Genus
Elliptica
26 species
*Elliptica* is a compact Afrotropical tiger beetle genus of roughly 18 species prowling the clay and loam floors of central African tropical forest openings after dark. These nocturnal hunters bear the characteristic dense, decumbent elytral pubescence — pale yellowish-white adpressed setae blanketing the elytra — that sets them apart within African Cicindelini. Their metallic bodies, marked with pale spots, measure 10–18 mm and carry large, strongly protuberant eyes well-suited to low-light pursuit. Found exclusively across the Afrotropical region, *Elliptica* represents one of the more distinctive fully winged forest genera on the continent.
Diagnosis
DIAGNOSIS — *Elliptica* Fairmaire, 1884 Body 10–18 mm, cylindrical, oval-shouldered; L:W ratio 2–3. Coloration metallic with pale maculate spots. Defining apomorphy: dense decumbent elytral pubescence of pale yellowish-white adpressed setae covering entire elytral surface. Head wider than pronotum; eyes large, strongly protuberant. Pronotum distinctly elliptical, sides smoothly convex, L:W ~1.4:1. Labrum transverse. Fully winged. Nocturnal; habitat forest floor clay and loam in tropical forest openings, Afrotropical region. Type species: *Cicindela ocellata* Klug, 1832.
Etymology
From Latin *ellipticus* (elliptical) — referring to elliptical body shape.
Species (26)
Distribution map — GBIF occurrences
GBIF · © OpenStreetMap · © CartoDB
Overview
*Elliptica* is a compact Afrotropical tiger beetle genus of roughly 18 species prowling the clay and loam floors of central African tropical forest openings after dark. These nocturnal hunters bear the characteristic dense, decumbent elytral pubescence — pale yellowish-white adpressed setae blanketing the elytra — that sets them apart within African Cicindelini. Their metallic bodies, marked with pale spots, measure 10–18 mm and carry large, strongly protuberant eyes well-suited to low-light pursuit. Found exclusively across the Afrotropical region, *Elliptica* represents one of the more distinctive fully winged forest genera on the continent.
Type species: Cicindela ocellata Klug, 1832 [by subsequent designation (Dokhtouroff 1883)]
1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist authority 2. Cassola, F. (1986) — genus revision, diagnostic characters 3. Werner, K. (2000) — Tiger Beetles of Africa Vol 2 4. Cassola, F. & Jaskuła, R. (2005) — biogeographic context 5. Werner, K. (1999/2000) — The Tiger Beetles of Africa (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae). Volumes I (1999, 191 pp) and II (2000, 207 pp). Taita Publishers, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. [Color picture-catalogue of 396 species in 34 genera; covers sub-Saharan Africa excluding Madagascar; 779 colour photographs in Vol II alone] 6. Serrano, A.R.M. & Capela, R.A. (2013) — The tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Cicindelinae) of Angola: a descriptive catalogue and designation of neotypes. Zootaxa 3731(4): 401-444. 7. Duran, D.P. & Gough, H.M. (2020) — Validation of tiger beetles as distinct family (Cicindelidae) and reclassification within Coleoptera. Systematic Entomology 45(4): 723-729. DOI: 10.1111/syen.12440 [validates Cicindelidae as separate family] 8. Gough, H.M., Duran, D.P., Kawahara, A.Y. & Toussaint, E.F.A. (2018) — A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of tiger beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Cicindelinae). Systematic Entomology 43(3): 567-586. DOI: 10.1111/syen.12324 [ML phylogeny of 328 taxa, 9 gene regions] 9. Wiesner, J. (2020) — Checklist of the Tiger Beetles of the World, 2nd edition (Verzeichnis der Sandlaufkäfer der Welt, 27. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Cicindelidae). Winterwork, Borsdorf, 534 pp. [Authoritative current world checklist] +7 citations · full list in paid edition
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Genera and Subgenera of Tiger Beetles
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