Chlaenius Bonelli, 1810

Bousquet, Yves, 2012, Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico, ZooKeys 245, pp. 1-1722 : 609-610

Genus Chlaenius Bonelli, 1810

Chlaenius Bonelli, 1810: Tabula Synoptica. Type species: Carabus festivus Panzer, 1796 designated by Madge (1975: 581). Etymology. From the Greek chlaena (coat, blanket), possibly alluding to the pubescence on the elytra of the species in the hands of Bonelli [masculine]. Note. Madge (1975: 581) correctly pointed out that the first valid type species of Chlaenius Bonelli, 1810 is Carabus spoliatus Rossi, 1792 as designated by Hope (1838: 75). However, acceptance of Hope’s designation would seriously affect the current nomenclature in the genus and I agree with Madge that a request should be addressed to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to set aside Hope’s designation and select that of Carabus festivus Panzer, 1796 as type species of Chlaenius .

Diversity.

Worldwide, with about 855 species (Lorenz 2005: 328-341) arrayed in 62 subgenera. The genus is mainly represented in the Afrotropical and Oriental Regions with about 650 species (approximately 76% of the world fauna). The North American fauna has 52 species (6% of the world fauna) in the boreal, temperate, and subtropical regions.

Identification.

Bell (1960) revised the North American species. Since the publication of this work, one Neotropical species was discovered in southern Texas ( Chlaenius azurescens ), the name of one species ( Chlaenius perplexus ) was replaced by an older one ( Chlaenius circumcinctus ), and two of Bell’s species ( Chlaenius cursor and Chlaenius herbaceus ) have been shown to be a complex of two species each and the species found in North America to be Chlaenius sparsus and Chlaenius patruelis respectively. A number of subspecies recognized by Bell (1960) are placed in synonymy in this catalogue.