Subgenus Merocratus Bílý, 1989

Type species: Anthaxia insulaecola Obenberger, 1944; original designation .

Relatively small group of medium-sized to large (4.5–10.0 mm), multicolorous species with typical elytral pattern (Fig. 17); ventral surface always metallic from violet to bright red-orange; frons flat or very deeply depressed; pronotal sculpture rather complicated: long, transverse rugae on posterior half often combined with small, fine, polygonal and concentric cells on anterior half, and longitudinal rugae along lateral margins (Fig. 50); elytral apices widely rounded; anal sternite of female apically deeply notched often with S-shaped lateral margins; antennae of male very long, always overlapping midlength of lateral, pronotal margins (Fig. 17), very often reaching posterior, pronotal angles when laid alongside; parameres often laterally enlarged or with lateral teeth or spines (Fig. 74), median lobe not serrate laterally. Dorsal surface usually asetose but in a few species elytra with rather long and dense pilosity (e.g. A. (M.) longipilis Bílý, 1998).

BIONOMY. Almost nothing is known about the bionomy of this subgenus; adults are flower-visitors often collected on flowers of Castanopsis (Fagaceae) . I reared A. (M.) barbieri Descarpentries, 1958 from branches of Mangifera indica L. ( Anacardiaceae) in Thailand.

DISTRIBUTION: south-east Asia from India (Aruchanal Pradesh) to the Philippines.

SPECIES INCLUDED: Anthaxia (M.) barbieri Descarpentries, 1958, A. (M.) beesoniana Gebhardt, 1926, A. (M.) bellissima Bílý, 1990, A. (M.) castanopsivora Bílý, 1998, A. (M.) deyrollei Bílý, 1998, A. (M.) insulaecola Obenberger, 1944, A. (M.) jakli Bílý, 1996, A. (M.) karati Obořil & Bílý, 2003, A. (M.) longipilis Bílý, 1998, A. (M.) miranda Deyrolle, 1864, A. (M.) pyropyga Bílý, 1998, A. (M.) tamdaoensis Bílý, 1998, A. (M.) tricolor Kerremans, 1912, A. (M.) vietnamica Bílý, 1998, A. (M.) violaceiventris Deyrolle, 1864 .