Tiger Beetles of the Madagascan Region (Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, Mascarenes and other islands) Taxonomic revision of the 17 genera in the region (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)

About this book

This is the third and last of the author's revisions of Madagascan tiger beetles (Cicindelidae). In contrast to the first two volumes, this is a taxonomic and nomenclatorial revision of the remaining 17 different genera occurring in the whole Madagascan region, which in the geographical division includes Madagascar and its neighbouring small islands, as well as archipelagos including the Comoros, Seychelles and Mascarenes. The total number of taxa, revised and recognized by the author (including the two previously monographed genera), comprises 19 genera, 28 subgenera, 237 species and 21 subspecies which represent one of the richest tiger beetle faunas in the world.

The comprehensive revision presented here, based on the author's examination of more than 8500 specimens including relevant type material, comprises 17 genera and four subgenera, all of them belonging to the tribe Cicindelini. These include six genera of subtribe Prothymina and eleven genera of subtribe Cicindelina, encompassing 60 species and seven subspecies, including three new species, two new subspecies and one new subgenus described here. Some important changes in taxonomy and nomenclature are proposed according to ICZN.

Most of the genera, for instance the extremely rare Mascarenian genera Diastrophella and Megalomma, are revised and illustrated in detail for the first time, including illustrations of their larvae. Due to the enormous variability of adults in a number of species, the author has emphasized the variability not only in detailed descriptions, but demonstrated it mainly in numerous colour illustrations of diagnostic characters. Dichotomous keys to subtribes, genera, species and subspecies are also presented.

The book contains a separate loose page with some errata.

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