Helochares | |
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Helochares lividus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Suborder: | Polyphaga |
Infraorder: | Staphyliniformia |
Family: | Hydrophilidae |
Subfamily: | Hydrophilinae |
Tribe: | Hydrophilini |
Genus: | Helochares Mulsant, 1844 |
Diversity | |
158 species + 3 subspecies | |
Synonyms | |
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Helochares is a genus of water scavenger beetles in the family Hydrophilidae, represented by 161 described species. It is distributed across the Afrotropical, Australasian, Indo-Malayan, Nearctic, and Palearctic realms. [1]
As currently defined, Helochares contains small to medium-sized beetles (2–7 mm), which are yellowish to brown in coloration. There is a lot of variation in the impression of the elytral punctation, and the aedeagal forms are also highly variable (see Figure 37 in Girón and Short 2021). [1] A detailed diagnosis can be found in Girón and Short 2021. [1] Females carry their eggs in a cocoon anchored to the hind femora and held under the abdomen as in several other Hydrophilidae. [2]
Helochares is one of the largest and most taxonomically problematic genera within the Acidocerinae. It was originally described by Étienne Mulsant in 1844. [3]
For a long time Helochares contained five subgenera: Batochares (currently recognized as a separate genus [4] ), Helochares, Helocharimorphus (now synonymized under Helochares [1] ), Hydrobaticus (now synonymized under Helochares [1] ), and Sindolus (currently recognized as a separate genus [4] ).
Several taxa that used to be recognized as typical Helochares are now assigned to newly created genera (e.g., Colossochares , Novochares ) or re-assigned to exinsting genera (i.e., Peltochares ), based on a phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data. [4]