel, sub-parallel or sub-oval, convex and wider than the pronotum. In all the species, the punctuation of the elytral striae is deep, except in the apical region. Interstriae other than the 3 rd glabrous, except in P. meridionalis, which also has setigerous pores in the 5 th and 7 th interstriae. Legs yellow, testaceous or brown. Median lobe of the aedeagus curved or arcuate, with the apex clearly directed down, except in P. littoralis . Sclerotised pieces of the internal sac rather massive in some species.

Chorology

Genus widely distributed in all geographic regions except the Neotropical; the Palaearctic Region is where it is best-represented (Bousquet & Laplante 1997; Bousquet 2017).

Species of Pogonus are present both along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, the saline environments of its continental interior and in the Balearic Islands.