Ethiopoeus, Bellamy, 2008

Bellamy, C. L., 2008, New taxa, distribution and biological records of Afrotropical Coraebini Bedel, 1921 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Agrilinae), Zootaxa 1848, pp. 1-15 : 10-11

Genus Ethiopoeus , gen. nov.

Type species: Meliboeus croesus Obenberger, 1931 (new designation).

Description. Maximum length ca. 6.0–7.0 mm, elongate-ovoid, subcylindrical; head with frontovertex broad, slightly produced between eyes; eyes large, inner margins diverging dorsally; circumocular groove along inner margin extending more than half of eye circumference; supra-antennal groove above large antennal cavities; antennal cavities narrowly separated; clypeal margin broadly emarginate; gena with shallow transverse depression for basal antennomeres in repose; distal margin of gena with stout, acute tooth; antennae serrate from antennomere 4; pronotum wider than long, wider near midpoint, narrowing to posterior margin; anterior margin convex medially; posterior margin sinuate on either side of bispinose prescutellar lobe; disc transversely convex, except for slight depression on either side of middle in posterior 1/2; lateral margin crenulate; one premarginal carina on either side; scutellum biplanar, wider than long; elytra slightly narrower than maxi- mum pronotal width, widest across humeri and at about posterior 1/3; humeri moderately elevated; lateral margin biarcuate, narrowing medially, apices separately rounded, lateroapical margin finely serrate; disc transversely convex; epipleuron not extending to apex, widest in anterior 1/3, with margin subparallel to elytral margin; pygidium not visible beyond elytra, with apical margin entire; prosternum short, longitudinally compressed, with short, feebly, steeply declivous, bilobed mentonniere; disc transversely convex; process broad, subparallel between procoxae, apex feebly trilobed; abdominal ventrites feebly expanded laterally, ventrites 1 and 2 longer than 3+4+5; ventrite 5 with premarginal groove, apex entire, without sexual morphology; legs with tibiae subquadrate in cross-section, feebly arcuate outer edge; tarsi with tarsomeres 1–4 with ventral pulvilli; tarsal claws bifid. Male genitalia with parameres fully sclerotized; female genitalia with ovipositor of tubular configuration.

Etymology. The masculine genus-group name combines the root from the country name with the suffix from Meliboeus .

Comments. The definition of the Meliboeus Deyrolle, 1864 genus-group constituency is currently in flux ( Bellamy 1990, 2006a, Kubáň 2006). This new monotypic genus is proposed now for the type species which lacks several of the important character states that define Meliboeus Deyrolle, 1864 , most notably the entire transverse carina of the hypomeron, the irregularly spinose margin of the pygidium and the membranous lateral projections of the parameres (see Bellamy 1990). This new genus-group taxon is placed within the Amorphosomatina and keys to the Cryptomorpha Bellamy, 1988 / Vanroonia Obenberger, 1923 couplet in the generic key I published earlier ( Bellamy 1988a). Considering the large number of species of Meliboeus described from Subsaharan Africa (113 spp., fide Bellamy, 1991), it will not be surprising to find additional species that should be transferred to this or other genera.