Hoplasoma Jacoby, 1884

Bezděk, Jan, 2012, Revision of Hoplasoma (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae) of the Philippines, with descriptions of five new species, Zootaxa 3382, pp. 1-19 : 2-3

Genus Hoplasoma Jacoby, 1884

Hoplasoma Jacoby, 1884: 233 (type species: Hoplasoma apicale Jacoby, 1884 , by monotypy). Haplomela Chen, 1942: 28 (type species: Haplomela semiopaca Chen, 1942 , by monotypy). Synonymised with Hoplasoma by Bezdĕk, 2010b: 81.

Aulacophora subgen. Paraulacophora Csiki, 1953: 131 (type species: Aulacophora (Paraulacophora) pannonica Csiki, 1953 , by original designation). Synonymised with Hoplasoma by Silfverberg, 1978: 219.

Description. Body elongate, narrow, 2.40–2.90 times as long as broad, parallel-sided. Dorsum usually yellow to orange, rarely with black markings; abdomen, mesosternum and metasternum yellow, partly black or completely black.

Head shiny, narrower than prothorax at base. Clypeus triangular, usually raised. Labrum transverse, with anterior margin straight or slightly concave, with several long setae. Maxillary palpus four segmented, basal segment short, second club-shaped, third much thickened, fourth small, conical. Eyes generally large, strongly convex. Anterior part of head shiny, sparsely covered with small punctures, glabrous or with several pale setae below antennal insertions. Frontal tubercles large, slightly elevated, subquadrate, with inner anterior tips prolonged, shiny. Both tubercles separated from each other by furrow as well as posterior margin of frontal tubercles from frons. Frons distinctly impressed just behind frontal tubercles. Vertex convex, shiny, smooth or with very fine indistinct punctures. Antennae long, filiform, very rarely with apical antennomeres enlarged and flat, usually about half or three quarters of body length, but in some cases longer, second segment shortest.

Pronotum shiny, moderately transverse, always narrower than base of elytra, with a shallow transverse depression in front of basal line, area in front of this depression generally convex. Anterior margin straight or slightly concave, not bordered, anterior angles moderately projecting forward. Sides deeply bordered, somewhat oblique, sometimes strongly convex in front, with a consequent constriction at middle, basally parallel. Posterior margin almost straight, very slightly sinuate, moderately bordered, posterior angles obtuse. Each corner with a pore bearing a fine seta, lateral and basal margins often with several short pale setae. Scutellum subtriangular with apex truncate, shiny, glabrous, impunctate.

Elytra shiny in males, dull in females, slightly divergent posteriorly, nearly glabrous (usually with very scarce short pale hairs). Surface even or with two indistinct obtuse ribs starting from humeral calli and disappearing before apex or, rarely, with sharp rib; covered with very fine, sometimes almost indistinct, confused punctures. Humerus prominent, convex. Epipleura very narrow, gradually tapering, disappearing before apex. Macropterous.

Legs long, slender, densely covered with short pale setae, apices of tibiae without a spur. First segment of all tarsi slender to expanded in males, slender in females. Claws bifid.

Ventral surface moderately dull to shiny, finely punctate, covered with microsculpture and dense pale setae. Male abdomen simple or with a pair of processes from posterior margin of second ventrite (rarely with two pairs of processes from first and second ventrites or from second and third ventrite). Last male ventrite in some species with a well defined subquadrate depressed area.

Female. Last ventrite entire, without subquadrate depressed area. Spermatheca (only Philippine species examined) C-shaped without distinct nodulus, proximal spermathecal duct widened, one or two constrictions or folds present in a few species.

Distribution. Oriental Region (from Pakistan to Philippines), southern China.

Host plants. Various species of Clerodendrum , Premna and Vitex (Verbenaceae) (e. g. Medvedev & Dang 1982, Jolivet & Hawkeswood 1995, Reid 1998, Medvedev 2000). Not recorded for the Philippine species.

Comments. All Philippine species belong to H. unicolor species–group characterised by completely yellow dorsum, male abdomen with one pair of processes from the posterior margin of the second ventrite and the last male ventrite with a well defined subquadrate area. Claws deeply split with the inner tooth somewhat shorter then the outer. Antennae filiform. Elytra even.