Characteristics
Form elongate oval. Labrum vertically produced with respect to the clypeus;
clypeus and mentum with apicomedial projections; antennae with 9 or 10 segments;
protibiae tridentate (bidentate in Microchilus), inner protibial spur apical;
foretarsomeres usually enlarged in males and/or females and densely setose ventrally
(except in Geniatosoma); elytral margin chitinous or membranous; and
terminal spiracle positioned in pleural suture.
Classification Status
Burmeister (1844) first created the group name "Geniatidae" that included
the genera Bolax, Leucothyreus, Evanos, and Geniates.
In 1918, Ohaus designated the Geniatini as a tribe within the Rutelinae. This
group is poorly known taxonomically. Revisions and keys to species are needed
in all the genera, and the taxonomic position of some genera and species needs
clarification. The only publications dealing with the tribe as a whole are the
Coleopterum Catalogous (Ohaus 1918; Machatschke 1972,1974), the Genera Insectorum
(Machatschke 1965), and Blackwelder's (1944) catalog.
Distribution
The tribe Geniatini includes 13 genera and 323 described species. They inhabit
semideciduous and cloud forests exclusively in the Neotropics. They occur from
Mexico to northern Argentina and Brazil and only one species (Geniates leptopus
Ohaus) is known from Chile.
Genera Profiles (click on the
species names)
References Cited
BURMEISTER, H. C. C. 1844. Handbuch der Entomologie. (Coleoptera
Lamellicornia Anthobia et Phyllophaga Systellochela). Vol. 4 Pt. 1: 1-588. Berlin.
BLACKWELDER, R. E. 1944. Checklist of the coleopterous insects
of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and South America, Parts 1-6. Bulletin
of the United States National Museum 185: 1-1492.
MACHATSCHKE, J. 1965. Coleoptera Lamelicornia. Fam. Scarabaeidae,
Subfam. Rutelinae, Section Rutelinae Orthochilidae. Genera Insectorum, Fasc.
199C: 1-145.
MACHATSCHKE, J. 1972. Scarabaeidae: Melolonthidae, Rutelinae. Coleopterum
Catalogus Supplementa. 66(1): 1-361.
MACHATSCHKE, J. 1974. Scarabaeidae: Melolonthidae, Rutelinae. Coleopterum
Catalogus Supplementa. 66(2): 363-429.
OHAUS, F. 1918. Scarabaeidae: Euchirinae, Phaenomerinae, Rutelinae.
Coleopterum Catalogus 20: 1-241.