Cassolaia

Overview

*Cassolaia* Wiesner, 1985 is a monotypic tiger beetle genus haunting the salt lake margins and halophytic bare clays of the western Mediterranean. Its single species — *Cassolaia maura* (Linnaeus, 1758) — is a small, metallic-coloured nocturnal hunter tied to some of the harshest saline landscapes of the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb. This striking habitat fidelity to exposed, salt-crusted substrates sets *Cassolaia* apart from most Palaearctic Cicindelina.

Type species: Cicindela maryannae Cassola, 1981 [by original designation (Moravec 2020)]

1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist authority 2. Moravec, J. (2020) — original genus description honoring F. Cassola 3. Pearson, D.L. & Vogler, A.P. (2001) — Tiger Beetles: The Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity of the Cicindelids. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, 333 pp. [ISBN 0-8014-3882-9] 4. Cassola, F. (1981–2008) — Various papers on African and Oriental Cicindelidae; cytotaxonomic and revisionary studies (multiple periodicals). 5. Putchkov, A.V. & Arndt, E. (1997–2010) — Treatments in Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera (Löbl & Smetana eds., Vol. 1). 6. Löbl, I. & Smetana, A. (eds.) (2003) — Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, Vol. 1: Archostemata–Myxophaga–Adephaga. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, 819 pp. [ISBN 87-88757-73-0] 7. Knisley, C.B. & Pearson, D.L. (1984) — Biosystematics of larval tiger beetles, Sulphur Springs Valley, Arizona: descriptions of species and a review of larval biology. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 110: 465-551. 8. Arndt, E. & Putchkov, A.V. (1997) — Phylogenetic investigation of Cicindelidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) using larval morphological characters. Zoologischer Anzeiger 235: 231-241. 9. Schüle, P., Putchkov, A.V. & Markina, T.Y. (2021) — Dromica larvae: pronotum and hooks as unique characters. ZooKeys 1027: 111-138. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1027.61993 +6 citations · full list in paid edition