A new species in the tortoise-beetle genus Dorynota s. str. Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Dorynotini) from Brazil

A new species Dorynota phoenix Simões and Sekerka, new species is described and figured from Mato Grosso state of Brazil. The new species belongs to the D. monoceros species-group and is compared to morphologically similar taxa. Updated key to the nominotypical subgenus of Dorynota is provided.

Climate shapes the spatiotemporal variation in color morph diversity and composition across the distribution range of Chrysomela lapponica leaf beetle

Color polymorphism offers rich opportunities for studying the eco-evolutionary mechanisms that drive the adaptations of local populations to heterogeneous and changing environments. We explored the color morph diversity and composition in a Chrysomela lapponica leaf beetle across its entire distribution range to test the hypothesis that environmental and climatic variables shape spatiotemporal variation in the phenotypic structure of a polymorphic species. We obtained information on 13 617 specimens of this beetle from museums, private collections, and websites. These specimens (collected from 1830-2020) originated from 959 localities spanning 33° latitude, 178° longitude, and 4200 m altitude. We classified the beetles into five color morphs and searched for environmental factors that could explain the variation in the level of polymorphism (quantified by the Shannon diversity index) and in the relative frequencies of individual color morphs. The highest level of polymorphism was found at high latitudes and altitudes. The color morphs differed in their climatic requirements; composition of colour morphs was independent of the geographic distance that separated populations but changed with collection year, longitude, mean July temperature and between-year temperature fluctuations. The proportion of melanic beetles, in line with the thermal melanism hypothesis, increased with increasing latitude and altitude and decreased with increasing climate seasonality. Melanic morph frequencies also declined during the past century, but only at high latitudes and altitudes where recent climate warming was especially strong. The observed patterns suggest that color polymorphism is especially advantageous for populations inhabiting unpredictable environments, presumably due to the different climatic requirements of coexisting color morphs.

The First Eight Mitogenomes of Leaf-Mining Dactylispa Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) Shed New Light on Subgenus Relationships

The taxonomic classification of Dactylispa, a large genus of leaf-mining beetles, is problematic because it is currently based on morphology alone. Here, the first eight mitochondrial genomes of Dactylispa species, which were used to construct the first molecular phylogenies of this genus, are reported. The lengths of the eight mitogenomes range from 17,189 bp to 20,363 bp. All of the mitochondrial genomes include 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), and 1 A + T-rich region. According to the nonsynonymous/synonymous mutation ratio (Ka/Ks) of all PCGs, the highest and the lowest evolutionary rates were found for atp8 and cox1, respectively, which is a common phenomenon among animals. According to relative synonymous codon usage, UUA(L) has the highest frequency. With two Gonophorini species as the outgroup, mitogenome-based phylogenetic trees of the eight Dactylispa species were constructed using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods based on the PCGs, tRNAs, and rRNAs. Two DNA-based phylogenomic inferences and one protein-based phylogenomic inference support the delimitation of the subgenera Dactylispa s. str. and Platypriella as proposed in the system of Chen et al. (1986). However, the subgenus Triplispa is not recovered as monophyletic. The placement of Triplispa species requires further verification and testing with more species. We also found that both adult body shape and host plant relationship might explain the subgeneric relationships among Dactylispa beetles to a certain degree.

Studies on the genus Chrysodema (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Chrysochroinae) part I

