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Type: Article
Published: 2025-07-25
Page range: 115-124
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The first immature snail-eating soft-bodied click beetle (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) from the Oriental realm: A putative larva of Selasia Laporte from India

Department of Zoology; St. Xavier’s College (Empowered Autonomous Institute); 5-Mahapalika Marg; 400001 Mumbai; Maharashtra; India.; Department of Zoology; K. J. Somaiya College of Science and Commerce; Vidyavihar; 400077 Mumbai; Maharashtra; India.
Universidade Federal de Itajubá; Instituto de Recursos Naturais; Av. BPS; 1303; CEP 37500-903 Itajubá; Minas Gerais; Brazil.
Department of Zoology; Faculty of Science; Palacky University; 17. listopadu 50; 77146 Olomouc; Czech Republic.
Department of Zoology; K. J. Somaiya College of Science and Commerce; Vidyavihar; 400077 Mumbai; Maharashtra; India.
Department of Zoology; Faculty of Science; Palacky University; 17. listopadu 50; 77146 Olomouc; Czech Republic.
Coleoptera ariophantidae distribution elateroidea Mollusca morphology predation

Abstract

Larvae of the soft-bodied click-beetle tribe Drilini are obligatory predators of land snails. Larval stages are known only for several species from the West Palaearctic region and two species from the tropical Africa. In this study, for the first time we describe and illustrate the active larva of Drilini from the Oriental realm based on a single specimen from the western India. It is putatively identified as Selasia sp. as this is the only genus of Drilini known from the Indian subcontinent. We compare the Indian larva with other known active larvae of Drilini and add Tanychlamys sp. (Helicarionoidea: Ariophantidae) to the list of prey for the Drilini larvae. We would like to use this opportunity to encourage colleagues to share with us data on Drilini larvae and their prey from India to better understand their predator-prey interactions.

 

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How to Cite

Parekar, H., Rosa, S.P., Packova, G., Patwardhan, A. & Kundrata, R. (2025) The first immature snail-eating soft-bodied click beetle (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) from the Oriental realm: A putative larva of Selasia Laporte from India. Zootaxa, 5666 (1), 115–124. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5666.1.6