Fauna of New Zealand, No 53: Harpalini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalinae)

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The tribe Harpalini belongs to the subfamily Harpalinae which contains over 19 000 taxa worldwide, distributed in all biogeographic regions. Compared with larger or warmer regions of the world, the New Zealand fauna is relatively small, but NZ is a biodiversity `hot-spot', with 42 out of 57 recorded species and 11 out of 20 recorded genera found nowhere else in the world. Harpaline ground beetles are potentially useful as bioindicators and biocontrol agents, and make an attractive study group for biologists investigating evolutionary and ecological hypotheses. They are taxonomically diverse, generally abundant in the field,and demonstrate ecological preferences and a flexible set of responses to environmental factors. In addition their populations may be reliably sampled with relative ease. Over 50% of native species are known from 10 populations or fewer. All but one of these very special species are new to science and all are of potential conservation concern. This faunal review is intended for a wide audience, and provides an inventory of New Zealand taxa, concise treatment of their taxonomy, identification keys, illustrations and maps, and a summary of all available information on species distribution, ecology, biology and dispersal power. As such it provides a solid foundation for studies of other types, and baseline information for systematists, identifiers, ecologists, and biosecurity and conservation managers.