KEYS TO CANARY ISLANDS COLEOPTERA

Lixus machadoi

ALERT – If you are interested in receiving a message every time I update a family, send me an email with the subject “Keys to Canarian coleoptera”, and just say “I am interested”.
My email: antonio.machado@telefonica.net.

See below available PDFs

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

These keys have been compiled from those available from other authors, if any, adapting them to the fauna of the Canary Islands and complementing or substituting them as necessary. Practical criteria have prevailed over systematic ones (kinship relationships), so they must be used with due caution. Taxa hitherto uncited for the Canary Islands may end up being determined as what they are not, although some specific characters have been included in the hope of avoiding this.
The families recognised basically follow the taxonomic scheme adopted in the Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, although the respective family keys are numbered in alphabetical order. I am afraid that the keys are only available in Spanish. The PDF files are listed with with the date of edition to reflect the latest update).

Feel free to download and use these keys. If you find any errors in the texts or images, if you miss any species, or if you wish to make any suggestions or send missing images, please do not hesitate to write to me at antonio.machado@telefonica.net.

Special recognition goes to my dear colleagues Prof. Dr Pedro Oromí, Rafael García and Roberto Valle who have been testing the keys and provided timely comments. Thanks also to the authors of the photos who have consented to their use in these keys.

Recommendation for use

It is practical to have a computer screen next to the binocular magnifier so that you can consult the keys, with the advantage of being able to enlarge the figures to see more details.

But if you are used to printed keys, I recommend using ring binders with plastic sleeves for A4 sheets. The ring binder allows you to fold the notebook and reduce its width so that it can be placed next to the magnifying glass.

Print the keys in colour on one side of the paper only (this makes it easier to replace individual sheets). These notebooks are available in different thicknesses (20, 30, 40 and 50 sleeves), external colours and with or without an external pocket to include a cover page.

The families are in alphabetical order, but it is still practical to separate the extensive and frequently consulted families into individual notebooks. As an example, here is how I have combined them.

  • Black notebook (50 sleeves) – Introduction, general keys and families A to C (with list on the cover)
  • Orange notebook (30 sleeves) – Families D to L (with list on the cover)
  • Red notebook (40 sleeves) – Families M to Z (with list on the cover)
  • Blue notebook (30 sleeves) – Carabidae
  • Green notebook (30 sleeves) – Curculionidae (with cover)
  • Green notebook (30 sleeves) – Curculionidae Entiminae.
  • Black notebook (20 sleeves) – Tenebrionidae
  • Pink notebook (40 sleeves) – Staphylinidae
  • Purple notebook (20 sleeves) – Checklist and bibliography (with cover)

MACHADO, A. (2023-2025). Coleópteros de Canarias. Claves de identificación.
https://www.antoniomachado.net/es/claves-coleopteros-canarias/ (date consulted)

 

Content Taxa. Updated To download
Introducción  – Ago 2025 PDF
Clave de familias 70 Jul 2025 PDF
1 Aderidae 5 Nov 2023 PDF
2 Anthicidae 32 Jul 2025 PDF
3 Anthribidae 3 Oct 2023 PDF
4 Attelabidae 4 Jul 2025 PDF
5 Belidae 2 Oct 2023 PDF
6 Biphyllidae 3 Jul 2025 PDF
7 Bostrichidae 13 Oct 2023 PDF
8 Bothrideridae 2 Jul 2025 PDF
9 Brentidae 27 Jun 2024 PDF
10 Buprestidae 22 Ene 2024 PDF
11 Byrrhidae 6 Oct 2023 PDF
12 Cantharidae 12 Nov 2023 PDF
13 Carabidae 259 May 2025 PDF
14 Cerambycidae 28 Ago 2025 PDF
15 Cerylonidae 1 Nov 2023 PDF
16 Chrysomelidae 113 Jul 2025 PDF
17 Ciidae 6 Oct 2023 PDF
18 Clambidae 3 Oct 2023 PDF
19 Cleridae 7 Apr 2024 PDF
20 Coccinellidae 61 Jul 2025 PDF
21 Corylophidae 12 Jul 2025 PDF
22 Cryptophagidae 29 Jul 2025 PDF
23 Cucujidae 2 Oct 2023 PDF
24 Curculionidae
603 Ago 2025 PDF
25 Dasytidae 14 Oct 2023 PDF
26 Dermestidae 34 Jul 2025 PDF
27 Dryopidae 1 Ene 2024 PDF
28 Dytiscidae 22 Dic 2023 PDF
29 Elateridae 53 Nov 2024 PDF
30 Endomychidae 14 Jul 2025 PDF
31 Erotylidae 2 Oct 2023 PDF
32 Eucinetidae 1 Oct 2023 PDF
33 Eucnemidae 1 Oct 2023 PDF
34 Gyrinidae 3 Oct 2023 PDF
35 Haliplidae 1 Oct 2023 PDF
36 Helophoridae 1 Dic 2023 PDF
37 Histeridae 45 Jul 2025 PDF
38 Hydraenidae 16 Jul 2025 PDF
39 Hydrochidae 1 Dic 2023 PDF
40 Hydrophilidae 20 Dic 2023 PDF
41 Jacobsoniidae 1 Apr 2024 PDF
42 Kateretidae 5 Oct 2023 PDF
43 Laemophloeidae 4 Oct 2023 PDF
44 Languriidae 5 Jul 2025 PDF
45 Latridiidae 30 Jul 2025 PDF
46 Leiodidae 19 Jan 2024 PDF
47 Malachiidae 83 Jul 2025 PDF
48 Meloidae 10 Dic 2023 PDF
49 Melyridae 3 Nov 2023 PDF
50 Monotomidae 11 Jul 2025 PDF
51 Mordellidae 8 Nov 2023 PDF
52 Mycetophagidae 4 Jul 2025 PDF
53 Nitidulidae 37 Jul 2025 PDF
54 Oedemeridae 12 Jul 2025 PDF
55 Phalacridae 7 Nov 2023 PDF
56 Ptiliidae 23 Jul 2025 PDF
57 Ptilodactylidae 1 Jul 2025 PDF
58 Ptinidae 78 Jul 2025 PDF
59 Salpingidae 2 Jul 2025 PDF
60 Scarabaeidae 44 Jul 2025 PDF
61 Scirtidae 1 Jul 2025 PDF
62 Scraptiidae 4 Jul 2025 PDF
63 Silphidae 4 Jul 2025 PDF
64 Silvanidae 9 Jul 2025 PDF
65 Sphindidae 1 Jul 2025 PDF
66 Staphylinidae 357 Ago 2025 PDF
67 Tenebrionidae 160 Jun 2025 PDF
68 Throscidae 5 Jul 2025 PDF
69 Trogidae 3 Jul 2025 PDF
70 Trogossitidae 10 Jul 2025 PDF
71 Zopheridae 39 Jul 2025 PDF
Checklist 2461 Ago 2025 PDF
Bibliografía Ago 2025 PDF