Coleoptera
Systematics, biogeography and ecology of Tiger Beetles (Cicindelinae); biogeography and ecology of Central European Ground Beetles (Carabidae); systematics and biogeography of the genus Elaphrus (Carabidae); ecological and nature conservation assessment using Ground Beetles (Carabidae); biodiversity conservation with particular regard on land use/-history
There is no clear definition of the genus Heptodonta, which is distributed from Nepal to the Philippines. Hence, the descriptions of this genus mostly include also species from other genera. Furthermore, most Heptodonta species are lacking an exact description, because they were defined without consideration of the already described taxa. Which makes a precise determination without type material nearly impossible. Therefore, the aim of this project is to redefine the described species based on type material, and to describe neglected species.
The beetle collection of the SMNS includes over 5000 type series, and is growing year by year. Nevertheless, not all of the type specimens were indeed described, or some taxa only have an infrasubspecific rank. Hence, there is a need to proof, if all of the beetle types are indeed valid taxa.