Kalohydnobius Peck & Cook, 2009

Peck, Stewart B. & Cook, Joyce, 2009, Review of the Sogdini of North and Central America (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Leiodinae) with descriptions of fourteen new species and three new genera, Zootaxa 2102 (1), pp. 1-74 : 31

Genus Kalohydnobius Peck & Cook , new genus

Type species: Hydnobius strigilatus Horn, 1880 .

Diagnostic description. Head with microsculpture of fine irregular lines; antennal club interrupted 5- segmented; mandibles stout, a thin plate forming inner apical margins, lacking distinct teeth on inner margins; labrum not emarginate; clypeus strongly sclerotized, convex; epistomal suture clearly indicated; eyes protuberant; post-ocular tempora short; gular sutures widely separated at base, convergent to base of submentum, with a suture separating gula and submentum; pronotum minutely punctate; mesoventrite weakly oblique, not carinate; mesocoxae separated by mesoventral process; parameres with lateral notch near base.

The following characters of Kalohydnobius separate the genus from Hydnobius : head with microsculpture of fine irregular lines (not present in Hydnobius ), apex of right mandible not bidentate (bidentate in Hydnobius ), mandibles lack distinct teeth on inner margins (distinct teeth present in Hydnobius ), labrum not emarginate (deeply emarginate in Hydnobius ), eyes distinctly protuberant (weakly or not protuberant in Hydnobius ), pronotum minutely punctate (not minutely punctate in Hydnobius ), parameres with lateral notch near base (notch absent in Hydnobius ).

Distribution and diversity. The genus is known to contain only the following Nearctic species. We have not been able to recognize that any existing Palearctic species should be placed in this new genus.

Etymology. From the Greek kalos, beautiful; refers to the attractive shining cuticle of these beetles; and Hydnobius .