Nemognatha Illiger, 1807

Bologna, M. A. & Pinto, J. D., 2002, The Old World genera of Meloidae (Coleoptera): a key and synopsis, Journal of Natural History 36 (17), pp. 2013-2102 : 2077-2078

67. Nemognatha Illiger, 1807

Nematognatha Gemminger and Harold, 1870 . Unjusti ed emendation for Nemognatha Illiger, 1807 .

Meganemognatha Enns, 1956 (as subgenus; currently valid). Type species: Nemognatha lurida LeConte, 1853 , by original designation.

Pauronemognatha Enns, 1956 (as subgenus; currently valid). Type species: Nemognatha nigripennis LeConte, 1853 , by original designation.

Pronemognatha Enns, 1956 (as subgenus; currently valid). Type species: Nemognatha sparsa LeConte, 1868 , by original designation.

Gnathonemula Aksentjev, 1981 . Type species: Gnathonemula gracilis Aksentjev, 1981 , by monotypy; new synonymy.

Type species. Zonitis vittata Fabricius, 1801 (= Zonitis piazata Fabricius, 1798 ),

by monotypy (see Selander, 1991). 77 spp. (ca 28 spp. in Old World).

Geographic distribution. Worldwide in distribution (except Australia and 2014 Oceania). Occurring throughout the Old World but avoiding mesic and cold regions of Europe and Asia. February References 13 Taxonomy. Escherich (1897a revision of Palaearctic fauna and key to spp.); 15 Péringuey (1909 key to South African spp.); Pic (1948); Denier (1935a); Enns (1956 23: revision and key to North American spp.); Bologna (1991a). at Bionomics. Beauregard (1890); Martin (1891); Cros (1912d, 1919c, 1928a);] Linsley and MacSwain (1952); Dillon (1952); Enns (1956); Erickson et al. (1976); Bath Erickson and Werner (1974); Packer (1987); Blochtein and Wittman (1988); of Bologna (1991a review); Brown and Stanford (1992). University (1987 Larvae Anatomy Pharmacology)... Cros Beauregard. (1919 Beauregard c, (1928 1890 (a) 1890);; Gupta MacSwain). (1971, (1978 1956)).; Selander (1957); Packer [by Downloaded four never Notes The subgenera been monophyly revised based and of primarily Nemognatha the limits on of the remains the US genus species unresolved and, but subgenera. the Enns Old are (1956 World not) recognized clear fauna. For has example, some African species are very distinct from those of the Palaearctic and

Nearctic. On the other hand, the African genus Zonitodema may belong here (see below). Separation from Zonitis also remains problematic. In the Old World, separation has been based solely on the structure of the maxillary galea (elongate in

Nemognatha , short in Zonitis ), whereas in North American they are separated by structure of the aedeagus (see Enns, 1956). The latter character has yet to be adequately tested against the fauna of South America and the Old World.

In this paper we consider Gnathonemula a synonyn of Nemognatha . Aksentjev

(1981) distinguished Gnathonemula by its elongate temples, anteriorly narrowed pronotum and smaller size. Nemognatha with similar characters and intermediate to those of Gnathonemula occur in the Nearctic (Enns, 1956) as well as in the

Afrotropical and Oriental regions. We note that Nemognatha trascaspica Kaszab,

1981 is a probable synonym of gracilis Aksentjev, 1981 , the type species of

Gnathonemula .

Pinto and Bologna (1999) continued to treat the South American genus 2014 February 13 15: 23 at] Bath of University [by Downloaded

2078 M. A. Bologna and J. D. Pinto

Zonitolytta as distinct rather than as a subgenus of Nemognatha as proposed by Selander (1991).

The African species of Nemognatha are very poorly known; we are aware of several undescribed species (in HMHM).

Larval development is known to occur in the nests of solitary bees of several families (primarily Megachilidae and Anthophoridae , but also Halictidae , Melittidae and Andrenidae ); the rst-instar larvae are phoretic.