Mniophila Stephens, 1831

Damaška, Albert František, Fikáček, Martin, Daňková, Klára, Čičovský, Daniel, Smyčková, Marie, Koštíř, Vojtěch & Munclinger, Pavel, 2024, From Europe to Caucasus: cryptic diversity and unexpected biogeographic history of a Western Palaearctic moss-inhabiting flea beetle (Chrysomelidae: Mniophila), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 201 (4), pp. 1-25 : 5-7

Mniophila Stephens, 1831

Mniophila Stephens 1831: 310 .

Type species: Haltica muscorum Koch, 1903 , by monotypy.

Revisions: Nadein (2009).

Differential diagnosis: Mniophila is a unique genus among the Western Palaearctic flea beetles, easy to recognize by (i) small, compact, convex body; (ii) the anterior process of metaventrite reaching mesocoxae and completely covering the mesoventrite between mesocoxae; (iii) absence of hindwings; and (iv) antennae extremely short, not reaching the midlength of elytra. In these characters, Mniophila resembles the Macaronesian Mniophilosoma Wollaston, 1854 , from which it differs by (i) metafemora strongly widened, much wider than mesofemora (in Mniophilosoma , metafemora are rather slender, similar to mesofemora); (ii) jumping apparatus fully functional (in Mniophilosoma , jumping apparatus is reduced); (iii) elytra densely and usually deeply punctured (in Mniophilosoma , elytral puncturation is extremely shallow and sparse); and (iv) frontal calli delimited posteriorly (in Mniophilosoma , frons is flat and smooth, without distinct posterior delimitation of frontal calli). Mniophila can be easily distinguished from the European mossinhabiting Minota Kutschera, 1859 , by having open procoxal cavities (in Minota , procoxal cavities are closed posteriorly),

origin for each specimen.

Mniophila biogeography and systematics • 7 and lacking deep grooves on the pronotum (in Minota , pronotal grooves are present). Both Mniophilosoma and Minota are not closely related to Mniophila based on the DNA phylogeny by Damaška et al. (2022a).

Redescription: Habitus. Body oval to rounded, very convex, 1.7– 0.8 mm long, 0.7–1.1 mm wide, 0.5–0.9 mm high. Females ± 20% larger than males. Dorsal surface dark, in most species with metallic lustre, extremely feebly covered by scaưered, very short setae. Ventral surface dark yellowish brown to black. Legs and antennae yellowish brown, reddish, or blackish. Head. Hypognathous, widely triangular. Vertex chagrined or slightly punctured, shining, or slightly pilose. Supraorbital, orbital, and suprafrontal sulci developed; frontal calli usually at least slightly developed, flat; frontal ridge well-developed, wide, flaưened but projecting. Clypeus sharply delimited, flat. Labrum incised in the middle of apical margin. Eyes small, round, usually projecting laterally. Antennae short, not reaching more than to anterior third of elytral length. Antennal insertions widely delimited by frontal surface. Antennomere I usually elongated; antennomeres III–XI more or less triangular or rounded, antennomeres IX–XI distinctly widened; forming a barely developed antennal club. Antennomere VII mostly bearing a slight distal protrusion. Thorax. Pronotum veryconvex, pronotalmarginmuchshorterthanmaximalpronotal length. Anterior pronotal edges usually rounded or slightly sharpened, sometimes projecting anteriorly; anterolateral pronotal setiferous pore placed in anterior third to half of pronotal margin. Posterior pronotal edges more or less sharp. Pronotal surface mostly feebly punctured, in some species impunctate. Elytra more or less widened in the basal half. Humeral calli and hindwings completely absent. Elytra punctured, punctures mostly distinct, well-delimited, arranged in regular rows or at least partly irregularly arranged. Puncturation in anterior parts of elytra stronger than in posterior parts. Elytral margin sharp, epipleura widened in anterior half. Ventral thoracic surfaces punctured or sculptured. Procoxal cavities open posteriorly; prosternal process widened posteriorly, punctured. Anterior process of the metaventrite wide, completely covering the space between mesocoxae; punctured or sculptured, more or less distinctly emarginated. Legs at least slightly pilose. Femora and tibiae more or less curved with sharp