ELATERIDAE, Leach, 1815

Ferro, Michael L., Gimmel, Matthew L., Harms, Kyle E. & Carlton, Christopher E., 2012, Comparison of Coleoptera emergent from various decay classes of downed coarse woody debris in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA, Insecta Mundi 2012 (260), pp. 1-8 : 25

ELATERIDAE

Elateridae are the ninth most diverse family of beetles in the world but are poorly known and most North American genera are in need of revision (see Johnson 2002b). Three species of Ampedus Dejean are highlighted below. No comprehensive key exists to separate the 71 species of Ampedus known from North America. Partial keys may be found in the following: LeConte (1853, 1884) (as Elater L.); Van Dyke (1932) (as Elater “cordifer group”); Blatchley (1910) (Indiana and surrounding states); Dietrich (1945) (northeastern United States); Brooks (1960) (central Canada); Lane 1971 (Pacific Northwest); and Downie and Arnett 1996 (northeastern North America). An unpublished thesis ( Ramberg 1979) may be helpful to anyone wishing to revise this genus.