Jacobyana Maulik

Biondi, Maurizio & D'Alessandro, Paola, 2011, Jacobyana Maulik, an Oriental flea beetle genus new for the Afrotropical Region with description of three new species from Central and Southern Africa (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Alticinae), ZooKeys 86, pp. 47-59 : 49

Genus Jacobyana Maulik

Jacobyana Maulik 1926: 284, 302-303.

Type species.

Sphaerophysa piceicollis Jacoby, 1889: 195, by original designation. (Type locality: Burma).

Morphological remarks.

Based on newly examined material, morphological characteristic of Jacobyana is revised and updated with respect to the original description ( Maulik 1926). Body roundish, strongly convex (Figs 2, 8, 14). Head with evident setiferous punctures (Figs 3, 9, 15); antenna short, generally not reaching pronotal base (Figs 2, 8, 14); third antennomere clearly thinner than first two antennomeres and about as long or longer than fourth and fifth together (as in Jacobyana piceicollis and Jacobyana flurinae ); distal antennomeres (7 through11) distinctly longer than middle ones (3 through 6). Pronotum (Figs 4, 10, 16) clearly transverse (WP/LP> 2.2), anteriorly narrower than posteriorly, without antebasal furrow; lateral margins distinctly bordered, with anterior setiferous pore rearward towards middle of pronotal side; posterior margin not bordered, clearly sinuous. Elytral punctation (Fig. 17) arranged in regular rows; interstriae flat. Hind femur strongly enlarged; all femora ventrally with a large and generally deep furrow as long as femoral length, with smooth surface, to receive tibiae in resting position; hind tibia dorsally clearly channeled with distinct apical spur; tarsal claw sub-appendiculate (Fig. 7). Ventral surface (Figs 5, 11, 18) with numerous setiferous punctures, generally rather uniformly distributed; procoxal cavities posteriorly open; metasternum about as long as first abdominal sternite; elytral epipleura wide and slightly concave.

Metafemoral spring (Fig. 19) similar to springs of Psylliodes morpho-group (Furth & Suzuki 1998) but likely constitutes a new morpho-group with dorsal lobe regularly curved, with rather long extended arm; basal edge straight, angled <90° with central axis of dorsal lobe; dorsal edge of ventral lobe straight; basal angle of ventral lobe acute, short, apically pointed; recurve flange distinctly sclerotized.

Distribution.

Oriental (India, Nepal, Vietnam and Sri Lanka) ( Medvedev 2009) and Afrotropical (Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, and Republic of South Africa) Regions (Fig. 1).

Notes.

Jacobyana bezdeki sp.n. (LB = 2.64 mm), Jacobyana centrafricana sp. n. (LB = 2.66 mm), and Jacobyana sudafricana sp.n. (LB ♂ = 2.25 mm and ♀> 2.43 mm) are the smallest species of the genus ( Sprecher-Uebersax 2002). All new Afrotropical species share a ratio of the length between antennomeres 3 and 4 (= 2) with Jacobyana ovata Medvedev from Sri Lanka (known only by a single female). However, all three African species are distinguishable from Jacobyana ovata by their smaller size ( Jacobyana ovata : LB = 3.40 mm), interantennal space distinctly narrower than length of first antennomere (as broad as first antennomere in Jacobyana ovata ) and, with the exception of some specimens of Jacobyana sudafricana sp. n., by the colour of the dorsal integuments, never uniformly black (entirely black in Jacobyana ovata ).