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Research Project: Innovative Technologies to Control Invasive Species that Impact Livestock

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Title: A revision of Eleodes subgenus Litheleodes (Coleoptera:Tenebrionidae)

Author
item TRIPLEHORN, CHARLES - The Ohio State University
item Thomas, Donald

Submitted to: The Coleopterists Bulletin
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/11/2015
Publication Date: 12/18/2015
Citation: Triplehorn, C.A., Thomas, D.B. 2015. A revision of Eleodes subgenus Litheleodes (Coleoptera:Tenebrionidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin. 14:11-21.

Interpretive Summary: Arundo cane is an invasive plant species that creates pathogenic landscapes where it displaces the native vegetation. Ground beetles are indicators of biodiversity within such habitats because they are flightless. One of the dominant beetle groups in native habitats in the southwestern U.S. and adjacent Mexico are darkling beetles in the genus Eleodes. These beetles are difficult to identify. The present article provides a tool for identification by providing a detailed characterization of each of nine related, similar-appearing species previously defined as the subgenus, Litheleodes.

Technical Abstract: Litheleodes Blaisdell, a subgenus of Eleodes Eschscholtz, is reviewed with diagnoses, distributions, and nomenclatural notes for the nine included species. A type species, Blaps extricata Say, is herein designated, and the subgeneric definition is updated to differentiate it from related subgenera. The species, distributed over the western USA and adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico, are keyed and illustrated.