A new species, Sphaeriusminutussp. n., is described and illustrated from Jinggangshan Mts., Jiangxi Province, China. It is the first species of this family described from East Asia. This species lives under wet stones at the edge of rivers.

Himalcercyon Hebauer, 2002 stat. nov. is elevated to genus rank based on the unique form of its mesoventral elevation. The genus is reviewed, redescribed, and illustrated in detail. Two species are recognized: Himalcercyon mirus (Hebauer, 2002) comb. nov. from Nepal and H. franzisp. nov. from Chinese Himalaya (Xizang Autonomous Region). Both species are illustrated and diagnosed. An updated key to the Asian genera of the tribe Megasternini (Coleoptera, Hydrophilidae, Sphaeridiinae) is provided, along with the SEM micrographs of ventral morphology of these genera. New replacement name Oreosternumnom. nov. is proposed for Oreocyon Hebauer, 2002 which is preoccupied by Oreocyon Marsh, 1872 (Mammalia, Oxyenidae) and Oreocyon Krumbiegel, 1949 (Mammalia, Canidae).

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Three new species of Patrus Aubé, 1838 are described from China: Patrus hainanensis sp. nov. from Hainan; Patrus jiangxiensis sp. nov. from Jiangxi; Patrus shangchuanensis sp. nov. from Guangdong. Eight species / subspecies of Gyrinidae are recorded from China for the first time: Metagyrinus vitalisi (Peschet, 1923), Orectochilus argenteolimbatus Peschet, 1923, Orectochilus murinus Régimbart, 1892, Patrus haemorrhous (Régimbart, 1892), Patrus marginepennis angustilimbus (Ochs, 1925) from Yunnan; Patrus coomani (Peschet, 1925) from Guangdong; Patrus procerus (Régimbart, 1884) from Guangxi; Patrus annandalei (Ochs, 1925) from Hainan. Additional faunistic data of Gyrinidae from China are provided. A key to Chinese species of Patrus Aubé based on examined specimens from China is given.

Larvae of some leaf beetles carry masses of feces covering parts or all of the body, which is called a “fecal shield”. In general, the shield is thought to be a defense structure against natural enemies. However, some studies have suggested that defense effectiveness varies depending on the natural enemy. In the present study, we used a fecal retention leaf beetle Ophrida xanthospilota (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), and two local generalist predators (an ant, Camponotus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and a stinkbug, Arma custos (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)) as a system to test the hypothesis that the fecal shield of O. xanthospilota plays different roles in predation behavior of different predators and can provide multiple chemical communication signals in predator-prey interactions. Prey bioassays showed that the fecal shield of O. xanthospilota larvae repelled the ant C. japonicus while attracting the stinkbug A. custos. The results also strongly demonstrated that hexane extracts of the fecal shield significantly repelled C. japonicus, while dichloromethane extracts did not inhibit ant predation. Interestingly, dichloromethane extracts attracted A. custos, but hexane extracts did not. Therefore, we suggest that the fecal shield is a double-edged sword for the larvae of O. xanthospilota. Our results also indicated that the risk-benefit tradeoff of an insect should be estimated at a community level involving multiple enemies (predators and parasites) and herbivores, rather than in a single prey-predator pair.