Taophila

Taophila
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Chrysomelidae
Subfamily: Eumolpinae
Tribe: Eumolpini
Genus: Taophila
Heller, 1916
Type species
Taophila subsericea
Heller, 1916

Taophila is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. The genus is endemic to New Caledonia.

Taxonomy

Taophila was first established in 1916 by the Austrian entomologist Karl Borromaeus Maria Josef Heller for a single described species, Taophila subsericea. The genus remained monotypic for nearly a century, until two further species were described in 2007. In 2010, the genus was revised by G. Allan Samuelson, who added another nine species.

In 2014, entomologists Jésus Gómez-Zurita and Anabela Cardoso made a morphological and molecular phylogenetic study of the genus, using the results to propose two new subgenera: Jolivetiana and Lapita. The subgenus Lapita was later found to be a junior homonym of the fly genus Lapita Bickel, 2002, and moreover the group has many morphological differences to Taophila s. str., so it was renamed to Tricholapita and elevated in rank to genus in 2020.

Species

Taophila contains 21 species, which are divided into two subgenera:

Species now in Tricholapita Gómez-Zurita & Cardoso, 2020 (formerly the subgenus Lapita Gómez-Zurita & Cardoso, 2014 nec Bickel, 2002):

T. cancellata Samuelson, 2010 was tentatively transferred to Dematochroma in 2014, then was proposed as a synonym of Dumbea striata in 2023, which was then transferred to the genus Cazeresia in 2025.

References

  1. 1 2 Platania, L.; Gómez-Zurita, J. (2023). "Current knowledge on the diversity of Eumolpinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in New Caledonia". ZooKeys (1177): 41–55. Bibcode:2023ZooK.1177...41P. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1177.101293. hdl:10261/337235. PMC 10483691. PMID 37692319.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Samuelson, G. A. (2010). "Review of Taophila, a genus endemic to New Caledonia (Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae : Eumolpinae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2621: 45–62. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2621.1.3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gómez-Zurita, J.; Cardoso, A. (2014) [Published online 7 October 2013]. "Systematics of the New Caledonian endemic genus Taophila Heller (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae) combining morphological, molecular and ecological data, with description of two new species". Systematic Entomology. 39 (1): 111–126. Bibcode:2014SysEn..39..111G. doi:10.1111/syen.12038. S2CID 86311766.
  4. 1 2 3 Gómez-Zurita, J.; Platania, L.; Cardoso, A. (2020). "A new species of the genus Tricholapita nom. nov. and stat. nov. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae) from New Caledonia". Zootaxa. 4858 (1): 85–94. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4858.1.5. PMID 33056243. S2CID 222833055.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Platania, L.; Cardoso, A.; Gómez-Zurita, J. (2020) [Published online 8 November 2019]. "Diversity and evolution of New Caledonian endemic Taophila subgenus Lapita (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 189 (4): 1123–1154. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz119.
  6. 1 2 Platania, L.; Gómez-Zurita, J. (2021). "Integrative taxonomic revision of the New Caledonian endemic genus Taophila Heller (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae)". Insect Systematics & Evolution. Advance Articles (2): 111–184. doi:10.1163/1876312X-bja10021. S2CID 240236803.
  7. ↑ Gómez-Zurita, J. (2017). "Insights on the genus Acronymolpus Samuelson with new synonymies and exclusion of Stethotes Baly from the fauna of New Caledonia (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae)". ZooKeys (720): 65–75. Bibcode:2017ZooK..720...65G. doi:10.3897/zookeys.720.13582. PMC 5740434. PMID 29290725.
  8. ↑ Jesús Gómez-Zurita; Cardoso, Anabela (2025). "Systematics and evolution of the New Caledonian endemic genus Cazeresia (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae)". Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny. 83: 127–170. doi:10.3897/asp.83.e143543. Wikidata Q134840938. {{Cite Q}}: Missing first/last names in Wikidata for Jesús Gómez-Zurita  (help)