Peltochares | |
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Dorsal view of Peltochares conspicuus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Suborder: | Polyphaga |
Infraorder: | Staphyliniformia |
Family: | Hydrophilidae |
Subfamily: | Acidocerinae |
Genus: | Peltochares Hansen, 1991 |
Diversity | |
8 species |
Peltochares is a genus of water scavenger beetles in the family Hydrophilidae represented by eight described species. [1] It is distributed across the Afrotropical, Australasian, Indo-Malayan, and Palaearctic realms. [1]
The genus Peltochares was described for the first time by Maurice Auguste Régimbart in 1907 [2] for a single, large, and morphologically unusual species from Gabon (Peltochares conspicuus). [3]
Thanks to the result of a molecular-based phylogenetic analysis, [4] along with dissections of the male genitalia, several species formerly placed in the genus Helochares were confirmed to belong in the same genus as that large and morphologically unusual species. [1]
Medium-sized to relatively large beetles (6–14 mm), weakly to moderately convex in lateral view, dark brown in coloration. A diagnosis of the genus as currently circumscribed was presented by Girón and Short. [1]