(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticinae)
Horaia Chûjô
Horaia fulva |
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Horaia fulva |
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Distribution: Japan, Philippine Islands.
Statistics: 1 species in Palearctic, 7 species
worldwide.
Host Plants: Magnoliaceae:
Magnolia obovata, Piperiaceae: Piper
futokadzura (Chûjô & Ohno, 1961).
Comments: All the key characters which Medvedev
(1993) used to distinguish Dentisterna also occur in
Horaia Chûjô (e.g."Head excavated near
eyes... . Hind margin of metasternum semicircularly incised in
the middle, with a thick tooth on each side of this emargination.
... First abdominal segment with two high and sharp ridges in the
middle... . Segment first of hind tarsus half as long as tibia."
). Also, specimens which we examined during our study, and which
had been identified by L. Medvedev as Dentisterna, are
all undoubtedly congeneric with Horaia.
Horaia is very similar to Lanka Maulik. Kimoto
(1983) transferred Horaia magnoliae Chûjô &
Ohno to Lanka and later (Kimoto & Takizawa 1994) even
placed Horaia as a synonym of Lanka. Unfortunately,
no explanation was provided for the synonymy, and without a
comparative study of the type species we feel this decision is
premature.
Diagnosis: Body small, oval.
Color reddish brown, brown or black, with or without
metallic lustre.
Head unusual, small, hypo-prognathous, convex from
lateral view. Frontal ridge very narrow, convex, forming
elevated, sinuous Y-shaped ridge with anterior margin of head
capsule. Antennal calli separated, unusually depressed, situated
dorsal to frontal ridge, strongly delineated from vertex by very
deep furrow. Orbital line represented by deep furrow. Space
between them and eye very narrow. Vertex unusually convex.
Interantennal space narrow, not wider than diameter of antennal
cavity. Eye large. Segment 2 of maxillary palpus notably swollen.
Antenna 11-segmented, filiform.
Pronotum comparatively narrow, convex, without any
impressions or furrows. Procoxal cavity open behind. Intercoxal
prosternal process comparatively narrow. Mesosternum wide.
Posterior part of metasternum sometimes notably swollen, with
denticles or ridges lateral to metasternal furrow.
Elytra elongate or oval, with well developed humeral
calli, and striae; interspaces flat. Epipleuron wide,
subvertical.
First abdominal sternite as long as following three
combined, with two subparallel longitudinal ridges between
metacoxae.
Metafemur typical. All tibiae comparatively short,
thickened apically. Metatibia flat dorsally. Metatarsus inserted
apically. First metatarsal segment as long as 1/2 of metatibia,
longer than following three segments combined.
