Genus
Jansenia
42 species
*Jansenia* Chaudoir, 1865 is a genus of roughly forty tiger beetle species inhabiting forest floors across South and Southeast Asia, from India and Sri Lanka east through Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan. These beetles favour bare sandy soils, clay-loam banks, and riverine substrates beneath closed canopy, emerging to hunt primarily after dark. Their bodies are depressed and darkly coloured, a form well suited to life close to the ground in dim forest understorey. *Jansenia* remains one of the most species-rich tiger beetle genera endemic to the Oriental region.
Diagnosis
DIAGNOSIS — *Jansenia* Chaudoir, 1865 Body 8–16 mm, depressed/flattened (L:W ratio 2–3); coloration dark, matte, non-metallic. Head wider than pronotum; eyes medium, not strongly protuberant. Labrum transverse. Pronotum subquadrate. Elytra fully developed (macropterous). Hindwings fully functional. Activity nocturnal. Substrate association: bare sandy soil, clay-loam, or riverine surfaces in forested Oriental habitats. Diagnosis supported primarily by male genitalic characters. No confusion genera currently recognised within Cicindelina.
Etymology
Named after Jansen (collector or person honoured).
Species (42)
Distribution map — GBIF occurrences
GBIF · © OpenStreetMap · © CartoDB
Overview
*Jansenia* Chaudoir, 1865 is a genus of roughly forty tiger beetle species inhabiting forest floors across South and Southeast Asia, from India and Sri Lanka east through Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan. These beetles favour bare sandy soils, clay-loam banks, and riverine substrates beneath closed canopy, emerging to hunt primarily after dark. Their bodies are depressed and darkly coloured, a form well suited to life close to the ground in dim forest understorey. *Jansenia* remains one of the most species-rich tiger beetle genera endemic to the Oriental region.
Type species: Jansenia gracilis Chaudoir, 1865 [by monotypy]
1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist authority 2. Chaudoir, M. de (1865) — original genus description 3. Cassola, F. (multiple papers) — generic revisions 4. Werner, K. (2000) — Tiger Beetles of Africa, Vol. 2 5. Pearson, D.L., Wiesner, J., Uniyal, V.P., Acciavatti, R.E. & Anichtchenko, A. (2020) — A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of India. Indira Publishing House, West Bloomfield, MI, 416 pp. 6. 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] 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] +10 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