Agenysa Spaeth, 1905

Sekerka, Lukáš, 2016, Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes in Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (1), pp. 275-344 : 301

Agenysa Spaeth, 1905

Agenysa Spaeth, 1905: 90 (original description).

Type species. Cassida caedemadens Lichtenstein, 1796 , by original designation.

Remarks. The genus was revised by VIANA (1968) who also proposed a key to species, using primarily colouration as a diagnostic character for each species. Unfortunately, almost all species of Agenysa display a wide array of colour variants. In addition many structural characters, such as the convexity of elytra, height and density of the reticulation on elytra, and the intensity of punctation, depends on size of the actual specimen which is also very variable within a single species. As a result reliable identification of species is very difficult and individual forms are rather separated geographically. Studies using molecular data would reliably define and separate species in this genus.

Nevertheless, I have found three taxa, which were previously placed in Stolas Billberg, 1820 but in fact belong to Agenysa . The necessity to attribute them to presently existing species led me to study additional material and types of other species as well. I propose a tentative key to species of Agenysa , that however, cannot be understood as definitive as my conclusions are based entirely on dried museum specimens, and I do not intend to provide a complex revision of the genus here as it deserves a separate project. Particularly difficult is the group of species with red reticulation on explanate margin of elytra and I am unable to reliably attribute some isolated populations to the described species.