1. Incorporating Carabus Accessions at the NHM
Beulah Garner
Division of Terrestrial Invertebrates. Natural History
Museum, London

2. A Jolly Good Morning From Her Majesty!

3. History of Carabus
• Linnaeus in 1758; 31 species!
• Today we have c. 850 known species but if you include infra-sub-specific species there is c. 2000!
• Latreille in 1802 and Bonelli in 1801.
• Sub-generic classification , mainly described by Gehin, 1876; Morawitz, 1886; and Sendlitz, 1887.
Sense or non-sense of the Carabus!:
• Reitter (1896) produced a complete key to the Palaearctic subgenera and species.
• Semenov (1896, 98) described the subgenera from Central and Eastern Asia using zoogeographical criteria
as well as morphology.
• Lapouge (1905,08) attempted to use larval characters for the first time; ‘Genera Insectorum’ (1929-32)
• Breuning (1932-1937) published the ‘Monographie der Gattung Carabus’
• Jeannel (1941, 42) followed Lapouge and was a generally well received classification
• Ishikawa (1973) endophallus was used as the primary character for a new classification
The current literature used in this recuration project is:
• Carabus, A synthesis. Turin et al (2003)
• World list and distributions. Brezina (1994,99)
• Deuve (1991,94, 97, 2004, 07) in all his permutations of Carabus!
The hierarchical levels within the Carabus continue to be disputed.

4. ACCESSIONS

5. Assessment of accession material
Criteria
• Named specimens (require verification)
• Unnamed specimens
• MS names / untraceable names / unreadable
names
• Synonymy
• Specimens without BM numbers but with some
labelling; BM number inferred from another
specimen
• Specimens with no data

6. Accessions Database

7. Database and movement of specimens
•Ignore the
database!
•Update the
database!
•Subgenera
•Infra–sub-
species
•Spelling
mistakes!
Carabus (Morphocarabus) cancellatus infrasubspecies pseudotuberculatus .
According to Deuve 2004: Carabus (Tachypus) cancellatus Subsp. tuberculatus
ssp. pseudotuberculatus Lapouge, 1902

8. The Mihi-itch and the Great Syners!

9. Outcomes
Accessions drawers
111 species (of which two are
synonyms)
8 new ‘species’ to the collection
Gowing –Scopes Collection
304 species (of which78 are
synonyms)
84 new ‘species’ to the collection
8 paratypes!
Cardiou Collection
66 species (of which 7 are synonyms)
15 new ‘species’ to the collection

10. Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge my volunteers Alex Greenslade and Emma
Hughes for their assistance in this project and to thank the Department
of Entomology at the NHM for funding my attendance at this
conference.
Emma ‘beetle outreaching’!
Alex mounting wet specimens