Vacronini
Gebien, 1910
Genus Guides
2Vacronini is a tribe of darkling beetles within the Pimeliinae, Tenebrionidae. The tribe was established by Gebien in 1910 and comprises at least four with a disjunct distribution across North America and Australasia. Members are classified within the superfamily Tenebrionoidea, a diverse group of beetles commonly associated with arid and semi-arid environments.
Distribution
The tribe exhibits a disjunct distribution with recorded from two distinct regions: North America (Alaephus, Eupsophulus) and Australasia (Exangeltus, Lixionica). The North American genera are found in the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico, while the Australasian representatives occur in Australia.
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Taxonomic composition
Vacronini contains four recognized : Alaephus (Horn, 1870), Eupsophulus (Cockerell, 1906), Exangeltus (Blackburn, 1897), and Lixionica (Blackburn, 1896). The Australasian genera were described by Thomas Blackburn, a prominent Australian entomologist of the late 19th century.
Phylogenetic placement
Within Tenebrionidae, Vacronini is placed in the Pimeliinae, which is predominantly composed of desert-dwelling darkling beetles. The tribe's authorship is attributed to Hans Gebien, a German coleopterist who published extensively on Tenebrionidae classification in the early 20th century.