Calosoma Weber, 1801

Bousquet, Yves, 2012, Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico, ZooKeys 245, pp. 1-1722 : 170-171

Genus Calosoma Weber, 1801

Calosoma Weber, 1801: 20. Type species: Carabus sycophanta Linnaeus, 1758 designated by Latreille (1810: 426). Etymology (original). From the Greek calos (beautiful) and soma (body), alluding to the beautiful body coloration of adults of Calosoma sycophanta and Calosoma inquisitor , the two species included by Weber in the genus [neuter].

Callisoma Agassiz, 1846: 60, 61. Unjustified emendation of Calosoma Weber, 1801.

Diversity.

Worldwide, with about 170 species in the Nearctic (41 species, of which one is adventive), Neotropical (about 55 species, many shared with North America), Australian (three species), Oriental (six species), Palaearctic (about 45 species), an d Afrotropical (about 35 species) Regions. The species are arrayed in about 25 genus-group taxa.

Identification.

Gidaspow (1959) revised the North American species and provided a key for their identification. Subsequently Lindroth (1961a: 50, 55) listed in synonymy some of the species that were considered valid by Gidaspow (e.g., Calosoma concretum , Calosoma pimelioides , Calosoma zimmermani ) and Dajoz (1997a) described a new species ( Calosoma dawsoni ).

Taxonomic Note.

The genus Calosoma is retained here in its wide sense following several authors, including Culot (1988). Others used different arrangements. For example, Lorenz (2005) and Erwin (2007a) listed Callisthenes Fischer von Waldheim as a valid genus with Chrysostigma Kirby and Callistenia Lapouge as subgenera.

Faunistic Note.

Burgess and Collins (1917: 86) reported that Calosoma palmeri Horn "occurs in California and Mexico." The record for California is doubtful since the species, as far as known, is endemic to Guadalupe Island (Gidaspow 1959: 276).