Platynini
Bonelli, 1810
Genus Guides
11Platynini is a large tribe of ground beetles (Carabidae) comprising at least 190 and approximately 3000 described . Members occupy diverse including temperate forests, alpine zones, wetlands, and subterranean environments. Several genera contain highly modified cave-adapted (troglobitic) species with reduced and elongated appendages. The tribe has a broad geographic distribution spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Pronunciation
How to pronounce Platynini: //pləˈtɪnɪnaɪ//
These audio files are automatically generated. While they are not always 100% accurate, they are a good starting point.
Identification
Platynini are generally small to medium-sized ground beetles. Diagnostic tribal characteristics require examination of male genitalia and other internal structures; external alone is often insufficient for species-level identification. Geometric morphometric analysis of the , pronotum, and has proven effective for distinguishing cryptic species.
Images
Habitat
are highly variable and include humid and cold environments in mountainous regions, Sphagnum bogs, temperate lowlands, and subterranean limestone caves. Several (e.g., Jujiroa, Morimotoidius) contain troglobitic restricted to cave systems in China.
Distribution
Widespread across temperate and subtropical regions. Documented from Europe (including Bulgaria, Italy, the Alps), southwestern and central China (Sichuan, Chongqing, Jiangxi), Vietnam, the Middle East (southern Levant), Middle America, and represented in the fossil record by Baltic amber (Eocene).
Behavior
Some exhibit troglobitic adaptations including reduced visual function and elongated and legs. Antennal campaniform in Platynini species have been observed to respond to rapid temperature changes, with variation correlating to preferences and daily activity rhythms.
Similar Taxa
- TrechiniBoth tribes contain cave-adapted ground beetles with convergent morphological modifications; distinguished by different genitalic and mouthpart structures
- PterostichiniOverlaps in distribution and general body form; Platynini generally smaller with different pronotal and elytral proportions, and distinct male genitalia
Sources and further reading
- BugGuide
- Wikipedia
- iNaturalist taxon
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Catalogue of Life
- New and unpublished data about Bulgarian ground beetles from the tribes Pterostichini, Sphodrini and Platynini (Coleoptera, Carabidae)
- Agonum tulliae sp. n. from the Sila National Park (Calabria, southern Italy) (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Platynini)
- A contribution to the knowledge of cavernicolous ground beetles from Sichuan Province, southwestern China (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Trechini, Platynini)
- Two new species and a new record of ground beetles of tribe Platynini Bonelli, 1810 from southwestern China (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
- The middle American genus Onypterygia Dejean (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae: Platynini): a taxonomic revision of the species, with notes about their way of life and geographical distribution
- On the Eocene age of Limodromus Motschulsky, 1850, with description of <br />L. hoffeinsorum sp. n. from Baltic Amber (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Platynini)
- Second highly modified hypogean species of the genus Morimotoidius Habu from western Jiangxi Province, China, with a new locality for M. zhushandong (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Platynini)
- Combination of Morphometric and Morphological Analyses: An Effective Approach for the Study of Platynus from the Italian W Alps (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Platynini)
- Responses of antennal campaniform sensilla to rapid temperature changes in ground beetles of the tribe platynini with different habitat preferences and daily activity rhythms
- The ground beetle tribe Platynini Bonelli, 1810 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the southern Levant: dichotomous and interactive identification tools, ecological traits, and distribution.