Afrotropical flea beetle genera: a key to their identification, updated catalogue and biogeographical analysis (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

Abstract

A revision of the Alticini genera from the Afrotropical region is reported. The paper includes the following for the flea beetle fauna occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar: a key to their identification; habitus photos of all the genera; microscope and scanning electron micrographs of many diagnostic morphological characters; and an updated annotated catalogue with biogeographical notes that include new distributional data. The following new synonymies are proposed: Aphthona Chevrolat, 1836 = Ethiopia Scherer, 1972 syn. n.; Sanckia Duvivier, 1891 = Eugonotes Jacoby, 1897 syn. n.; Eurylegna Weise, 1910a = Eurylegniella Scherer, 1972 syn. n.; Kimongona Bechyné, 1959a = Mesocrepis Scherer, 1963 syn. n.; Diphaulacosoma Jacoby, 1892a = Neoderina Bechyné, 1952 syn. n.; Sesquiphaera Bechyné, 1958a = Paropsiderma Bechyné, 1958a syn. n.; Podagrica Chevrolat, 1836 = Podagricina Csiki in Heikertinger and Csiki 1940 syn. n.; Amphimela Chapuis, 1875 = Sphaerophysa Baly, 1876a syn. n. The following new combinations are proposed: Blepharida insignis Brancsik, 1897 = Xanthophysca insignis (Brancsik, 1897) comb. n.; Blepharida multiguttata Duvivier, 1891 = Xanthophysca multiguttata (Duvivier, 1891) comb. n.; Hemipyxis balyana (Csiki in Heikertinger and Csiki 1940) = Pseudadorium balyanum (Csiki in Heikertinger and Csiki, 1940) comb. n.; Hemipyxis brevicornis (Jacoby, 1892a) = Pseudadorium brevicornis (Jacoby, 1892a) comb. n.; Hemipyxis cyanea (Weise, 1910b) = Pseudadorium cyaneum (Weise, 1910b) comb. n.; Hemipyxis gynandromorpha Bechyné, 1958c = Pseudadorium gynandromorphum (Bechyné, 1958c) comb. n.; Hemipyxis latiuscula Bechyné, 1958c = Pseudadorium latiusculum (Bechyné, 1958c) comb. n.; Hemipyxis soror (Weise, 1910b) = Pseudadorium soror (Weise, 1910b) comb. n. The genera Buphonella Jacoby, 1903aand Halticopsis Fairmaire, 1883a are transferred to the tribe Galerucini; the genus Biodontocnema Biondi, 2000 stat. prom. is considered to be valid and reinstated at generic level. Finally, a zoogeographical analysis of the flea beetle fauna in the Afrotropical region is provided.

Revision of Diphaulacosoma Jacoby, an endemic flea beetle genus from Madagascar, with description of three new species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

“…12) with slightly curved dorsal lobe, particularly in middle part, and strongly elongate extended arm; basal edge of spring weakly curved, forming an obtuse angle (dorsal-basal angle) with dorsal margin of dorsal lobe; dorsal margin of ventral lobe straight, moderately angled down; basal angle of ventral lobe sub-rounded; recurved flange clearly developed. This metafemoral spring can be attributed to the Altica morpho-group of Furth & Suzuki (1998 Weise, 1910b, occurring in the central and eastern areas of the Afrotropical region (Biondi & D'Alessandro 2012). Phygasia, even if rather variable in morphology, is mainly distinguishable by the differently shaped pronotum, laterally not strongly arcuate, with posterior angles apically not distinctly produced, and the pronotal transverse antebasal sulcus distinctly impressed.…”

“…Eurylegna, instead, shares with Diphaulacosoma: the pronotum with very weakly or indistinctly impressed antebasal transverse sulcus; third and fourth segments of maxillary palpi clearly enlarged; elytral punctation entirely confused. However, Eurylegna can be easily recognized for having the pronotum more weakly rounded and slightly narrower basally; in addition, in this genus the posterior angles are laterally very indistinctly produced and apically finely dentiform (Biondi & D'Alessandro 2012). (Fig.…”

“…After more than seventy years, Bechyné (1964) supplied a precise locality reporting this species for Dié-go-Suarez (now Antsiranana), locality placed in Northern Madagascar. Previously in 1952, still Bechyné described the new subgenus Neoderina inside the genus Neodera Duvivier, 1891; this subgenus was recently synonymized with Diphaulacosoma by Biondi & D'Alessandro (2012), which also attributed to this genus further two Malagasy species, Diphaulacosoma scutellare (Weise, 1910a) and D. bicolor (Weise, 1910a), both described originally in the genus Phygasia Chevrolat, 1836 (Biondi & D'Alessandro 2013).…”

Taxonomic revision of the genus Arsipoda Erichson, 1842 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in New Caledonia

“…The Chrysomelidae is one of the largest phytophagous insect families and includes approximately 37 000-40 000 species (Biondi & D'Alessandro 2012). The monophyletic tribe Alticini is closely related to the tribe Galerucini, both contained within in the subfamily Galerucinae (Bouchard et al 2011).…”

Flea beetles collected from olive trees of Antalya Province, including the first record of the monotypic genus Lythraria Bedel, 1897 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) for Turkey

“…Alticini, known as flea beetles, is a very large and diverse tribe of leaf beetles within the subfamily Galerucinae according to the current classification of Chrysomelidae (Bouchard et al, 2011), with about 8,000 recognized species placed in more than 500 genera (Biondi & D'Alessandro, 2012;Nadein, 2015).This tribe of beetles (closely related to Galerucini) is distributed worldwide, mainly occurring in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia and South America (Konstantinov & Vandenberg, 1996;Santiago-Blay, 2004). They are mostly small, well known as phytophagous, whose thickened hind femora are generally used by taxonomists to distinguish this group from others.…”