Checklist of net-winged beetles (Coleoptera: Lycidae) from Mexico

Abstract

A checklist, distribution records, and the updated nomenclature for Mexican Lycidae are presented here. Two subfamilies, 7 tribes, 24 genera, 2 subgenera and 168 valid species of Lycidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) taxa were recorded from Mexico, including 111 (66%) endemic species. For each species, synonyms used in Mexico and geographical distribution in Mexican states were provided. The highest species richness was recorded in Veracruz, Chiapas and Oaxaca, while Aguascalientes and the Yucatan Peninsula states had very few records of Lycidae species probably due to the lack of fieldwork. In the Nearctic region, Lycidae diversity comprised 4 tribes, 10 genera and 27 species; in Mexican transition zone, 5 tribes, 17 genera and 100 species; and in Neotropical region, 7 tribes, 19 genera and 94 species. The highest species richness of Lycidae was recorded in the Veracruzan, Transmexican Volcanic Belt and Chiapas Highlands provinces. Although there has been a relevant rise in taxonomical work concerning Mexican lycid fauna in the last two decades, it is still necessary to continue in systematic, ecological, and biogeographical studies of the family in Mexico, especially in scarcely studied regions.

A Checklist of the Lycidae (Coleoptera) of Colombia with a key to the genera

“…Despite being heavily understudied, Colombia is the second most diverse country regarding Lycidae taxa in the Neotropics, being ahead of Peru and the Neotropical part of Mexico, and just behind Brazil (Nascimento 2013, Bocakova et al 2015, Pérez-Hernández et al 2019, Nascimento and Ferreira 2022 on number of species, demonstrating the high importance of the country for the study of the Lycidae. Due to the lack of data, the mentioned countries are the only ones that a comparison can be established for Neotropical lycids, given that previous catalogs and checklists are heavily outdated.…”

“…Lycidae are cosmopolitan, comprising approximately 4600 species worldwide, distributed in about 160 genera, with high diversity in tropical regions (Bocak and Bocakova 2010). In the Neotropical region, only recently the knowledge of lycid taxonomy and biology has been expanded and developed, (e.g., Bocakova 2001, 2005, Nascimento and Bocakova 2009, 2010a, 2010b, 2012a, 2012b, 2017a, 2017b, 2016, 2019a, 2019b, Barancikova et al 2010, Bocakova et al 2012, Bocakova and Nascimento 2013, Bocakova et al 2015, Ferreira 2015, 2016, Ferreira and Ivie 2016, Pérez-Hernández et al 2019, Ferreira and Silveira 2020, Nascimento et al 2020. However, despite the recent progress in the taxonomy of Neotropical Lycidae we still know very little regarding ecology and distribution patterns (e.g., Masek et al, 2018), which are important sources of information for several areas such as evolutionary and biogeographical analyses, as well as conservation biology.…”