And why for some groups of organisms (for example, for insects) the presence of subgenera in the taxonomy of the group is more typical than for others?
Hello Alexandra; Among the ants that I study the place of "subgenus" in the taxonomic heirarchy is often referred to as a "species group". Since both terms are not formal parts of the taxonomic nomenclature, which term is used is probably a matter of taste within the group of taxonomists that specialize in that group. Hmmm. Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers
As noted by the other responses, there are no objective criteria in the sense of a recipie. If you have some clusters of species within a genus that look sufficiently distinct for you to separate them by a named entity such as subgenus, you can do that. In addition to being "characterized by some more that set them apart from the rest of the genus in a way that the author considers of significant value" they should also have one ore more characters to support their monophyly within the genus.
In summary, I can say that monophyletic species groups within a polyphyletic genus constitute subgenera (as a formal nomenclaturally recognized group). In this sense, I can also say that there is not / should not be a polyphyletic subgenus. Other criterias are of secondary importance. Therefore, subgenus cannot or should not be described within a monophyletic genus.
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