Europs is the name-bearing taxon of tribe Europini within the subfamily Monotominae. Several genera are closely realted to the genus, including Hesperobaenus, Aneurops, Macreurops, Mimemodes, Noveurops, Monotopion, & Eporus. The genus is not well-characterized, so many current members may belong to other yet to be named genera. It is, however, one of the few genera with a described fossil species (Europs insterburgensis Alekseev 2014). The type species is Europs impressicollis Wollaston 1854, from the Old World.
Europs is distinguished from other New World taxa by its two-segmented club, three rows of punctures on the epipleural fold of the elytra, pronotum with impunctate median zone, and metacoxal bead not produced or not produced past the halfway point of the first ventrite (Bousquet 2003c). Species often have bicolored elytral patterns useful for species recognition. The pronotal disc can have species-specific patterns of punctation.
The habits and habitat of Europs are not well-established. Most species have been taken under bark, although unlike most other monotomid genera, various species are associated with flowers, plants, or plant products in various stages of decay. Recently, Jenkins et al. (2013, 2015) established Europs fervidus as an important pollinator of atemoya (Annonacea) (a hybrid of two species of Annona plants). As most Europs species are not well-studied, especially in the tropics, it is possible that they are important pollinators in some tropical ecosystems.
One of the more widely distributed genera, Europs can be found primarily in the tropics around the world. One species in North America ranges as far north as New York, but the majority of species are located in tropical areas (e.g. Florida, Central America, Brazil, etc.). In the Old World, the genus is represented only in the Paleotropics, including numerous species from India.
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Bousquet 2003c - review of North American species
Jenkins et al. 2013, 2015 - discussion of association between Europs and atemoya
Sen Gupta 1988 - review of morphology of genus and comparison to closely related genera