Psepheninae

Lacordaire, 1854

water-penny beetles

Genus Guides

Psephenus(water penny beetles)

Psepheninae is a of Psephenidae (Coleoptera: Polyphaga) containing water-penny beetles, named for the distinctive flattened, oval larvae that resemble pennies. The subfamily includes at least six : Psephenus, Psephenops, Pheneps, Psephenotarsis, Psephenopalpus, and Belicinus. Members are strictly aquatic and occur in the New World from North America through Central America to South America.

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Aquatic dryopoid beetles (Coleoptera) of the United States (Page 66) BHL3286845 by Brown, Harley P.; Oceanography and Limnology Program (Smithsonian Institution); United States.. Used under a Public domain license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Psepheninae: /ˈsɛfɪˌnaɪ/

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Identification

of Psepheninae can be distinguished by combinations of characters including pronotal shape, structure, tibiae and tarsomere , maxillary palpi, and male genitalia features such as paramere shape and phallobase structure. Larvae are dorsoventrally flattened, oval, and disc-shaped with segmented margins, superficially resembling small pennies.

Images

Habitat

Strictly aquatic lotic environments; larvae and inhabit running water in streams and rivers. Specimens have been collected entirely submerged using Surber samplers.

Distribution

New World distribution: North America (Mexico), Central America (Belize, Guatemala), South America (Venezuela, Suriname, Brazil), and the West Indies. In Mexico, the is represented by 13 across multiple .

Behavior

males of at least three (Psephenops shepardi, Psephenus palpalis, Psephenopalpus browni) have been observed and collected in a completely submerged state, suggesting active underwater in adults.

Similar Taxa

EubriinaeAlso aquatic beetles with flattened larvae, but larvae have different body form and morphological characters of , tibiae, and genitalia differ
PsephenoidinaeAnother of Psephenidae; distinguished by larval and morphological characters including body shape and chaetotaxy

More Details

Taxonomic composition

The contains six recognized : Psephenus (widespread), Psephenops (16 valid , 3 in Mexico), Pheneps, Psephenotarsis, Psephenopalpus, and Belicinus (, described from Belize). The genus Belicinus appears more closely related to Psephenotarsis than to other Psepheninae genera based on morphological analysis.

Collection methods

Submerged specimens have been successfully collected using Surber samplers, indicating that standard surface collection methods may underestimate adult abundance and that active searching in submerged substrates is necessary for complete sampling.