Platynus Bonelli, 1810

Bousquet, Yves, 2012, Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico, ZooKeys 245, pp. 1-1722 : 772-773

Genus Platynus Bonelli, 1810

Platynus Bonelli, 1810: Tabula Synoptica. Type species: Carabus angusticollis Fabricius, 1801 (= Carabus assimilis Paykull, 1790) by subsequent monotypy in Germar (1817: 303). Etymology. From the Greek platyno (to broaden, widen), possibly alluding to the large abdomen (" abd [omen] latissimum ") of the adults in the hands of Bonelli [masculine].

Diversity.

The number of species of Platynus is difficult to assess. Lorenz (2005: 429-434) assigned about 550 species to the genus arrayed in 14 subgenera, with about 95 species left unplaced. However, Liebherr (1998: 997) restricted the concept of Colpodes Macleay to three species from Java and suggested assigning the remaining species to "a broader Platynus ." Lorenz (2005: 416-418) listed about 270 species in Colpodes and if Liebherr’s advice is followed, this brings the total number of Platynus species to about 820. The Northern Hemisphere has about 155 species (19% of the world fauna) of the Platynus -" Colpodes -like" complex and 23 of them, placed in five subgenera, occur in North America.

Identification.

Liebherr and Will (1996: 303-307) published a key for the identification of all species found in North America. Bousquet (2012: 77-78) described a new species and issued a key for the species found east of the Mississippi River.