Helochares

Helochares is a genus of Water [scavenger beetle|water scavenger beetles] in the family Hydrophilidae, represented by 161 described species. It is distributed across the Afrotropical, Australasian, Indo-Malayan, Nearctic, and Palearctic realms.

Description

As currently defined, Helochares contains small to medium-sized beetles, which are yellowish to brown in coloration. There is a lot of variation in the impression of the elytral punctation, and the aedeagal forms are also highly variable. A detailed diagnosis can be found in Girón and Short 2021. Females carry their eggs in a cocoon anchored to the hind femora and held under the abdomen as in several other Hydrophilidae.

Taxonomy

Helochares is one of the largest and most taxonomically problematic genera within the Acidocerinae. It was originally described by Étienne Mulsant in 1844.
For a long time Helochares contained five subgenera: Batochares, Helochares, Helocharimorphus, Hydrobaticus, and Sindolus.
Several taxa that used to be recognized as typical Helochares are now assigned to newly created genera or re-assigned to exinsting genera, based on a phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data.