A new genus of Cryptocephalinae from Australia (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Abstract

Semelvillea gen.n. is described from eastern Australia, with nine species, all of which are new: acaciae, bunyae, eungellae, hirsuta, nothofagi, parva, punctata, tasmaniae and waraganji. The genus is related to Arnomus Sharp in Cryptocephalinae and a partial phylogeny of the species of Semelvillea is proposed using Arnomus as an outgroup. The host-plants include Acacia, Eucalyptus and Nothofagus, and the implications of the species phylogeny for host-plant relationships and biogeography are briefly considered.

The Australian Species of Chlamisini (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

“…The Camptosomata is usually treated as 4 or 5 separate subfamilies (reviewed by Seeno and Wilcox 1982) or alternatively as a single subfamily, for which the correct name is Cryptocephalinae (Crowson 1967;Reid 1990;Lawrence and Britton 1991), with the former subfamilies reduced in rank to tribes. The latter arrangement is preferred here.…”

Australopapuan leaf beetle diversity: the contributions of hosts plants and geography

“…Some genera are small clades of autapomophically defined species in larger assemblages; other genera are simply based on closely related species. The simplified classification is followed here, although it has only been alluded to, not formally published (Reid , , , 1998, 1999; Matthews and Reid ). The diversity of Cryptocephalinae in Australopapua is enigmatic.…”

“…The group of genera including Semelvillea , Platycolaspis , Leasia and Atenesus is endemic to Australia and New Zealand (with endemic genus Arnomus ). About 30 species occur in Australia, associated with flowers in drier areas ( Leasia , Atenesus ) or foliage in wetter areas ( Platycolaspis , Semelvillea ) (Reid , ; Matthews and Reid ).…”

“…At generic rank, the Chrysomelidae of Tasmania are an extension of the mainland fauna, with only one endemic genus, the monotypic Ewanius (Reid , ). There are many endemic species, but most have sister species in mainland Australia (see for example: Selman ; Reid , ; Reid and de Little ). The relative lack of isolation of Tasmania, or its possession of only widespread genera, may be a consequence of the environmental conditions during the glacial maxima of the Pleistocene: a quarter of the present island was under ice, surrounded by tundra and connected to the mainland by sclerophyllous heath and woodland (Veevers ).…”

Together with 30 years of Symposia on Chrysomelidae! Memories and personal reflections on what we know more about leaf beetles

“…Let us quote some of them: metafemoral spring of flea beetles and jumping by David Furth (1988, Furth and Suzuki 1994, 1998), and Michael Schmitt (2004); meioformulae of Leaf Beetles by Petitpierre (1997, 1999, 2011), Virkki (1985, 1988, 1989) and others; larvae research, by Steinhausen (1985, 1994, 1995, 1996) and others; chemical defense by Jacques Pasteels (Pasteels and Hartmann 2004, Pasteels and Rowell-Rahier 1989, Pasteels et al 1986, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1996, 2004); cycloalexy, by Vasconcellos-Neto and Jolivet (1989, 1994); fossils by Santiago-Blay (1994; Santiago-Blay and Craig 1999, Santiago-Blay et al 1996, 2004), followed by many others; mimicry by Balsbaugh (1988, Balsbaugh and Fauske 1991) and many others; zoogeography by Verma (Verma and Jolivet 2004, 2006), Scherer (1988), Daccordi (1994, 1996, 2000, 2003a, b, c), and many more; egg bursters by Cox (1988, 1994); structure of ovaries and viviparity by Christian Bontems (1988, Bontemps and Lee 2008); Criocerinae biology, by Fredric Vencl (Vencl and Morton 1998, 1999, Vencl and Nishida 2008, Vencl et al 2004), M. Schmitt (1988), Yoko Matsumura (Matsumura and Akimoto 2009, Matsumura and Suzuki 2008, Matsumura and Yoshizawa 2010, 2012, Matsumura et al 2010, 2012); African fauna of Alticinae by Maurizio Biondi (1989, 1999, 2001a, b, Biondi and D’Alessandro 2008, 2010a, b, 2012); Australian fauna by Mauro Daccordi (2000, 2003a, b, c, Daccordi and DeLittle 2003), Chris Reid (1989, 1991a, b, 1992, 2003, 2006, Reid and Beat...…”