On the identity of the fossil hydrophilid beetles from the Tertiary localities in the southern part of the Upper Rhine Graben (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae, Dytiscidae)

• Published in: ZooKeys Vol. 78; pp. 15 - 25
• Main Authors: Fikácek, Martin, Hajek, Jiri, Schmied, Heiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sofia Pensoft Publishers 01-01-2011
• Subjects: Brunstatt; Coleoptera; Copelatus; Dytiscidae; Fossils; Geology; Hydrobius; Hydrophilidae; Kleinkems; lower Oligocene; neotype designation; Species; Zoology
• ISSN: 1313-2989; 1313-2970
• DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.78.800

This study focuses on the fossil beetles assigned previously to the family Hydrophilidae described from the localities in the southern part of the Upper Rhine Graben: Brunstatt (France, Alsace) and Kleinkems (Germany, Baden-Württemberg) (both dated ca. to Eocene-Oligocene boundary, 34 Ma). The identity of Escheria convexa Förster, 1891 is fixed by the designation of its neotype, the species is redescribed, illustrated, transferred from the hydrophilid genus Hydrobius Leach, 1815 to the genus Copelatus Erichson, 1832 ( Coleoptera: Adephaga: Dytiscidae) and compared with other fossil representatives of Copelatus. The identity of the remaining three species, Hydrobius crassipunctatus (Förster, 1891), Hydrobius dimidiatus (Förster, 1891) and Hydrobius punctulatus (Förster, 1891), is briefly evaluated on the basis of the original descriptions and illustrations only, because their types were lost or destroyed during World War II; all three species are removed from the fossil record of the Hydrophiloidea and placed into Polyphaga incertae sedis. The geology and stratigraphy of Brunnstatt and Kleinkems are discussed briefly.