Taxonomic Study On The Tribe Dacnini (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) From China

The tribe Dacnini belongs to order Coleoptera, family Erotylidae. Most members inthis tribe are similar in habitus, believed to be fungivore animal (such as rainbow conks,edible mushrooms and so on), and widely distributed in agro-forest ecosystem. They playthe important role in food chain and food web. Before this study, only3genera,7speciesand1subspecies of tribe Dacnini from China were recorded by foreign scholars. Most ofthe known species were described in earlier time and without any ifgure, the descriptionsof major character were too simple to identify species. In this case, the taxonomic study onChinese Dacnini became difficulty.The animal fauna of China is across both of palaearctic and oriental regions. Theresource of Dacnini is very rich. In order to clarify the species and their geographicaldistribution of Chinese Dacnini, the present author used the principles and methods ofanimal taxonomy, examined153Dacnini specimens of China, which were sorted out frommore than2000specimens of Erotylidae, referred to the holotype photos of the Dacninispccics taken from the British Museum and other ones, and systematically revised the tribeDacnini of China. The results showed as follows.1.In this paper,4genera,17species and1subspecies of tribe Dacnini front Chinawere recognized. Among thein,1new genus，7new species and3new distributionalrecords were found (1new genus,3new species and3new records have already beenpublished in ZOOKEYS),2.All of the taxa in this paper were descirbed in detail. Their major characters wereillustrated. The habitus of each species were photographed.3.The keys to distinguishing genera and species were provided.4.A catalogue of the tribe Dacnini from China was given.This is the first revisional study on the tribe Dacnini of China. This work will lay thefoundation ofr further study on the Chinese Dacnini.