Bembidion | |
---|---|
B. quadrimaculatum | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Family: | Carabidae |
Subfamily: | Trechinae |
Tribe: | Bembidiini |
Genus: |
Bembidion Latreille, 1802 |
Synonyms | |
Bembidium (lapsus) |
Bembidium (lapsus)
Bembidion is the largest genus of beetles in the family Carabidae by number of species. There have been many attempts to divide it into smaller genera, most notably by René Jeannel in 1941 and by G.G. Perrault in 1981, but none of them has been generally accepted. All species are small (less than 7.5 mm) and move very fast. Most of them live close to water. The genus has a biantitropical distribution. In warmer regions it is substituted by closely related Tachys and other genera.
This genus is divided into numerus subgenera, some of which are elevated to full genus rank by various authors; as noted above, however, no universally accepted way of splitting the genus exists yet. Bembidion subgenera include:
Bembidion contains the following species: