Metriona elatior ( Klug, 1829 )

Sekerka, Lukáš, 2020, Commented catalogue of Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with remarks on the collection of Jaro Mráz in the National Museum in Prague, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 60 (2), pp. 667-707 : 676

* Metriona elatior ( Klug, 1829)

Published records. Barueri; Butantan; Campos de Jordão (Bඈඋඈඐංൾർ 1996); Campinas (Sංආõൾඌ +| Mඈඇඇඣ 2008); Jundiaí (Bඈඋඈඐංൾർ +| TൺΚං- ඓൺඐൺ 2011).

Additional records. BRAZIL: Sඞඈ Pൺඎඅඈ: São Paulo Capital, 18.ii.1912, 1 spec., 21.ii.1912, 1 spec., G. E. Bryant leg. (BMNH); Serra de Bocaina, 1500 m, xi.1965, 2 spec. (NHMB).

Distribution. Argentina, Brazil (Goiás, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo), Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Remarks. Bඈඋඈඐංൾർ (1996) recorded several species, which are common in southern part of South America, as new to French Guiana based on old material labelled as from Bas Maroni. Bඈඋඈඐංൾർ +|MඈඋൺǤඎൾඌ (2005) critically evaluated all records published from French Guiana and removed four of these species published from Bas Maroni as their occurrence in French Guiana is very improbable; however, M. elatior remained in the review as an accepted record. In my opinion, also the specimens of M. elatior were mislabelled as the species occurs mainly in the Paraná Basin and along the Brazilian coast reaches as north as Rio de Janeiro. Also, the record from the state of Pará (Santarém) is dubious as M. elatior is usually associated with seasonally dry or semi-dry savannas and semideciduous forests. Moreover, M. elatior is one of the most common species of Brazilian cassidines, collected usually by almost every collector who collected some cassidines, and from each of the other states it has been confirmed by many specimens from multiple localities. Indeed, the present-day knowledge of the distribution of cassidines in Brazil is still far from being complete but based on field experience and general distribution patterns of cassidines, I find these two records very improbable and thus remove Pará and French Guiana from the distribution of M. elatior .