Genus
Epitrichodes
1 species
*Epitrichodes* is a small Afrotropical genus of tiger beetles inhabiting forest floors across central Africa, running across compacted laterite, clay-pans, and sandy substrates under cover of darkness. Its metallic, depressed body — measuring 9–13 mm — suits a cursorial, nocturnal lifestyle in sub-Saharan forest habitats.
Diagnosis
DIAGNOSIS — *Epitrichodes* Rivalier, 1957. Body 9–13 mm, depressed, metallic; fully winged. Head wider than pronotum; eyes medium; labrum transverse. Nocturnal; forest habitat on compacted laterite, clay-pan, or sandy substrate (sub-Saharan Africa). Separation from sympatric Afrotropical Cicindelina based on aedeagal morphology [Cassola, 2002]. No confusion genera recorded.
Etymology
From Greek *epí-* (upon) + *thríx/trichós* (hair) — "with-hair-upon".
Species (1)
Distribution map — GBIF occurrences
GBIF · © OpenStreetMap · © CartoDB
Overview
*Epitrichodes* is a small Afrotropical genus of tiger beetles inhabiting forest floors across central Africa, running across compacted laterite, clay-pans, and sandy substrates under cover of darkness. Its metallic, depressed body — measuring 9–13 mm — suits a cursorial, nocturnal lifestyle in sub-Saharan forest habitats.
Type species: Epitrichodes rugosus Werner, 1991 [by monotypy]
1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist 2. Cassola, F. (2002) — original genus description 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. 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] 5. 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. 6. 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] 7. 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] 8. 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] 9. Cassola, F. (1971-2010) — Studies on Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae) — numbered series of papers (over 120 contributions) published primarily in Bollettino della Società Entomologica Italiana, Fragmenta Entomologica, Lambillionea, Coleopterists Bulletin, Quaderni del Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Biota Colombiana. Provides taxonomic descriptions, regional faunal lists, and cytotaxonomic studies covering Afrotropical, Oriental, and Neotropical regions. +5 citations · full list in paid edition
Living Book · World Monograph 2026
Genera and Subgenera of Tiger Beetles
240 genera · 3,715 taxa · 194-character matrix · 12 months free updates