SBMNH Research: Entomology

Entomology

Carabid Beetle

California Beetle Project
A Summary

Coordinator:
Michael Caterino, Ph.D., Curator, ext. 352
mcaterino@sbnature2.org

Primary Objective

To produce an up-to-date inventory of California beetles

Secondary objectives

To compile distributional information (county by county) for all beetle species occurring in the state
To provide identification resources, including keys and images for most prominent species
To compile a complete bibliography of literature pertaining to the taxonomy and natural history of California beetles
To spur interest and to facilitate additional revisionary research on California beetles
To encourage broader evolutionary studies using Coleoptera, particularly towards understanding California biogeography

The Means
A specimen database of all species will be constructed using specimens existing in major collections, literature records, and specimens collected during the project. Ideally this database will provide species images and permit the automatic construction of distributional maps from the embedded data.

Collection effort will be particularly focused in Santa Barbara County and the Central Coast region, where a diversity of collection techniques will provide the most complete point estimates of beetle diversity available for the state.

Previous Work
In 1901 H.C. Fall published a paper entitled “The Coleoptera of Southern California”, in which he listed all beetles known to him to occur throughout the state. The total at that time was 3417 species statewide. Although no comprehensive works have been completed since then, groups for which accurate modern species counts are available suggest a fauna more than twice as rich, or somewhere around 8000 beetle species.

Progress
See the official California Beetle Project Homepage for the latest developments.

Beetle collection drawers