''Agonum'' is a large

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it i ...

s in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Harpalinae Harpalinae is a huge subfamily of ground beetles that contains 20,000 species or ~6,400 spp. in 24 tribes worldwide, according to others. A rarely used common name for the subfamily is the harp beetles. The Harpalinae contain the most apomorphic ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Platynini. They are mid-sized to smallish beetles, typically with dark metallic hues – often reddish or

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

, but sometimes black, green etc. The genus is generally native to the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical region ...

and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

region; their southern limit in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

region is less well understood, and they seem to range outward a bit out of their core regions (e.g. into

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

). They are wet-loving throughout their

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring *Life-cycle hypothesis, ...

; for example, the genus is well represented in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, where they are more plentiful than anywhere else in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Subgenera and selected species

While some

subgenera In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

are accepted by most authors (e.g. ''Europhilus, Olisares'' and of course ''Agonum''), others are of disputed validity. Moreover, subgeneric separation has historically been mostly focussed on

an and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese species. The following list does not incorporate the most recent reviews and must be considered very preliminary. Reitter Agonum u

Agonum (Agonothorax) ''Agonum'' is a large genus of ground beetles in the subfamily Harpalinae, tribe Platynini. They are mid-sized to smallish beetles, typically with dark metallic hues – often reddish or bronze, but sometimes black, green etc. The genus is ...

'' Motschulsky, 1850 (sometimes in ''Olisares'' or ''Punctagonum'') *''

Agonum ericeti ''Agonum ericeti'' is a species of ground beetle in the Platyninae subfamily that can be found in all Europe except for Spain and Portugal. Description Beetle length is from , a width not exceeding . The upper body is usually one colour, bronze ...

'' (Panzer, 1809) *'' Agonum impressum'' (Panzer, 1796) *'' Agonum sexpunctatum'' *'' Agonum viridicupreum'' (Goeze, 1777) '' Agonum (Agonum)'' Bonelli, 1810 *'' Agonum angustatum'' Dejean, 1828 *'' Agonum antennarium'' (Duftschmid, 1812) *'' Agonum carbonarium'' Dejean, 1828 *'' Agonum chalconotum'' Menetries, 1832 *'' Agonum chinense'' Boheman, 1858 (tentatively placed here) *'' Agonum curvipes'' (C. R. Sahlberg 1827) (sometimes in ''Olisares'') *'' Agonum dolens'' *'' Agonum hexacoelum'' *'' Agonum kretaense'' Kirschenhofer, 1982 *'' Agonum liebherri'' J.Schmidt, 2008 (tentatively placed here) *'' Agonum marginatum'' (Linne, 1758) *'' Agonum monachum'' (Duftschmid, 1812) *'' Agonum muelleri'' *'' Agonum nigrum'' Dejean, 1828 *'' Agonum numidicum'' Lucas, 1849 *'' Agonum pirata'' *'' Agonum quinquepunctatum'' *'' Agonum rugicolle'' Chaudoir, 1846 *'' Agonum scintillans'' Boheman, 1858 (tentatively placed here) *'' Agonum sordidum'' Dejean, 1828 '' Agonum (Deratanchus)'' (sometimes in ''Olisares'') '' Agonum (Europhilus)'' Chaudoir, 1859 *'' Agonum consimile'' (Gyllenhal, 1810) *'' Agonum exaratum'' (Mannerheim, 1853) *'' Agonum fuliginosum'' (Panzer, 1809) *'' Agonum gracile'' Sturm, 1824 *'' Agonum micans'' (Nicolai, 1822) *'' Agonum munsteri'' (Hellen, 1935) *'' Agonum piceum'' (Linne, 1758) *'' Agonum scitulum'' Dejean, 1828 *'' Agonum temperei'' (Aubry, 1974) (tentatively placed here) *'' Agonum thoreyi'' Dejean, 1828 '' Agonum (Melanagonum)'' (sometimes in ''Olisares'') *'' Agonum afrum'' *'' Agonum duftschmidi'' J.Schmidt, 1994 *'' Agonum extensum'' *'' Agonum gerdmuelleri'' J.Schmidt, 1994 *'' Agonum gisellae'' *'' Agonum hypocrita'' (Apfelbeck, 1904) *'' Agonum longicorne'' Chaudoir, 1846 *'' Agonum lugens'' (Duftschmid, 1812) *'' Agonum nitidum'' *'' Agonum permoestum'' Puel, 1938 *'' Agonum pseudomoestum'' Schuler, 1963 *'' Agonum versutum'' Sturm, 1824 *'' Agonum viduum'' (Panzer, 1796) '' Agonum (Micragonum)'' (sometimes in ''Olisares'') '' Agonum (Olisares)'' '' Agonum (Platynomicrus)'' (sometimes in ''Agonum'') *'' Agonum bicolor'' (Dejean, 1828) *'' Agonum nigriceps'' LeConte, 1846 '' Agonum (Punctagonum)'' (sometimes in ''Olisares'') '' Agonum (Stereagonum)'' (sometimes in ''Olisares'') '' Agonum (Stictanchus)'' (sometimes in ''Agonum'') *'' Agonum gracilipes'' (Duftschmid, 1812)

References

External links

*
''Agonum'' at Fauna Europaea
Carabidae genera Harpalinae {{harpalinae-stub

Subgenera and selected species

See also

References

External links