Colydiine Genera (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Colydiinae) of the New World: A Key and Nomenclatural Acts 30 Years in the Making

Abstract

A brief review of the classification history of the subfamily Colydiinae is provided, followed by a provisional diagnosis for the group. The 47 genera of New World Colydiinae (Colydiidae auctorum) are reviewed, with an illustrated key to genera, a representative habitus of each genus, a list of all 305 described species currently considered valid, each placed into the appropriate recognized genus, with full citations for each. Numerous nomenclatural changes are noted. Opostirus Kirsch is transferred to the Tenebrionidae: Eudysantina, new placement.

An aberrant colydiine-like tenebrionoid beetle from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea: Zopheridae)

“…The placement of Coslonatus within Colydiinae is supported by the 4-4-4 tarsal formula, clubbed antennae, and all freely connected abdominal ventrites. However, these characters have also evolved convergently in other tenebrionoid groups (Ivie et al, 2016). Thus, a colydiine assignment of Coslonatus here largely relies on the overall habitus, which is only tentative and pending further discovery of better-preserved fossils and comprehensive phylogenetic studies.…”

“…It is even more difficult to determine the precise systematic placement of Coslonatus. The ventral thoracic structures, especially the prothoracic features, are crucial for the classification of Colydiinae (Ivie et al, 2016), which, however, cannot be reliably determined due to the presence of creases and cracks on the specimen, which are apparently taphonomic artefacts in some amber fossils. The placement of Coslonatus within Colydiinae is supported by the 4-4-4 tarsal formula, clubbed antennae, and all freely connected abdominal ventrites.…”

“…The taxonomy of Colydiinae has not been adequately explored (e.g., Ivie et al, 2016;Leschen & Lord, 2017). Currently eight tribes are recognised in Colydiinae, with the majority of genera placed in the poorly defined Synchitini (Ślipiński & Burakowski, 1988;Ivie et al, 2016), which is unlikely to be monophyletic and requires further revisions (Cheng et al, 2020).…”

A New Genus of Cylindrical Bark Beetle (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Colydiinae) in mid-Cretaceous Burmese Amber

“…Remarks: There are no extant or extinct genera of beetles in the current classification of the Zopheridae that have the type of dorsal protuberances found on S. saraemcheana gen. et sp. nov. (Crowson, 1956;Dillon & Dillon, 1961;Hatch, 1971;White, 1983;Borror et al, 1989;Lawrence & Britton, 1991;Alekseev & Lord, 2014;Alekseev, 2015;Alekseev & Bukeja, 2016;Ivie et al, 2016;Alekseev & Alekseev, 2019;Bullis, 2020). The elongate body of S. saraemcheana gen. et sp.…”

New fossil cylindrical bark beetle (Zopheridae: Colydiinae: Gempylodini) from Eocene Baltic amber: An abnormal or intermediate form within Tenebrionoidea

“…The tribe Gempylodini Sharp, 1893, includes extremely elongate and subcylindrical colydiids often found in the tunnels of wood-boring insects. The group is usually characterized by the combination of concealed antennal and mandibular insertions, broadly closed procoxal cavities, a nonarticulated external spine at the apex of all tibiae, narrowly separated metacoxae (Lawrence, 1980), prothorax impressed laterally for reception of legs and antenna gradually clavate in some genera (Ivie et al, 2016). Two similarly elongate and cylindrical tribes of colydiine beetles differ from Gempylodini in having sublateral pronotal carinae and a 3-segmented, distinct antennal club (four genera of tribe Colydiini Erichson, 1842); or in having dorsally visible mandibular bases and a 2-segmented antennal club (the monogeneric tribe Nematidiini Sharp, 1894).…”