Subgeneric classification of Chrysodema Laporte de Castelnau Gory, 1835 is revised and following synonymy is established: Chrysodema=Cyalithoides Fisher, 1922 syn. nov.; Pseudochrysodema Saunders, 1874=Leganya Hołyński, 1994 syn. nov.,=Marcsikiella Hołyński, 2014 syn. nov. Four subgenera are recognized as valid: Chrysodema s. str., Gelaeus Waterhouse, 1905, Pseudochrysodema Saunders, 1874, and Thymedes Waterhouse, 1905, and a key to the subgenera is given. Four species-groups are established in the subgenus Chrysodema s. str.: C. aeneoviolacea-group, C. aurostriata-group, C. eximia-group, and C. sonnerati-group. All known species, except the currently accepted synonyms of Chrysodema (Chrysodema) eximia Laporte de Castelnau Gory, 1835, included in these groups are revised based on comparative study of extensive material including types of all described taxa. Three new species and one subspecies are described: Chrysodema (Chrysodema) dany sp. nov. from Haruku Island, Indonesia; C. (C.) gottwaldi sp. nov. from Palawan Island, Philippines; C. (C.) lewisii nakatai subsp. nov. from Yaeyama Islands, Japan; and C. (C.) vrabeci sp. nov. from Thailand and Laos. Chrysodema (C.) aeneoviolacea Deyrolle, 1864 stat. rev., C. (C.) dohrnii Saunders, 1874 stat. rev., and C. (C.) fuscitarsis Kerremans, 1895 stat. rev. are removed from synonymy with C. (C.) mniszechii Deyrolle, 1864; C. (C.) tonkinea Kerremans, 1909 stat. rev. is removed from synonymy with C. (C.) aurostriata Saunders, 1866. Three new synonymies are established: C. (C.) aeneoviolacea=C. (C.) elongata Kerremans, 1900 syn. nov.=C. (C.) keyensis Théry, 1923 syn. nov. (the latter was formerly synonym of C. (C.) elongata); C. (C.) dohrnii=C. (C.) fairmairei Kerremans, 1895 syn. nov. (formerly synonym of C. (C.) mniszechii). Neotype is designated for C. (C.) sonnerati Laporte de Castelnau Gory, 1835 and lectotypes are designated for following taxa to ensure their correct application and recognition in future: C. (C.) aurostriata, C. (C.) fairmairei, C. (C.) fuscitarsis, C. (C.) sumatrensis Kerremans, 1895, C. (C.) tonkinea, C. (C.) yerburyi Waterhouse, 1905, C. (P.) coelestina Obenberger, 1922, and C. (P.) inslabilis Deyrolle, 1864. Additionally, dark species of the subgenus Pseudochrysodema are revised and as a result C. (P.) coelestina stat. rev. and C. (P.) instabilis stat. rev. are removed from synonymy with C. (P.) radians (Guérin-Méneville, 1830) and a new species C. (Pseudochrysodema) jakli sp. nov. is described from Timor Island, Indonesia. All herein included taxa are illustrated with colour photographs of habitus and the male aedeagus when available. All new taxa are diagnosed and a key to species of the C. aeneoviolacea-group is given.

Revision of the tribe Cryptonychini (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) of New Caledonia

New Caledonian members of the tribe Cryptonychini are revised. The tribe is represented by eigth genera and 23 species, all but one endemic to New Caledonia. A new genera Paratorquispa gen. nov. and Wanatispa gen. nov. are proposed, and 11 species are described as new: Brontispa caledonica sp. nov., Caledonispa bivittata sp. nov., Caledonispa panieensis sp. nov., Caledonispa spinosa sp. nov., Isopedhispa costata sp. nov., Isopedhispa latemarginata sp. nov., Teretrispa daccordii sp. nov., Teretrispa longicollis sp. nov., Torquispa convexifrons sp. nov., Wanatispa cylindricollis sp. nov., and Wanatispa rutai sp. nov. Torquispa caledoniae Uhmann, 1954 is transferred to the genus Paratorquispa, comb. nov. Each taxon is provided with a detailed description, set of figures and studied material. Keys to all taxa are proposed.

An annotated checklist of the leaf beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) from El Salvador, with additions from the Bechyné collection in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

A checklist of the species of leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of El Salvador is presented based on data from literature and a digitization project of the Bechyné collection of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS). The RBINS collections contain a total of 2797 individual chrysomelid specimens from El Salvador, sorted into 89 species and 132 genera. In total, the current checklist contains 420 species, of which 33 are new records for El Slavador from the Bechyné collection. In these collections, there are also ten nomina nuda named by Bechyné, which need further study. The leaf beetle diversity in El Salvador, partly due to the country’s unstable political history, remains poorly studied, and many (new) species await discovery. This checklist provides a baseline for further study in El Salvador and nearby region.

Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) types deposited at Sun Yat-sen <br />University, Guangzhou, China

Type specimens of Cassidinae deposited at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China were studied and as a result following new synonymies are proposed: Cassida expansa Gressitt, 1952 = C. smaragdocruciata Medvedev & Eroshkina, 1982 syn. nov.; C. concha Solsky, 1872 = C. juglans Gressitt, 1942 syn. nov.; Rhoptrispa dilaticotnis (Duvivier, 1891) = Rhadinosa abnormis Gressitt & Kimoto, 1963 syn. nov. Lasiochila fukiena Gressitt, 1950 stat. nov. is removed from synonymy of L. insulana Uhmann, 1929. Each taxon is provided with photograph of dorsal habitus and additional comment clarifiyng its status where necessary.

On the genus Limnocassis Spaeth, with description of two new species from South Africa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae)

Limnocassis compacta sp. nov. and L. regularis sp. nov. are described from South Africa. They are well distinguished from Limnocassis pumilio (Boheman, 1854), the only known species in the genus, in fine and mostly regular elytral punctation. Colour photographs of all species and new distribution data for L. pumilio are given.

A new species of Aspidimorpha (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Aspidimorphini) from Uganda

Aspidimorpha (Aspidimorpha) wagneri sp. nov. is described from Uganda. This species belongs to the nominotypical subgenus, together with several African species that are closely related to A. mutata Boheman, 1854. Its relative position within the genus is discussed.