Agonoleptus Casey, 1914

Bousquet, Yves, 2012, Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico, ZooKeys 245, pp. 1-1722 : 664

Genus Agonoleptus Casey, 1914

Agonoleptus Casey, 1914: 284. Type species: Agonoleptus parviceps Casey, 1914 by monotypy. Etymology. From the Greek a (without), gonia (angle), and leptos (fine, thin, delicate), probably alluding to the fact that adults of the sole, relatively small species known to Casey have the posterior angles of the pronotum rounded (" the hind angles of the prothorax are rounded ") [masculine].

Diversity.

Seven North American species in the temperate regions.

Identification.

There is no key for the identification of all species. Lindroth (1968: 921-924) covered four species, leaving Agonoleptus dolosus and Agonoleptus parviceps .

Taxonomic Note.

Adults and particularly larvae (personal observation) are structurally quite different from those of Stenolophus s.str. and Agonoderus and I am unable to find any character states that would conclusively suggest that Agonoleptus is closely related to the other two taxa. For that reason, I consider Agonoleptus as a distinct genus.