D3469: Review of the northern Pacific genus, Phaleromela Reitter, 1916 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

The northern Pacific genus Phaleromela is comprised of three confirmed species, P. picta Mannerheim, 1843, P. subhumeralis Reitter, 1916, and P. variegata Triplehorn, 1961 as well as two species of questionable status, P. humeralis Laporte, 1840 and P. prohumeralis Triplehorn. The three confirmed species, despite being a rather small genus, represent an interesting complex in their morphological range from fully winged to apterous and differences and in their preferences of habitat between backshores of sandy beaches to riverbeds. Additionally, the wide geographic divide between the far eastern P. subhumeralis and western North American P. picta and P. variegata poses an interesting case study for trans-pacific distribution in an insect group.
For this research, these three species are comprehensively redescribed with habitus and SEM photos and illustrations of genitalia and other diagnostic characters as well as updated distribution data.