Genus
Megacephala
59 species
*Megacephala* Latreille, 1802 is a robust Afrotropical tiger beetle genus whose broad, enlarged head is wider than the pronotum — the source of its name. Active after dark on bare or sandy soils, these metallic-green to gold beetles are among the most striking nocturnal predators of African open habitats.
Diagnosis
DIAGNOSIS — *Megacephala* Latreille, 1802. Body 15–25 mm; head markedly enlarged, broader than pronotum; color bright metallic; nocturnal. Separated from *Tetracha* by Old World (Afrotropical) distribution and aedeagal characters.
Etymology
From Greek *mégas* (big, large) + *kephalḗ* (head) — referring to the conspicuously broadened head wider than the pronotum.
Species (59)
Distribution map — GBIF occurrences
GBIF · © OpenStreetMap · © CartoDB
Overview
*Megacephala* Latreille, 1802 is a robust Afrotropical tiger beetle genus whose broad, enlarged head is wider than the pronotum — the source of its name. Active after dark on bare or sandy soils, these metallic-green to gold beetles are among the most striking nocturnal predators of African open habitats.
Type species: Cicindela megacephala Olivier, 1790 (junior synonym of M. acutipennis) [by subsequent designation (Westwood 1842 context)]
1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist 2. Latreille, P.A. (1802) — original genus 3. Pearson, D.L. & Vogler, A.P. (2001) — Megacephalini phylogeny 4. 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] 5. 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] 6. 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. Latreille, P.A. — Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, des crustacés et des insectes (1802-1805); Genera crustaceorum et insectorum (1806-1809); various subsequent papers. BHL bibliography/15764 + linked series [open access pre-1923] 8. 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] 9. Naviaux, R. (2007) — Tetracha (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae, Megacephalina): révision du genre et descriptions de nouveaux taxons. Mémoires de la Société entomologique de France 7: 1-197. [reorganized Megacephalina, elevating seven subgenera to genera including Megacephala, Metriocheila, Grammognatha, Phaeoxantha, Pseudotetracha] +9 citations · full list in paid edition
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