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Agabus (beetle)

Agabus is a large genus of predatory aquatic beetles in the family Dytiscidae, proposed in 1817 by William Elford Leach and named after Agabus, an early follower of Christianity. The adult beetles are moderate-sized, 5 to 14 mm long. The genus is primarily Holarctic in distribution, with only a few species known from the Afrotropical and Neotropical realms. Three species of Agabus, namely A. clypealis, A. discicollis and A. hozgargantae are endangered according to the IUCN Red List. The division into subgenera is not widely accepted. However, a number of species groups are recognized after the works of David J. Larson and Anders N. Nilsson. The genus is probably polyphyletic or paraphyletic. In a recent study of mitochondrial DNA, Agabus was found paraphyletic with respect to several of the species groups of Platambus, a closely related genus in the tribe Agabini. Lately the taxonomy of the genus has been revised, and some groups of species were transferred from Agabus sensu stricto to other genera in the tribe Agabini.

Agabus contains the following species:

References

Further reading

Hilsenhoff, W.L. (1986) Life history strategies of some Nearctic Agabini (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae). Entomologica Basiliensia 11: 385-390.
Larson D.J. (1989). Revision of North American Agabus Leach (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae): introduction, key to species groups, and classification of the ambiguus-, tristis- and arcticus-groups. The Canadian Entomologist 121: 861-919.
Larson D.J. (1991). Revision of North American Agabus Leach (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae): elongatus-, zetterstedti-, and confinis-groups. The Canadian Entomologist 123: 1239-1317.
Larson D.J. (1994). Revision of North American Agabus Leach (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae): lutosus-, obsoletus-, and fuscipennis-groups. The Canadian Entomologist 126: 135-181.
Larson D.J. (1996). Revision of North American Agabus Leach (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae): the opacus-group. The Canadian Entomologist 128: 613-665.
Larson D.J. (1997). Revision of North American Agabus Leach (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae): the seriatus-group. The Canadian Entomologist 129: 105-149.
Larson D.J., Alarie Y., Roughley R.E. (2000) Predaceous diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) of the Nearctic Region, with emphasis on the fauna of Canada and Alaska. Ottawa: NRC Research Press. .
Larson, D.J. & Nilsson, A.N. (1985) The Holarctic species of Agabus (sensu lato) Leach (Coleoptera: Dystiscidae). The Canadian Entomologist 117: 119-130.
Larson D.J. & Wolfe R.W. (1998). Revision of North American Agabus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae): the semivittatus-group. The Canadian Entomologist 130: 27-54.
Nilsson, Anders N. (1982). A key to the identification of the known third-stage larvae of the Fennoscandian species of the genus Agabus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Entomologica Scandinavica 13 (3): 333-338.
Nilsson, Anders N. (1986) Life cycle and habitats of the northern European Agabini (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Entomologica Basiliensia 11: 391-417, 1986.
Nilsson, Anders N. (1987) A key to the first instar larvae of Fennoscandian Agabus Leach (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae). Fauna Norvegica, Series B 34 (2): 131-137.
Nilsson, Anders N. (1992) A revision of Afrotropical Agabus Leach (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae), and the evolution of tropicoalpine super specialists. Systematic Entomology 17 (2), 155-179.
Nilsson, Anders N. (2000) A new view on the generic classification of the Agabus-group of genera of the Agabini, aimed at solving the problem with a paraphyletic Agabus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Koleopterologische Rundschau 70: 17–36.

External links