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Elmidae, commonly called riffle beetles, includes small to medium sized aquatic beetles. Elmids are common in running waters with high oxygen content, making them good indicators of water quality. This family shows a worldwide distribution, being more diverse in the Neotropical region, with 46 described genera and about 435 species. This paper summarizes all known information about Elmidae from the Neotropical Region. This contribution presents updated data on the distribution of riffles beetles, the number of species described by genera and country, and a list of species with known larvae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The larva of the genus Pharceonus is described for the first time from material collected in Costa Rica and Peru. These are the most northern and southern distribution records for this genus, which was previously known from just one species, Pharceonus volcanus Spangler et Santiago-Fragoso 1992, from Panama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]