Catalogue of the type specimens of Polycestinae (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) from research collections of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

The Catalogue includes the images of dorsal views of the beetles and labels, label and collection data, maps showing type localities, and references to original descriptions for primary types of 64 species and subspecies of the buprestid-beetles of the subfamily Polycestinae Lacordaire, 1857 (Coleoptera: Buprestoidea: Buprestidae); for some type specimens additional details, among them genital structures, are given as well. Almost all of them belong to the genera Acmaeodera Eshchshcholz, 1829 (20), Microacmaeodera Cobos, 1966 (1), Xantheremia Volkovitsh, 1979 (5), and Acmaeoderella Cobos, 1955 (36) from the largest polycestine tribe Acmaeoderini Kerremans, 1893; only 2 holotypes belong to the species of the genus Polycesta Dejean, 1833 from the nominotypic tribe Polycestini. A polycestine collection is a part of general world-wide collection of the buprestid- or jewel-beetles (Elateriformia: Buprestoidea: Buprestidae) deposited in the Coleoptera Department of the Laboratory of Insect Taxonomy of the Zoological Institute RAS. Polycestine part is housed in the 38 standard wooden drawers with glass lids from about 300 drawers in 4 wooden cabinets occupied by general bupresid collection. It comprises above 13000 pinned, labelled and mostly identified specimens belonging to 12 tribes, 49 genera, and about 650 species (totally, 13 tribes, 49 genera, and about 1250 species world-wide; 92 %, 60 %, and nearly 52 % respectively) [29]. The bulk of the polycestine collection, approximately 520 species from 12 genera, consists of representatives of the most speciose tribe Acmaeoderini Kerremans, 1893 (above 700 species from 15 genera world-wide). Collection also includes about 1700 microslides of genitalia fixed in gelatin-glycerol gel, and nearly 500 double microslides of larval structures (one with mouth-parts, and another with exuvium and proventriculus) fixed in Faure-Berlese fluid (about 80 species from 23 genera and 12 tribes; the species of Acmaeoderini are predominate group). Microslides are kept on the special trays within cardboard boxes separately from general collection. Polycestine collection comprises mostly Palaearctic taxa (primarily from the former Russian Empire and Soviet Union and adjacent countries), as well as Oriental, Nearctic, Neotropical, and, to a lesser extent, Afrotropical and Australian taxa. In the XIX – early XX century it has grown rapidly due to extensive materials collected by expeditions of E. Ménétriés (Brasil, Trancaucasia), P.K. K