Erotylinae, Latreille, 1802

Skelley, Paul E., 2009, Pleasing fungus beetles of the West Indies (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Erotylinae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (82), pp. 1-94 : 8-9

Key to West Indian Erotylinae Genera

1. Anterior edge of pronotum with complete marginal bead ( Fig. 2 ); frontoclypeal suture broad and straight medially ( Fig. 2 ); pronotal and elytral lateral margin with multiple pores along edge; body broadly oval ( Fig. 6-9 ); body bicolored, black with elytra mostly pale yellow to orange ( Fig. 4-9 ) ( Erotylini ) ........................................................................................................................... 2

— Anterior edge of pronotum lacking marginal bead medially ( Fig. 3 ); when visible, frontoclypeal suture V- or U-shaped medially, not straight; pronotal lateral margin with pores visible only at anterior and posterior angles, elytral lateral margin lacking apparent pores; body elongate, more or less parallel-sided; body color unicolorous to strongly patterned, elytra mostly dark, never appearing entirely pale yellow to orange ( Fig. 10-11 ) ..................................................... 3

2(1). Body strongly convex, globose in lateral view ( Fig. 4 ); metasternum with coxal lines present .... .................................................................................................... Aegithus Fabricius [2 spp.]

— Body convex, but somewhat flattened in lateral view ( Fig. 5 ); metasternum with coxal lines absent ............................................................................................ Iphiclus Chevrolat [2 spp.]

3(1). Terminal maxillary palpomere acuminate (as in Fig. 12 , 26 ); mentum transverse, wider than long; body length <2.5 mm ( Dacnini , known only from amber fossils) ..................................... ....................................................................... Dacne Latreille [1 sp.; D. brodzinskyi Skelley]

— Terminal maxillary palpomere broadly dilated ( Fig. 13-15 ); mentum variable; body length> 3.0 mm ............................................................................................................................................. 4

4(3). Mentum broadly transverse ( Fig. 13 ); genal lobes projecting ventrally, with mandibles form a shallow cavity in which palpi rest; terminal labial palpomere narrowed, width = 0.2 x terminal maxillary palpomere width ( Megalodacnini ) .................. Antillengis Skelley , n. gen. [2 spp.]

— Mentum triangular ( Fig. 14-15 ); genal lobes projecting laterally or reduced, not forming an cavity in which the palpi rest; terminal labial palpomeres dilated, width = 0.8-1.2 x width of terminal maxillary palpomere ( Tritomini ) ............................................................................................... 5

5(4). Antennomere II elongate, nearly equal in length to antennomere III ( Fig. 16 ); ocular striae lacking; body small, length less than 5 mm ................................... Altisessor Skelley , n. gen. [6 spp.]

— Antennomere II globose, half the length of antennomere III or less ( Fig. 3 , 14 ); ocular striae present ( Fig. 17 ); body usually larger, length more than 5 mm .............................................. 6

6(5). Meso- and metafemora with marginal bead ( Fig. 18-19 ) along posterior edge; antennomere IX broad and rounded at base, usually wider than long ( Fig. 22-23 ) ............................................ 7

— Meso- and metafemora lacking sharp marginal bead ( Fig. 20-21 ) along posterior edge; antennomere IX narrowed and straight or angled toward base, usually longer than wide ( Fig. 24-25 ) ........ 8

7(6). Body ovoid, lacking color pattern, dark black with blue sheen; most elytral striae restricted to base, disc smooth ( Fig. 10 ); Cuba.... Cubyrus Skelley , n. gen. [1 sp., C. sapphirus (Skelley) ]

— Body elongate, with strong color pattern of pale yellow and black ( Fig. 11 ); all elytral striae complete, nearly as long as elytra, disc distinctly punctate; southern Lesser Antilles ( St. Lucia, St. Vincent) ........................................... Ischyrus Olivier [1 sp., I. quadripunctatus (Olivier) ]

8(6). Body ovate, flattened, strongly dulled, entirely blue, lacking color pattern ( Fig. 74 ), tibiae and antennae entirely pale yellow; antennomere IX narrowly trapezoidal ( Fig. 24 ) ......................... ......................................................................... Epytus Dejean [1 sp., E. cyaneus (Duponchel) ]

— Body elongate, flattened to robust, usually not strongly dulled, color dark brown to black with variable orange markings, never blue ( Fig. 89-104 , 121-137 ); tibiae and antennae mostly dark never pale yellow, some club antennomeres pale; antennomere IX elongate, triangular ( Fig. 25 ) ..................................................................................... Notaepytus Skelley , n. gen. [17 spp.]

Figures

Figure 2-11. Key characters. 2-3) Anterior view of head and pronotum. 2) Iphiclus suturalis. 3) Notaepytus flavitarsis. 4-5) Lateral habitus. 4) Aegithus clavicornis. 5) Iphiclus suturalis. 6-11) Dorsal habitus. 6) Aegithus clavicornis. 7) Aegithus lebasii. 8) Iphiclus guadeloupensis. 9) Iphiclus suturalis. 10) Cubyrus sapphirus. 11) Ischyrus quadripunctatus.

Figure 12-17. Key characters. 12-15) Ventral view head and mouthparts. 12) Dacne ducke. 13) Antillengis epochthidius. 14) Notaepytus flavitarsis. 15) Epytus cyaneus. 16-17) Anterior diagonal view of head. 16) Altisessor ater. 17) Notaepytus flavitarsis.

Figure 26-28. Dacne spp., ventral view. 26) D. brodzinskyi, amber fossil. 27) D. ducke. 28) Dacne quadripunctatus (Say).

Figure 18-25. Key characters. 18-21) Mesofemur. 22-25) Antenna. 18, 22) Cubyrus sapphirus. 19, 23) Ischyrus quadripunctatus. 20, 24) Epytus cyaneus. 21, 25) Notaepytus flavitarsis.[White arrow points at posterior marginal bead, or note its absence, on mesofemur.]

Figure 73-78. Dorsal habitus and genitalia. 73, 76) Cubyrus sapphirus, paratype (genitalia from Skelley 1998b). 74, 77) Epytus cyaneus. 75, 78) Ischyrus quadripunctatus (genitalia from Skelley 1998b). Genitalic sale lines = 0.66 mm.

Figure 89-104. Notaepytus spp., habitus drawings. 89) N. flavitarsis. 90) N. tarsatus. 91) N. cubanacan. 92) N. modestus. 93) N. cyclosignatus. 94) N. elongatus. 95) N. fulvitarsis. 96) N. decoregens. 97) N. ignotensis. 98) N. haitensis. 99) N. inversus. 100) N. baorucoensis. 101) N. neibaensis. 102) N. lavegaensis. 103) N. cyanoros. 104) N. elateroides.

Figure 121-123. Notaepytus spp. occurring on Cuba. 121) N. flavitarsis. 122) N. tarsatus. 123) N. cubanacan, holotype.

Figure 124-125. Notaepytus spp. occurring on Jamaica. 124) N. cyanoros, holotype. 125) N. elateroides, holotype.

Figure 126-131. Notaepytus spp. occurring on Hispaniola. 126) N. fulvitarsis (DR: La Vega). 127) N. fulvitarsis (DR: Hato Mayor). 128) N. decoregens, paratype. 129) N. lavegaensis, paratype. 130) N. neibaensis, holotype. 131) N. baorucoensis, holotype.

Figure 132-137. Notaepytus spp. occurring on Hispaniola. 132) N. modestus. 133) N. elongatus, holotype. 134) N. cyclosignatus, holotype. 135) N. haitensis, paratype. 136) N. ignotensis, paratype. 137) N. inversus, holotype.