Following their « Nebria » world fauna, Georges Ledoux and Philippe ROUX present in their new book a complete review of the « Archastes ». It is a kind of carabid beetle close to the Nebria, little known owing to the small size of its distribution area. As a matter of fact, the group exemplars only live in China, in the mountains that stretch near or far from the Chengdu basin.

Describing four species and three new under species, those two specialists analyse the 36 taxons that presently constitute the gender. They give a description of each species and under species accompanied by meticulous drawings. They also provide data on the features and systematic position of the gender and of the determination keys. A set of photographic colour plates complete the book and should prevent the layman from making any identification mistake.

Guided by its vocation to promote scientific knowledge, the Confluence Museum has put a lot into the realisation of this book, in collaboration with the Linnean Society of Lyon who sees to its distribution.