Amelyris Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky

Tshernyshev, Sergei E., Alekseev, Vitalii, Bukejs, Andris, Vasilenko, Dmitry V., Legalov, Andrej A. & Perkovsky, Evgeny E., 2025, First record of the family Melyridae (Coleoptera: Cleroidea) in late Eocene European ambers with description of a new tribe, a new genus and seven new species, Zootaxa 5696 (4), pp. 542-566 : 545-546

Genus Amelyris Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky , gen. nov.

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Type species: Amelyris ( Amelyris) sveneldi Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov., by present designation

Description. Body moderately small ( 2.5–3.8 mm long), elongate, slender, parallel, and flattened dorsally. Head small, round, slightly convex, as wide as pronotum, not sculptured, finely punctured, covered with fine recumbent hairs. Antennae 11-segmented, attached near lower edge of eye and near clypeus; terminal antennomeres forming loose club, symmetrical in Amelyris subgen. nov. and asymmetrical in Asymelyris subgen. nov.

Pronotum convex, elongate, slightly narrowed anteriorly, with acute angles and lateral side with typical doubled carinae; surface uniformly punctured with large punctures, microsculpture distinct; pubescence small, curved and sparse; disc clearly impressed at posterior and anterior angles.

Elytra distinctly carinate, elongate, subparallel, slightly convex just below middle, evenly narrowed and rounded posteriorly; apices remaining separate near suture; humeri small, distinct, with small, short, curved carina; epipleura broad and distinct along elytra from base to apex; each elytron with four carinae; interspace between carinae with three regular rows of sparse distinct punctures and developed microsculpture. Elytral pubescence short, semi-erect, situated mainly on carinae. Suture distinctly marginate, with even margin in Amelyris ( Amelyris) subgen. nov. and thickened apically in Amelyris ( Asymelyris) subgen. nov. Metathoracic wings well developed.

Legs short, simple. Femora of all legs flattened and widened, not curved. Tibiae straight, evenly flattened, with short, black, strong, erect setae. Tarsi 5-segmented. Tarsomeres strongly compressed, with short, black, erect hairs on the periphery of the pedal part; tarsomere 1 about 1.5–2.5× shorter than tarsomere 2.

Ventral side moderately convex, weakly shiny, finely and densely punctate, bare or with fine dense adpressed hairs. Pygidium (apical tergite) and apical sternite simple, narrow, with tufts of several long, strong black bristles on outer margins of lateral sides in nominative subgenus of Amelyris , Amelyris subgen. nov., and lacking bristles in the subgenus Asymelyris subgen. nov.

Etymology. The new genus-group name is composed of the Greek prefix ἀ- / ἀν-, i.e. ‘not’ (the ‘alpha privative’) and Melyris , the nominative genus name for the family Melyridae . Gender masculine.

Composition. The new genus, Amelyris gen. nov., is divided into two subgenera ( Amelyris subgen. nov. and Asymelyris subgen. nov.) and includes seven species known from inclusions in late Eocene European ambers: five species from Baltic amber, one species from Rovno amber and one species from Danish amber. Identification key for all species of the genus is provided after subgeneric descriptions below.