Lebia Latreille, 1802

Bousquet, Yves, 2012, Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico, ZooKeys 245, pp. 1-1722 : 812

Genus Lebia Latreille, 1802

Lebia Latreille, 1802: 85. Type species: Carabus haemorrhoidalis Fabricius, 1792 (= Buprestis marginatus Geoffroy, 1785) designated by Desmarest (1851: 76). Etymology (see Bedel 1878: 247). From the Greek lebias (kind of fish) [feminine]. Note. As stated by Andrewes (1935: 24), the first valid type species designation for Lebia Latreille, 1802 is that of Carabus quadrimaculatus Linnaeus, 1758 by Latreille (1810: 426). That species is also the type species of Dromius Bonelli, 1810. Acceptance of Latreille’s designation would require nomenclatural changes for the taxa Lebia Latreille, 1802 and Dromius Bonelli, 1810. A request should be addressed to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to suppress Latreille’s designation. A first request was postponed (ICZN 1950).

Encrates Gistel, 1848a: ix. Unnecessary replacement name for Lebia Latreille, 1802.

Diversity.

Worldwide, with about 740 species (Lorenz 2005: 481-488) arrayed in 17 subgenera. The North American fauna includes 48 species (about 6.5 % of the world fauna) in the boreal, temperate, and subtropical regions. These species are currently placed in four subgenera.

Identification.

Madge (1967) revised the North American species. Since the publication of his work, one of his species ( Lebia viridis ) has been shown to be a complex of two species ( Lebia viridis and Lebia moesta ) by Lindroth (1969a).