Agra , arboreal beetles of Neotropical forests: erythropus group systematics (Carabidae)
1982; Wiley; Volume: 7; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1365-3113.1982.tb00125.x
ISSN1365-3113
Autores Tópico(s)Scarabaeidae Beetle Taxonomy and Biogeography
ResumoAbstract Species of the genus Agra , several hundred described and many more undescribed and whose cumulative ranges extend from southernmost Texas to northernmost Argentina, have long been of interest to collectors, amateurs and professionals alike. However, these elegant beetles are rarely collected due to their adaptation to life in tropical forest canopies. A clear understanding of their phylogeny and distribution may provide very good data with which to test recently proposed hypotheses of tropical species richness and endemism, particularly the forest refugium/flood‐zone hypothesis. The present paper initiates a major attempt at constructing the systematic framework from which such syntheses may be obtained. New methods of description are used to cover the several hundred species in less time and space, to provide a consistent numerical data base for those who choose to use it, and to use more efficiently and effectively the descriptive process. Sixteen new species of Agra are described from the following type localities: coleps (Cayenne, French Guiana), pseuderythropus (Cayenne, French Guiana), oiapoquensis (Oiapoque, Amapá, Brazil), falsisagax (Humaitá, Amazonas, Brazil), dryas (Oiapoque, Amapá, Brazil), cobra (type area—French Guiana), perinvicta (SéTo Paulo d'Olivença, Amazonas, Brazil), invicta (type area ‐ Amazonas, Brazil), ega (Ega [Tefé], Amazonas, Brazil), rhomboides (type area ‐ French Guiana), yoda (Pariacabo, French Guiana), pennyi (Parque National Amazonia, 63 km southwest of Itaituba, Pará, Brazil), mniszechi (type area ‐ French Guiana), sphenarion (Tarapoto, Peru), saltatrix (Tarapoto, Peru), maxli (Ega [Tefé], Amazonas, Brazil). Twenty‐five species found to be arrayed in four natural subgroups are described. Their cumulative range extends from Peru east to the mouth of the Amazon River and north along the coast to Guyana; most species are very locally distributed. A dot map illustrates the range of each taxon. Distribution and relationships are discussed in general showing that species subgroup ranges correspond to pleistocene refuges suggested by other authors based on other classes of organisms, but detailed cladistic and biogeographic analyses are deferred until taxonomy of the five groups of Section Erythropus is completed.
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