Atomaria

There are three distinct pronotal hair-patterns in Atomaria subgenus Anchicera (of the species I've seen which is not all of them). These are really useful, unambiguous characters and I hope one day someone will write an Atomaria key that starts with them. Meanwhile, I share a few scribbled notes! You'll see that zetterstedti, scutellaris and fuscata are in three different hair-pattern groups.

Pronotal hair-patterns are no use in subgenus Atomaria s.s. There it is all about comparative characters and building a reference collection.

(Mark Telfer)