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Evolutionary Biology of Carabus Ground Beetles presents the whole picture of the ecological and evolutionary study on the ground beetle group, the subgenus Ohomopterus of the genus Carabus, endemic to Japan. This flightless beetle group consists of many geographic races. They show divergence in key traits for reproductive isolation – body size and genital morphology, which leads to the coexistence of two or more species. This beetle group provides an important material to study how a lineage of organisms diversifies and form multi-species assemblage, and thereby multiplying their species richness. The book introduces novel genomic approaches to resolve questions about the evolution of Ohomopterus. The readers will find that this story of evolution in Carabus beetles revealed by recent approaches is much different from what was told in previous literature.
Exploring different cases across a wide range of lineages is important in constructing a synthetic theory of species radiation and richness, including speciation and species coexistence. This study on Ohomopterus beetles contributes to the ongoing discussion to understand how and why species multiply and how species richness increases in one area of our planet.
Chapter 1. Introduction to the world of Carabus
Chapter 2. Ohomopterus: a species radiation with diversification of key traits for mechanical reproductive isolation
Chapter 3. Biology of Ohomopterus
Chapter 4. Species assemblages
Chapter 5. Natural hybridization and reproductive isolation
Chapter 6. Evolutionary history of Ohomopterus
Chapter 7. Evolution of a key trait for species diversity: body size
Chapter 8. Evolution of a key trait for species diversity: genital morphology
Chapter 9. Overview: How does species richness increase?
Literature cited
