| Afissa | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
| Family: | Coccinellidae |
| Subfamily: | Coccinellinae |
| Tribe: | Epilachnini |
| Genus: | Afissa Dieke, 1947 |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Afilachna Bielawski, 1966 | |
Afissa is a genus of ladybug beetles that belongs to the tribe Epilachnini. Members of this genus can be found throughout Eurasia and Africa.
The genus was erected in 1947 by Gerhard Heinrich Dieke, a German-American physicist who was an expert on the taxonomy of ladybug beetles. When it was erected, the type species was Coccinella flavicollis which is now a synonym of Afissa flavicollis.
Due to similarities with the species Epilachna borealis, it would be synonymized with Epilachna in 1961 by C.S. Li and E.F. Cook. In 2015, Szawaryn et al. would resurrect the genus from synonymy with Epilachna based on phylogenetic analysis of the genus. Furthermore, they would also propose that most Asian species formerly classified as belonging to Epilachna were actually apart of genus Afissa.
This genus contains numerous species. Below is a list of species that belong to this genus:
This genus occurs throughout the continent of Eurasia and Africa. There have been more than 30 species that have been recorded from China. However the taxonomy of many Chinese species remains poorly studied and many species that were formerly assigned to Epilachna are in need of further examination.
The morphology and size of species belonging to Afissa vary greatly unlike genus Epilachna whose species are nearly homogeneous and hardly differ in morphology. Their spot patterns are also varied.
Little is known about the biology of genus Afissa. They are apparently not a pest species which is due to their populations being low and their main plant food sources being of low economic importance.