Anthaxia ( Thailandia ) paradoxa Bílý, 1990

Svatopluk, 2004, Taxonomic studies on Anthaxiina Gory & Laporte de Castelnau and Curina Ho y ski (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Zootaxa 555, pp. 1-11 : 2-3

Anthaxia ( Thailandia) paradoxa Bílý, 1990

Thailandia paradoxa Bílý, 1990: 2 ; Bellamy 2003: 68.

Thailandia paradoxa was described from one female specimen from NW Thailand (holotype in NSMT), and the monotypic genus Thailandia was created for this species having been characterized by unusually short antennae, extremely wide head which is much wider than anterior pronotal margin, conical pronotum which is finely, transversely wrinkled on its medial part, and by margined prosternal process.

Due to the intensive collecting activities of many collectors in SE Asia in the course of the recent decade I have had an opportunity to study a large material of Anthaxiini from this region. Among hundreds of specimens of Anthaxia sent to me for determination, I have found a number of specimens that could be assigned to this genus. Thanks to this rich material and the possibility to study materials from MNHN, MNCN and BMNH, I have found the characters mentioned above insufficient for separating Thailandia as an independent genus within Anthaxiini but quite reliable for including it in the genus Anthaxia as the subgenus Thailandia, one of the best characterized subgenera of Anthaxia .

The subgenus Thailandia is defined by the following diagnostic characters:

frons regularly convex covered with short, semierect, white pubescence; eyes unusually large, elliptical but not projecting beyond outline of head; head including eyes much wider than anterior pronotal margin; antennae short, hardly reaching midlength of lateral pronotal margins; pronotum slightly conical narrowing anteriorly or nearly parallel­sided; scutellum very small and transverse or subtriangular; pronotal sculpture forming transverse rugae on middle part of pronotum; prosternal process usually feebly margined; anal sternite of female notched or deeply, bisinuously incised; claws simple, enlarged at base; sexual dichromatism usually well­developed, females being often more intensively coloured with more distinct, contrasting elytral patterns.

On the basis of the characters mentioned above the following species are included in the subgenus Thailandia:

Anthaxia ( Thailandia) capitata Kerremans, 1892 ( India)

Anthaxia ( Thailandia) paradoxa Bílý, 1990 ( Thailand)

Anthaxia ( Thailandia) phyllanthi Obenberger, 1956 ( India)

Anthaxia ( Thailandia) rondoni Baudon, 1962 ( Laos, Thailand)