Genus
Manautea
4 species
*Manautea* is a small genus of four tiger beetle species endemic to New Caledonia, where adults prowl bare sandy and clay substrates under cover of darkness. Their elongate bodies, metallic bronze to greenish coloration, and cursorial legs mark them as swift nocturnal hunters of open, wet terrain. With fewer than a handful of species described, *Manautea* remains one of the least-studied genera in the Pacific tiger beetle fauna.
Diagnosis
DIAGNOSIS — *Manautea* Deuve, 2006 Body small to medium, 8–12 mm, elongate-cursorial. Head wider than pronotum; eyes large, protuberant. Pronotum subquadrate. Elytra elongate, metallic bronze to greenish; maculation variable. Legs cursorial. Nocturnal; habitat open wet ground on bare sandy or clay substrate. No confusion genera recorded within Australasian fauna.
Etymology
Named after Manautea (vernacular New Caledonian reference); see Deuve 2006.
Species (4)
Distribution map — GBIF occurrences
GBIF · © OpenStreetMap · © CartoDB
Overview
*Manautea* is a small genus of four tiger beetle species endemic to New Caledonia, where adults prowl bare sandy and clay substrates under cover of darkness. Their elongate bodies, metallic bronze to greenish coloration, and cursorial legs mark them as swift nocturnal hunters of open, wet terrain. With fewer than a handful of species described, *Manautea* remains one of the least-studied genera in the Pacific tiger beetle fauna.
Type species: Manautea tripotini Deuve, 2006 [by monotypy]
1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist authority 2. Deuve, T. (2006) — original genus description 3. 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. 4. Arndt, E. & Putchkov, A.V. (1997) — Phylogenetic investigation of Cicindelidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) using larval morphological characters. Zoologischer Anzeiger 235: 231-241. 5. 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. 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. Horn, W. (1908, 1910, 1915) — Coleoptera Adephaga, fam. Carabidae, subfam. Cicindelinae. In: Wytsman, P. (Ed.) Genera Insectorum, fascicles 82a, 82b, 82c. L. Desmet-Verteneuil, Bruxelles. BHL bibliography/45481 [foundational historical monograph of Cicindelidae, treating all genera known at the time] +1 citations · full list in paid edition
Living Book · World Monograph 2026
Genera and Subgenera of Tiger Beetles
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