FNZ 34 - Anthicidae (Coleoptera) - Introduction
Werner, FG; Chandler, DS 1995. Anthicidae (Insecta: Coleoptera). Fauna of New Zealand 34, 64 pages.
(
ISSN 0111-5383 (print),
;
no.
34.
ISBN 0-478-04547-6 (print),
).
Published 21 Jun 1995
ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/References/45C859C4-F429-47B8-BDEF-2728D4AD100F
INTRODUCTION
Members of the Anthicidae, the ant-like flower beetles, are most commonly associated with riparian areas and savannahs, and to a lesser extent forests. Their fauna is generally well known for North America and Eurasia, and somewhat less so for Africa and South America. The Oriental, Australian, and New Zealand faunas have all been largely neglected since the early 1900s, and though many species have been described, there haven't been any synthetic treatments of any part of the fauna from these areas other than Krekich-Stassoldo's limited work in the Philippines (1925, 1929).
Systematic work on the New Zealand Anthicidae certainly reflects this pattern. Previous treatments of New Zealand anthicids consist of isolated species descriptions by Broun (18 species), Pascoe (2 species), and Sharp (2 species) from 1876 to 1923. Other than their listing in catalogues (Hutton 1904, Pic 1911a, b, Hudson 1923, Blair 1928a, b), the only subsequent paper dealing with the New Zealand fauna was the synonymy of Anthicus fallax under Anthicus floralis by Buck (1950). Placement of the precinctive genus Cotes has been particularly enigmatic, since few specimens of this genus exist outside of collections in New Zealand or in the British Museum (Natural History), and few specialists on Anthicidae have ever seen any specimens.
Twenty-six species are now known from New Zealand. Nine are definite or suspected introductions from other countries; seven from Australia - Anthicus glaber, A. gushi, A. hesperi, A. kreusleri, A. troilus, Sapintus deitzi, and Trichananca fulgida, with the last two and A. gushi undescribed; and two cosmopolitan, Anthicus floralis and A. formicarius. Five species from the remaining seventeen are here described as new. The genera Sapintus and Trichananca are now recognised from New Zealand, and a precinctive new genus, Zealanthicus, is defined. Cotes, the only other truly precinctive genus, has several species with the flight wings reduced.
While little is known about species relationships within the large cosmopolitan genera Anthicus, Sapintus, and Macratria, the other species either belong to genera unique to New Zealand (Cotes and Zealanthicus) or are in genera found only in Australia, New Zealand, and southern South America (Lagrioida and Trichananca). Cotes, Trichananca, and Zealanthicus are members of the Lemodinae, a subfamily most diverse at the generic and specific levels in Australia. The two native species of Anthicus are here placed as members of the strictus -group, which is also most diverse in Australia. The biogeographic affinities of the New Zealand anthicid fauna clearly indicate an ancient origin in common with the Australian fauna, with members of two of these genera sparsely represented in southern South America.