Pronunciation
Typically pronounced either si-LEE-NO-fer-us or silly-NO-fer-us. First case: major accent on bold capitals and minor accent on plain capitals. Second case: only one accent on the plain capitals. In either case, the only long vowel is the second e in Selenophorus. [PWM note]
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
The recent review of Nearctic
Selenophorus by Messer & Raber (2021) and their post-publication supplement (2022)
(1) update Bousquet's 2012 catalogue
(2). The authors report 8 new species, taxonomic changes including 13 new synonyms, several range extensions, and a key to the 15 species groups and
37 Nearctic species.
Explanation of Names
Selenophorus Dejean 1829.
Greek: "seleno" (= moon) + "phorus" (= bearing) is a reference to the very shiny appearance of some members of this genus. [PWM note]
Numbers
With the new taxonomic treatments reported by Messer & Raber
(1), the revised New World checklist of
Selenophorus contains 177 valid species-group taxa (37 are Nearctic), of which 20 (8 Nearctic) are in the subgenus
Celiamorphus and 157 (29 Nearctic) are in the subgenus
Selenophorus.
Identification
Serial punctures in elytral striae 2, 5, 7 are characteristic of these four sister genera in North America: Selenophorus, Amblygnathus, Athrostictus, Discoderus. The genera are distinguished in identification keys by Noonan (1985) and Ball & Bousquet (2001).
Range
e. NA to s. Calif. / Mex. to S. Amer. / plus a few Pacific Islands -
Map (2)(3)
New range extensions for the Nearctic species of
Selenophorus are continuously updated at the post-2012 Caraboidea Registry.
(4)
Ten
Selenophorus species were collected at Santa Ana NWR in s. TX including
S. balli, S. elytrostictus, S. fatuus, S. intermedius, S. palliatus, S. pedicularius, S. rileyi, S. seriatoporus, S. striatopunctatus, and
S. undatus.
(1)Print References
Ball, G.E., and Y. Bousquet. 2001. Carabidae Latreille, 1810, Chapter 6, pp. 33-132. In Arnett, R.H. and M. C. Thomas (eds.) American Beetles, 1. CRC Press, Boca Raton, London, New York, Washington, D.C.
Horn, G.H. 1880. Critical notes on the species of
Selenophorus of the United States. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 19(107): 178-183.
(5)
Noonan, G.R. 1985. Classification and names of the Selenophori group (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalini) and of nine genera and subgenera placed in incertae sedis within Harpalina. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology No. 64. 92 pp.
