(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticinae)
Dibolia Latreille
Dibolia schillingi |
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Dibolia schillingi |
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Distribution: Holarctic genus with a few species in Africa
and Central America.
Statistics: 37 species in Palearctic, and more than 60
worldwide.
Host Plants: Ballota nigra,
Betonica officinalis, Brunella vulgaris, Bupleurum,
Centaurea, Cousinia, Cynoglossum, Eryngium campestre,
Leonurus, Marrubium vulgare, Mentha, Nepeta catharia,
Salvia controversa, S.pratensis, Stachys officinalis,
S.recta, Teucrium, Veronica (Mohr 1966).
Plantago (in North America).
Comments: Two subgenera established by
Jablokoff-Khnzorian (1968) were not accepted by other specialists
including Mohr (1981). The latter did not mention them in his
last revision of Palearctic species. At any rate, Khnzorian's
decision to erect a subgenus for D.schillingi is not
correct: Dibolia metallica Motschulsky is a synonym of
Dibolia schillingi, the former already has a proposed
generic name (Petalopus), which in this case would be
the proper name of the subgenus.
Diagnosis:
Body small to medium sized, very convex, cylindrical.
Color dark brown or black, with or without metallic
lustre; sometimes pronotum and elytra differently colored.
Head hypo-opistognathous, broadly oval, flat from
lateral view, deeply inserted in pronotum and sometimes hardly
visible from above. Frontal ridge wide to narrow, short, forming
elevated, angular T-shaped ridge with apical margin of head
capsule. Antennal calli slightly raised, broadly connected, well
delineated from frontal ridge by furrow, with or without furrows
delineating them from vertex. Orbital line present only near
antennal calli. Eye large. Interantennal space equal or narrower
than diameter of antennal socket. Clypeus and labrum typical.
Antenna 11
segmented, filiform.
Pronotum wide, convex, posteriorly not narrower than
elytral base. Prosternum very convex ventrally, forming so called
collar. Prosternal cavity open behind. Intercoxal prosternal
process comparatively narrow, long. Mesosternum very short, more
or less wide.
Elytra oval, with or without humeral calli. Elytral
punctures sometimes arranged in irregular striae; interspaces
very broad and covered with numerous small punctures. Epipleuron
horizontal, very short, notably tapering in basal 1/3.
Metafemur greatly swollen. Metatibia curved ventrally
and comparatively short with wide, flat bifid apical spur;
dorsally flat with two longitudinal lateral ridges; outer ridge
with large denticles along length; inner ridge broadly impressed
at middle. First metatarsal segment inserted subapically,
comparatively long, as long as following three combined.
