Palaeatalasis, Legalov, 2021

Legalov, Andrei A., 2021, First record of the subfamily Sagrinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) from the Eocene of North America, Fossil Record 24 (1), pp. 135-139 : 136

Genus Palaeatalasis gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:163BA475-CC4E-42DB-

A101-E5BF2FD11C3F

Type species

Palaeatalasis monrosi sp. nov., herein designated.

Etymology

The name is formed from the Greek “palaios” (ancient) and the generic name “ Atalasis ”. Gender masculine.

Diagnosis

Large distinctly sclerotized beetle; head prognathous, without middle sulcus, not constricted behind eyes; mandibles large; maxillary palpi long; eyes suboval, convex, non-emarginate; forehead wider than width of rostrum base; temples long; antennae filiform, reaching anterior third of elytra; pronotum transverse; sides subparallel; elytra suboval, striate; sutural stria deep, deeper than other striae; profemora and mesofemora moderately thickened; metafemora not toothed, distinctly larger than other femora; abdominal ventrite 1 long, 2.5 times as long as ventrite 2.

Comparison

The new fossil genus is similar to the Recent Atalasis Lacordaire, 1845 but differs from it in the subparallel sides of the pronotum, non-emarginate eyes, and metafemora lacking teeth, whereas Atalasis is characterized by the pronotal sides tapering from the apical part to the basal third, emarginate eyes, and metafemora with teeth. It differs from the Eocene

Eosagra Haupt, 1950 in the large, convex, non-emarginate eyes, wide elytra, and transverse pronotum. The new genus is distinguished from the Paleocene Gallopsis Legalov, Kirejtshuk et Nel, 2019 by the wide forehead and convex eyes.

Remarks

The head not narrowed basally, without rostrum, filiform antenna, and striate elytra suggest placement of Palaeatalasis gen. nov. in the family Chrysomelidae . The new genus belongs to the family Sagrinae based on the deep sutural stria, deeper than other striae, the metafemora distinctly larger than other femora, and the prognathous head without a median sulcus. The convex and non-emarginate eyes suggest placement in the tribe Megamerini .