Genus
Trichodela
7 species
*Trichodela* Rivalier, 1957 is a small Afrotropical genus of tiger beetles found across sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania, Zambia, and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. These medium-sized, dark beetles favour open, wet habitats with compacted laterite, clay-pan, or sandy substrates. Unlike most of their metallic, day-active relatives, *Trichodela* species are nocturnal and instantly recognisable by the dense covering of fine erect setae across the dorsum.
Diagnosis
DIAGNOSIS — *Trichodela* Rivalier, 1957. Body small to medium, 9–14 mm, elongate-cursorial, cylindrical in cross-section; dark, matte. Head wider than pronotum; eyes medium, protuberant. Labrum transverse. Pronotum subquadrate to weakly trapezoidal, sides weakly rounded. Elytra elongate; dorsal surface with characteristic dense vestiture of fine erect setae throughout — the primary diagnostic feature of the genus. Wings fully developed (macropterous). Nocturnal. No confusion genera recorded within the current checklist framework.
Etymology
From Greek *thríx/trichós* (hair) + Cicindel- stem — "hairy tiger beetle".
Species (7)
Distribution map — GBIF occurrences
GBIF · © OpenStreetMap · © CartoDB
Overview
*Trichodela* Rivalier, 1957 is a small Afrotropical genus of tiger beetles found across sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania, Zambia, and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. These medium-sized, dark beetles favour open, wet habitats with compacted laterite, clay-pan, or sandy substrates. Unlike most of their metallic, day-active relatives, *Trichodela* species are nocturnal and instantly recognisable by the dense covering of fine erect setae across the dorsum.
Type species: Trichodela basilewskyi Werner, 2000 [by monotypy]
1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist authority 2. Basilewsky, P. (1953) — original genus description (full citation TBD) 3. Werner, K. (2000) — Tiger Beetles of Africa, Vol. 2 — generic diagnoses 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. 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] +6 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