Corrections and additions to Epler's 2010 "Water Beetles of Florida"

(last update 28 December 2012)
Ora discoidea







p. 16.52 - Ora discoidea Champion has been found in Florida (Collier Co.,  Immokalee); it will key to O. texana but is marked differently.

 It can be either mostly tan above or have mostly dark elytra with a wide pale border, as in the Florida specimen here.

Thanks to Mike Thomas (FSCA) for the photo!

28-xii-2012




pp. 16.22-16.23 - Scirtes goliai  Epler described, replaces Scirtes sp. 1.  See Epler, J.H.  2012.  A new species of Scirtes (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) from southern Florida and the Caribbean.  Zootaxa 3530: 77-82.
pp. 5.38, 18.2, 18.7 - parentheses removed from author name for Celina grossula - should be Celina grossula LeConte.  I had followed an error in Young (1979) by placing "LeConte" in parentheses. Because LeConte originally described the species grossula in the genus Celina, there are no parentheses around his name.
20-x-2012
pp. 3.1, 3.7 - To reiterate about the spelling of the name of the weevil Auleutes, it's Auleutes, not Aleutes or Auletes.
27-vi-2012
p. 5.38, 5.39, 5.41 - Celina slossonae changed back to its original spelling - call it Celina slossoni  ... again.  Note that even though Mutchler misspelled it as "slossoni" (which is incorrect; because the species was named for a woman, it should have been "slossonae"), Article 33.4 of the ICZN states that such a change is to be termed an "incorrect subsequent spelling".
14-iv-2012
p. 5.92 - the captions for the two beetles are switched; N. p. pullus is on the left, N. p. floridanus on the right!  Thanks to Dana Denson (RCID) for catching this!
6-vii-2011
p. 5.26  -  The genus Stictotarsus is not known from Florida.  Because it is recorded from South Carolina and there is thus a possibility it may occur here, I included the genus, represented by the widespread taxon S. griseostriatus (De Geer),  in my key to genera of dytiscid adults (p. 5.26) of Florida. 

It has long been known that the taxon is notable for its variation and is most likely a complex of species, especially in Europe. Now this taxon has been established as a new genus, Boreonectes  (Angus, R.B. 2010. Boreonectes gen. n., a new genus for the Stictotarsus griseostriatus (De Geer) group of sibling species (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae), with additional karyosystematic data on the group. Comparative Cytogenetics 4: 123-131).  Thus, the species’ name is now Boreonectes griseostriatus (De Geer).  Given the variability of this taxon, it is most likely that at least one of the “variants” known from North America actually represents an undescribed species, so stay tuned. 

Also note that some other Nearctic Stictotarsus are now included in Boreonectes.  These are: B. aequinoctialis (Clark), B. coelamboides (Fall), B. dolerosus (Leech), B. expositus (Fall), B. funereus (Crotch), B. panaminti (Fall) (tentative placement), B. spenceri (Leech) and B. striatellus (LeConte). 

Boreonectes may be separated from Stictotarsus by  the shining ventral surface of the head behind the eyes, with only superficial reticulation (closely punctate in Stictotarsus).
27-i-2011
p. 1.6  - 2nd column, under 3., line 15 should read “the bulging, white abdominal venter, ...”

p. 1.8 - Brady Richards (California State University, Chico, CA) was somehow left off the list of workers who supplied specimens – sorry, Brady!

pp. 3.1, 3.7 – Auleutes is misspelled as “Aleutes”.

p. 5.63 - Couplet 1 has H. deflatus at 3.8 – 4.7mm but the description has it listed as 4.2-4.7mm; go with 3.8-4.7 mm. 

p. 5.70  - species box: delete space in “inexpectatus”

p. 6.23 – what are termed “basolateral” triangles in couplet 14 should be basomesal triangles

p. 16.14  - under Notes – the “fourth form” referred to in line 1 is not “keyed below”; it should read “discussed below”.

2-xi-2010