Hypocacculus Bickhardt, 1914

Lackner, Tomas & Leschen, Richard A. B., 2017, A monograph of the Australopacific Saprininae (Coleoptera, Histeridae), ZooKeys 689, pp. 1-263 : 24-25

Hypocacculus Bickhardt, 1914 Figs 111, 112, 113-118, 119-127, 755

Hypocacculus Bickhardt, 1914: 311. Type species Saprinus metallescens Erichson, 1834, designated by Bickhardt 1916: 96.

Diagnosis.

Diagnosis of this genus is here based solely on the species H. hyla that has been recorded from the Australopacific Region. A small, ovoid beetle, cuticle dark brown with a faint metallic tinge; frontal stria complete, supraorbital stria lacking, frontal disc punctate. Pronotal depressions absent, almost entire dorsal surface in punctures. Prosternal foveae large; outer margin of protibia with 6-8 low teeth topped by denticle.

Biology.

Hypocacculus species are normally distributed in open landscapes, often in arid places, where they are usually found on carrion or in mammal excrement. Examined specimens of H. hyla do not carry any biological information on their labels.

Distribution.

The bulk of species of Hypocacculus are distributed in Palaearctic and Afrotropical Regions, with several species occurring also in the Oriental Region ( Mazur 2011). Hypocacculus (H.) hyla (Marseul, 1864) was described from New Guinea and is the sole representative of the genus present in the Australopacific Region (Fig. 755).

Remarks.

Species of the genus Hypocacculus are similar in size and general habitus to those of Hypocaccus or Chalcionellus . They differ from members of the genus Hypocaccus by having a punctate frons, which is smooth and adorned with several deep rugae in Hypocaccus , and from Chalcionellus aeneovirens , the sole species of the genus Chalcionellus present in the region, by the absence of pronotal depressions, present in C. aeneovirens .