''Novochares'' is a primarily

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

genus of

water scavenger beetle Hydrophilidae, also known colloquially as water scavenger beetles, is a family of beetles. Aquatic hydrophilids are notable for their long maxillary palps, which are longer than their antennae. Several of the former subfamilies of Hydrophilidae ...

s in the family

Hydrophilidae Hydrophilidae, also known colloquially as water scavenger beetles, is a family of beetles. Aquatic hydrophilids are notable for their long maxillary palps, which are longer than their antennae. Several of the former subfamilies of Hydrophilidae ...

represented by 15 described species, one of which is thought to be introduced in Florida in the United States of America.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Novochares'' was created by Girón & Short in 2021 to accommodate 15 species formerly placed in the genus '' Helochares'' that occur across Central and South America, and some of the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

. It belongs in the subfamily Acidocerinae.

Description

Medium-sized beetles (4.5–9.0 mm), smooth and shiny dorsally, brown to dark brown in coloration, with long maxillary palps. There is a lot of variation in aedeagal forms (see Figure 43 in Girón and Short 2021). A complete diagnosis was presented by Girón and Short.

Habitat

According to Girón and Short, "Species of ''Novochares'' occur in a broad range of both lentic and lotic habitats".

Species

# ''Novochares abbreviatus'' (Fabricius, 1801): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

, Pernambuco,

Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any coas ...

), Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, French Guiana,

, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela. # ''Novochares atlanticus'' (Clarkson and Ferreira-Jr., 2014): Brazil (

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, São Paulo) # ''Novochares atratus'' (Bruch, 1915): Argentina, Brazil (

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

, Minas Gerais), Colombia, Ecuador n doubt Paraguay. # ''Novochares bolivianus'' (Fernández, 1989): Bolivia # ''Novochares carmona'' (Short, 2005): Costa Rica # ''Novochares chaquensis'' (Fernández, 1982): Argentina, Brazil (

) # ''Novochares cochlearis'' (Fernández, 1982): Argentina, Paraguay # ''Novochares coya'' (Fernández, 1982): Bolivia # ''Novochares guadelupensis'' (d'Orchymont, 1926):

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

# ''Novochares inornatus'' (d'Orchymont, 1926): Brazil ( Amazonas, São Paulo),

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, Guyana # ''Novochares oculatus'' (Sharp, 1882): Argentina, Brazil (

, Pernambuco,

), Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama; Saint Vincent">Saint Vincent (Antilles)">Saint Vincentref name=":3"> # ''Novochares pallipes'' (Brullé, 1841): Argentina, Brazil (

, Minas Gerais), Paraguay, Uruguay # ''Novochares pichilingue'' (Fernández, 1989): Ecuador # ''Novochares sallaei'' (Sharp, 1882): U.S.A. (Florida). Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico # ''Novochares tectiformis'' (Fernández, 1982): Argentina, Brazil (

, Piauí), Paraguay, Venezuela

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q110371638 Hydrophilidae Insects of South America