''Megadytes'' is a genus of
diving beetle
The Dytiscidae – based on the Greek ''dytikos'' (δυτικός), "able to dive" – are the predaceous diving beetles, a Family (biology), family of water beetles. They occur in virtually any freshwater habitat around the world, but a ...
s in the family
Dytiscidae
The Dytiscidae – based on the Greek ''dytikos'' (δυτικός), "able to dive" – are the predaceous diving beetles, a family of water beetles. They occur in virtually any freshwater habitat around the world, but a few species live ...
. They are found in slow-moving or static freshwater habitats throughout most of the
Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
, ranging from
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and Mexico, through the West Indies and Central America, to South America as far south as central Argentina.
The adult beetles measure long depending on the exact species and the largest is also the largest in the family (together with certain ''
Dytiscus'').
Species
''Megadytes'' contains the following 21 species in 4 subgenera:
Subgenus ''Bifurcitus'':
* †''Megadytes ducalis
''Megadytes ducalis'' is a species of water beetle in the family Dytiscidae. With a length of , it is the largest species in the family. Until recently, the species was only known from a single specimen that was collected in the 1800s from Brazi ...
'' Sharp, 1882
* '' Megadytes lherminieri'' (Guérin-Méneville, 1829)
* '' Megadytes magnus'' Trémouilles & Bachmann, 1980
Subgenus ''Megadytes'':
* '' Megadytes carcharias'' Griffini, 1895
* '' Megadytes ecuadorius'' Zimmermann, 1919
* '' Megadytes flohri'' Sharp, 1882
* '' Megadytes fraternus'' Sharp, 1882
* '' Megadytes guayanensis'' (Wilke, 1920)
* '' Megadytes guignoti'' Mouchamps, 1957
* '' Megadytes laevigatus'' (Olivier, 1795)
* '' Megadytes latus'' (Fabricius, 1801)
* '' Megadytes marginithorax'' (Perty, 1830)
* '' Megadytes steinheili'' (Wehncke, 1876)
Subgenus ''Paramegadytes'':
* '' Megadytes australis'' (Germain, 1854)
* '' Megadytes glaucus'' (Brullé, 1837)
Subgenus ''Trifurcitus'':
* '' Megadytes aubei'' (Wilke, 1920)
** ''Megadytes aubei meridionalis'' Mouchamps, 1957
* '' Megadytes fallax'' (Aubé, 1838)
* '' Megadytes gravidus'' Sharp, 1882
* '' Megadytes obesus'' Sharp, 1882
* '' Megadytes perplexus'' Sharp, 1882
* '' Megadytes robustus'' (Aubé, 1838)
The subgenus and status of these two species are unknown:
* '' Megadytes costalis'' (Fabricius, 1775)
* '' Megadytes obovatus'' (Kirby, 1826)
References
Dytiscidae genera
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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