Curt W. Harden

Previous degrees:

B.S., Biology - Virginia Commonwealth University, 2012

Thesis title/topic: Systematics and population genetics of Appalachian Anillini (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Research interests

I am studying the small eyeless ground beetles (Carabidae) of the tribe Anillini. This tribe includes species that inhabit leaf litter, soil, and/or fissure networks. I aim to explore the evolutionary history of subterranean habitat use in the group, and how subterranean lifestyles have influenced morphological adaptations and dispersal capabilities. I am also broadly interested in the carabid fauna of the Southern Appalachians, as well as the arthropod community of shallow subterranean habitats as a whole.

Publications

Levi E. Trumbore., Richard J. Reynolds, Steven C. Thomas, Wil Orndorff, Brendan Cramphorn, Nick Gladstone, Curt W. Harden, Julian Lewis, Marc Milne, Karen Ober, William Shear, Charles Stephen, Kirk Zigler. 2023. Cave Biodiversity of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. (In Press)

Curt W. Harden. 2023. [review of Tiger Beetles of the Southeastern United States by Beaton, G., R. S. Krotzer, and B. D. Holt]. The Coleopterists Bulletin 77(1): 1–2. 2023.

Michael S. Caterino and Curt W. Harden. 2022. Unseeing and unseen: On the distribution, morphology, and larva of North America’s rarest histerid, Geocolus caecus Wenzel (Coleoptera: Histeridae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 76(2): 191–205.

Curt W. Harden, Michael S. Caterino, Thomas E. Malabad. 2022. First records of the Palearctic species Trechus obtusus Erichson from the Appalachian region of the Southeastern United States (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae: Trechini). The Coleopterists Bulletin 76(1): 58–66.

Curt W. Harden. 2018. Eight ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) new to Virginia, with additional records for West Virginia and Maryland. Banisteria 50: 15-20. 

Curt W. Harden and Frank G. Guarnieri. 2017. Illustrated key and photo atlas of the snail-eating ground beetles in the genus Scaphinotus Dejean (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cychrini) occurring in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Maryland Entomologist 7(1): 16-34.

Frank G. Guarnieri and Curt W. Harden. 2017. The occurrence of snail-eating ground beetles in the genus Scaphinotus Dejean (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cychrini) on the Delmarva peninsula and the historical and current status of S. elevatus (Fabricius) and S. unicolor (Fabricius) in the Mid-Atlantic Region from New York to Virginia. The Maryland Entomologist 7(1): 2-15.