| Orthogonius moestus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Euarthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Carabidae |
| Genus: | Orthogonius |
| Species: | O. moestus |
| Binomial name | |
| Orthogonius moestus Chaudoir, 1871 | |
Orthogonius moestus is a species of ground beetle in the subfamily Orthogoniinae. [1] It was described by Maximilien Chaudoir in 1871. [1]
In biology, a species ( ) is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. While these definitions may seem adequate, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, and in a ring species. Also, among organisms that reproduce only asexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clone is potentially a microspecies.
Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. It is one of the ten most speciose animal families, as of 2015.
Orthogoniinae is a subfamily of ground beetles. Occasionally it was treated as a tribe Orthogoniini of subfamily Harpalinae, particularly when this was circumscribed loosely.