Notomela Jacoby, 1899: 357

Biondi, Maurizio & D'Alessandro, Paola, 2015, Revision of the Afrotropical genus Notomela Jacoby, 1899 with description of N. joliveti sp. n. from Principe Island (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini), ZooKeys 547, pp. 63-74 : 64-66

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Chrysomelidae

Notomela Jacoby, 1899: 357

Notomela Jacoby: Scherer (1961: 277); Biondi and D’Alessandro (2010: 411; 2012: 61)

Type species.

Notomela cyanipennis Jacoby, 1899: 357, designation by monotypy (Type locality: “Cameroons”).

Morphological remarks.

Based on newly examined material, morphological characteristics of Neodera are revised and updated with respect to the original description ( Jacoby 1899). Body (Figs 1-3) thickset, sub-cylindrical or elliptical, strongly convex. Head (Figs 4-5) with vertex and frons distinctly punctated; frontal tubercles sub-quadrate, clearly distant from each other; frontal carina not raised; genae short. Antennae moderately elongate, about as long as from 1/3 to half body length.

Pronotum (Figs 8, 10, 12) moderately transverse (WP/LP> 1.5 but ≤ 1.8), anteriorly slightly wider than posteriorly, without antebasal furrow; lateral margins bordered, with dentiform and curved anterior angles, not visible in dorsal view; posterior margin very finely bordered, slightly sinuous.

Elytral punctation (Figs 9, 11, 13) partially irregular, arranged in simple or double rows, with submarginal stria of distinctly and deeply impressed punctures laterally, delimiting wide and distinctly raised lateral band ( Biondi and D’Alessandro 2012, p. 112, Fig. 220); interstriae flat and very finely punctulated. Hind femora moderately enlarged; hind tibiae dorsally channeled in distal half, with short apical spur; tarsal claws appendiculate.

Ventral surface sub-smooth, with sparsely and finely impressed punctation, denser on abdominal sternites; procoxal cavities posteriorly closed, with narrow intercoxal process; metasternum about as long as first abdominal sternite; elytral epipleura wide, weakly obliquely downward, laterally just visible, with very sparsely punctulated, almost smooth, surface.

Metafemoral spring (Fig. 6) showing several similarities with the Blepharida morpho-group ( Furth 1982) and characterized by: rather straight dorsal lobe with a distinct extended arm which projects far beyond apex of ventral lobe; ventral lobe with large, obtuse basal angle; dorsal edge of ventral lobe without any sclerotized recurve flange ( Furth and Suzuki 1998). However it should be made quite clear that the irregular tissue attached to the dorsal margin of the ventral lobe is the "cuticular sheet", an irregular sheet of connective tissue by which the primary tibial extensor muscle is inserted onto the dorsal edge of the ventral lobe ( Furth 1982).

Spermatheca (Figs 7A, B) of form A ( Furth and Suzuki 1998) with basal and distal parts very elongate, not separate from each other; ductus uncoiled but with 2 or 3 evident curves.

Vaginal palpi (Fig. 7D) wide and short; tignum (Fig. 7C) clearly T shaped.

Distribution.

Cameroun, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea (Fernando Poo Island), São Tomé and Príncipe, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Republic of South Africa (Limpopo, North-West Province, Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province), Rwanda and Uganda (Fig. 17).

Notes.

Notomela can be placed next to Amphimela Chapuis, 1875, genus widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Australian, Eastern Palaearctic and Oriental regions. Notomela shares with Amphimela the same pronotal shape, head with wide interantennal space, frontal carina not raised, metafemoral spring (personal data) and spermathecal type. However, these two genera are easily distinguishable by the: presence of a submarginal elytral stria of distinctly and deeply impressed punctures laterally, delimiting wide and distinctly raised lateral band in Notomela , absent in Amphimela ; frontal tubercles clearly delimited and raised in Notomela , absent or just visible in Amphimela ; pronotal punctation laterally more strongly and densely impressed, uniformly impressed in Amphimela ; elytral punctation partially irregular in Notomela , regular in Amphimela .

Ecological data.

Host plants reported for this flea beetle genus in southern Africa ( Notomela fulvicollis Bryant) are Citrus and Zanthoxylum [= Xanthoxylum ; = Fagara ] ( Rutaceae ) ( Jolivet and Hawkeswood 1995). Based on the distributional data, Notomela species seem to be associated mainly with tropical and temperate lowland and montane forest ecosystems.