World Catalogue of Insects, Volume 14: Coleoptera: Elmidae and Protelmidae contains a complete list of subfamilies, tribes, subtribes, genera, subgenera, species and subspecies, and their synonyms described before 2015. Protelmidae are here elevated from tribal rank to family rank. Other new nomenclatorial and taxonomic acts include a new substitute name, seven new generic and specific synonymies, four new combinations, two designations of type species and nine mandatory corrections of incorrect original spellings. Detailed information about the geographical distribution of each species is provided. This catalogue includes extant (147 genera and 1497 species of Elmidae, four genera and six species of Protelmidae) and fossil taxa (four genera and four species of Elmidae). It is the first world catalogue of Elmidae published since 1910. Unavailable names are listed as well. Detailed explanations are provided concerning the availability and correct spelling of taxa names, correct identity and spelling of author names, correct publication dates, and correct type localities.
Manfred A. Jäch, Ph.D. (1983) is scientific curator at the Natural History Museum Vienna, where he built up the world’s most important water beetle collection. He has published more than 300 papers, and described about 400 species of water beetles from all over the world. He is the chief editor of Koleopterologische Rundschau (Coleopterological Review) and Monographs on Coleoptera. Three genera and about 100 species of insects (mostly water beetles) have been named after him.
Ján Kodada, Ph.D. (1993) is assistant professor of Zoology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava. He has published numerous articles on water beetles, including the chapter on Elmidae in the Handbook of Zoology, Vol. IV (Part 38), Coleoptera, Beetles (2005).
Michaela Brojer, MSc (2008) is assistant curator at the Natural History Museum Vienna. She studied biology at the University of Vienna, specializing in aquatic entomology. She realized fieldwork in Austria and surrounding countries as well as two longer research stays in Central America (Costa Rica and Nicaragua) publishing her results in several publications.
William D. Shepard Ph.D. (1980) is associate at the Essig Museum of Entomology, University of California, Berkeley. From 1982-2004 he was professor of biology at California State University, Sacramento. He has approximately 75 scientific publications. He has described and named aquatic species in Amphipoda, Hemiptera, Plecoptera and Coleoptera (families Lepiceridae, Elmidae and Psephenidae). Approximately 20 species of aquatic insects in several orders have been named after him.
Fedor Čiampor, Jr., Ph.D. (2003) works at the Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded with two fellowships focused on the phylogeny of byrrhoid beetles, and carried out several entomological expeditions, mostly in the tropical regions of South-east Asia and South America. He published more than 40 scientific publications, and described more than 100 species of Elmidae and Dryopidae. He is subject editor for Elmidae and Dryopidae of the journal Zootaxa.