Troglochares is a Neotropical genus of water scavenger beetle in the family Hydrophilidae represented by one described species known from caves in Ecuador.[1]
| Troglochares | |
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| Dorsal view of Troglochares ashmolei | |
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| Genus: | Troglochares Spangler, 1981
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| Species: | T. ashmolei
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| Binomial name | |
| Troglochares ashmolei Spangler, 1981
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Taxonomy edit
The genus Troglochares belongs in the subfamily Acidocerinae. It was described for the first time by Paul Spangler in 1981 to accommodate an eyeless species from Los Tayos Cave in Morona-Santiago Province, Ecuador.[2]
Description edit
Small beetles (1.9 mm), smooth and shiny dorsally, yellowish-brown in coloration, with moderately long maxillary palps. The most salient characteristic of the genus is the lack of eyes. A complete diagnosis was presented by Girón and Short.[1]
Habitat edit
Troglochares ashmolei is the only acidocerine species known to occur in cavernicolous habitats.[1]
Species edit
- Troglochares ashmolei Spangler, 1981
References edit
- ^ a b c Girón, Jennifer C.; Short, Andrew Edward Z. (2021-06-18). "The Acidocerinae (Coleoptera, Hydrophilidae): taxonomy, classification, and catalog of species". ZooKeys (1045): 1–236. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1045.63810. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 8233300. PMID 34228772.
- ^ Spangler, P. J. (1981). "A new water beetle, Troglochares ashmolei, n. gen., n. sp., from Ecuador; the first known eyeless cavernicolous hydrophilid beetle (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 83: 316–323.