Revision of the Australian ground-beetle genus Tasmanitachoides Erwin (Insecta : Coleoptera : Carabidae : Bembidiinae), with special regard to the tropical species

Abstract

The Australian Tachyine genus Tasmanitachoides Erwin is revised, and the following new species are described: T. angulicollis, sp. nov., T. maior, sp nov., T. minor, sp. nov., T. bicolor, sp. nov. and T. rufescens, sp. nov. Lectotypes and paralectotypes are designated for T. leai (Sloane) and T. obliquiceps (Sloane), and T. wilsoni (Sloane) and T. obliquiceps (Sloane), not mentioned by earlier revisors of the genus, are included in Tasmanitachoides. From a short evaluation of the phylogenetic status of the species, it appears that the generalised groups of species are still living in south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, whereas most species of the more derivative species group have spread over tropical northern Australia, and are still in a period of rapid evolution.

Larvae of Bembidiini (Coleoptera: Carabidae): Subtribes Tachyina and Xystosomina

“…Based on adult morphology, Sphaerotachys is closely related to the genus Elaphropus and is regarded by some authors as a subgenus (Baehr, 1987;Kryzhanovskij et al, 1995) or even as a synonym (Erwin, 1974a) of the latter.…”

“…Erwin (1974a) pointed out that the group's greatest diversity is in the Oriental Region and in Africa. Recently Baehr (1987) revised the Austra lian fauna of Elaphropus and listed 23 species of the sub genus Elaphropus and one of the subgenus Sphaerotachys (the latter taxon is regarded in the current work as a separate genus).…”

“…The recent papers by Erwin (1973Erwin ( , 1974aErwin ( , b, 1975Erwin ( , 1978Erwin ( , 1994 for Neotropical and Baehr (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1995 for Australian regions demonstrate that both subtribes are extremely diverse in the shape, size, and color of adults. To date, larvae have not been as thor oughly studied.…”

A new species of the tachyine genus Tasmanitachoides from the Kimberley Division, Western Australia (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

“…Baehr (1990) revised the genus and included certain species not mentioned by Darlington nor Erwin, and described additional species. Three additional species from north-eastern Queensland and one from north-eastern New South Wales were described more recently (Baehr 2001(Baehr , 2008a.…”

“…One group which includes the recently described species from Queensland and New South Wales (Baehr 2001(Baehr , 2008a (T. glabellus Baehr, T. balli Baehr, T. hackeri Baehr and T. hendrichi Baehr) prefer damp, usually montane, habitats at the banks of rivers and creeks in eastern Australia (Baehr 1990: Framenau et al 2002, and usually are more or less dark coloured, whereas the other group consists of pale yellow or reddish species which mainly live in semiarid or even arid northern Australia and occur in sand or gravel of rivers, including intermittent water courses, provided that some pools in the river bed persist (T. arnhemensis Erwin, T. fitzroyi Darlington, T. katherinei Erwin and T. minor Baehr).…”