An Overview of the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Venezuelan Epicauta (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

Abstract

The incomplete knowledge of the species distribution ranges represents a serious barrier for many areas of study in Biology that goes from Systematics to conservation of Biodiversity. One of the most important available resources to deal with the lack of geographic information are scientific collections. Epicauta with more than 366 species described is one of the most speciose lineages within Meloidae. Almost 73% of its diversity occurs in America. In Venezuela, the tenth richest country in biodiversity of the world, only nine species of Epicauta have been recorded and most of them are known from one or two localities. The revision of the specimens of Epicauta held at the entomological collection of the Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola "Francisco Fernandez Yépez" (MIZA) of the Universidad Central de Venezuela at Maracay, with additional data from other American and European collections allowed us to improve significantly the knowledge of the geographic distribution of the Venezuelan taxa. Besides, the morphological study of the specimens resulted in the addition of some species not previously recorded in Venezuela, the description of a new species, and the redescription of the almost unknown and forgotten species E. subvittata (Erichson 1848).