Wallacedela

Overview

*Wallacedela* is a small genus of tiger beetles discovered in the biogeographically remarkable Wallacean transition zone of Indonesia, centered on Sulawesi and neighboring islands. These medium-sized beetles wear a metallic bronze or greenish sheen and patrol exposed clay riverbanks and bare sandy soils after dark, making them among the few nocturnal hunters in their tribe. The genus commemorates Alfred Russel Wallace, whose explorations defined the biological boundary region these beetles call home. With roughly four species, *Wallacedela* remains one of the lesser-studied Oriental cicindelid genera, its biology still largely undocumented.

Type species: Wallacedela sumlini Cassola, 1991 [by monotypy]

1. Wiesner, J. (2020) — checklist authority 2. Cassola, F. (2011) — original genus description honoring A.R. Wallace 3. Pearson, D.L. & Vogler, A.P. (2001) — Wallacea biogeographic context 4. 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. 5. Arndt, E. & Putchkov, A.V. (1997) — Phylogenetic investigation of Cicindelidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) using larval morphological characters. Zoologischer Anzeiger 235: 231-241. 6. 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 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] +5 citations · full list in paid edition[CassolaBrzoska2008] Cassola, F. & Brzoska, D. (2008) — Collecting notes and new data on the tiger beetle fauna of Sulawesi, Indonesia, with descriptions of fourteen new taxa. Cicindela 40(1-4): 1–110. [68 spp. collected, 13 n.sp. + 1 n.ssp.; habitat data, syntopy records, >5,000 specimens; Sulawesi endemic fauna 80.1%, 116 total spp.]

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