Genus
Neochila
17 species
*Neochila* Basilewsky, 1953 is a small African genus of thirteen species inhabiting forest floors and low vegetation across sub-Saharan Africa. These slender, parallel-sided beetles gleam in shades of black, blue-green, or blue-violet, blending into the dappled light of central African woodlands. Adults are semi-arboreal, patrolling both ground substrate and low vegetation, while larvae develop in soil near plant bases. Activity peaks between June and October, apparently triggered by seasonal rainfall.
Diagnosis
DIAGNOSIS — *Neochila* Basilewsky, 1953. Length 7.1–13 mm. Elongate, parallel-sided, depressed; black to bluish-green or blue-violet, metallic. Prothymoid elytral sculpture: dense shallow roundish or polygonal punctures. Labrum sexually dimorphic, 5-toothed: 3 central teeth reduced (♂) or protruding (♀); 2–4 anterior setae. Two species-groups separable by labral color: *kigonserana*-gr. with testaceous-yellowish areola; *katangana*-gr. uniformly metallic. Semi-arboreal; larvae in soil near plant bases. Afrotropical forest genus. No confusion genera recorded.
Etymology
From Greek *néos* (new) + χεῖλος (lip) — "new-lipped" (new lip morphology from sister genera).
Species (17)
Distribution map — GBIF occurrences
GBIF · © OpenStreetMap · © CartoDB
Overview
*Neochila* Basilewsky, 1953 is a small African genus of thirteen species inhabiting forest floors and low vegetation across sub-Saharan Africa. These slender, parallel-sided beetles gleam in shades of black, blue-green, or blue-violet, blending into the dappled light of central African woodlands. Adults are semi-arboreal, patrolling both ground substrate and low vegetation, while larvae develop in soil near plant bases. Activity peaks between June and October, apparently triggered by seasonal rainfall.
Type species: Odontochila kigonserana W. Horn, 1905 [by original designation]
1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist authority 2. Basilewsky, P. (1966) — original genus description 3. Moravec, J. (2020) — Cicindelini Vol. 2 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. 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] 8. nan (2007) — Tijdschrift voor entomologie, Vol.150 (p.401-420) 01.XII.2007, Revision of the African T.B. Genus Ne DOI: 10.1163/22119434-900000240 9. nan (1981) — Koleopterologische Rundschau Band 55, (p.3-18) 1981, Neun neue Formen aus der Familie aus 5 Kontinen +3 citations · full list in paid edition
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Genera and Subgenera of Tiger Beetles
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