| Agonum | |
|---|---|
| Agonum cupripenne specimen | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Carabidae |
| Subfamily: | Harpalinae |
| Supertribe: | Platynitae |
| Tribe: | Platynini |
| Genus: | Agonum Bonelli, 1810 |
| Type species | |
| Carabus marginatus Linne, 1758 |
|
| Subgenera | |
|
Several, see text |
|
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 generally native to the Holarctic and the Mediterranean region; their southern limit in Central Asia and the Himalaya region is less well understood, and they seem to range outward a bit out of their core regions (e.g. into East Africa).
They are wet-loving throughout their life cycle; the genus is well-represented in Ireland for example, where they are more plentiful than anywhere else in Europe.[1]
While some subgenera 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 European and Japanese species. The following list does not incorporate the most recent reviews and must be considered very preliminary.
Agonum (Agonothorax) Motschulsky, 1850 (sometimes in Olisares or Punctagonum)
Agonum (Agonum) Bonelli, 1810
Agonum (Deratanchus) (sometimes in Olisares)
Agonum (Europhilus) Chaudoir, 1859
Agonum (Melanagonum) (sometimes in Olisares)
Agonum (Micragonum) (sometimes in Olisares)
Agonum (Olisares)
Agonum (Platynomicrus) (sometimes in Agonum)
Agonum (Punctagonum) (sometimes in Olisares)
Agonum (Stereagonum) (sometimes in Olisares)
Agonum (Stictanchus) (sometimes in Agonum)