Dicranolaius bellulus

{{Short description|Species of beetle}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Dicranolaius bellulus - inat 54434162.jpg

| image_caption = Dicranolaius bellulus, Australia

| genus = Dicranolaius

| species = bellulus

| authority = (Boisduval, 1835)

| synonyms_ref =

| synonyms = Laius cyanocephalus {{small|Lea, 1899}}

Laius nidicola {{small|Lea, 1899}}

Laius intermedius' {{small|Lea, 1899}}

Laius orcicornis {{small|Lea, 1899}}

Malachius bellulus {{small|Boisduval, 1835}}

}}

Dicranolaius bellulus (common name - Red and blue beetle) is a species of soft-winged flower beetle in the family Melyridae, found in Australia, in all mainland states and territories. It was first (partially) described in 1830 by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville as Malachius bellulus with the publication of illustrations.{{cite journal|author=Guérin-Méneville, F.E.|date= 1838|title= Insectes. pp. 57-302 [78]| editor= Duperrey, L.I. |journal= Voyage Autour du Monde, exécuté par ordre du Roi, sur la corvette de sa Majesté, La Coquille, pendant les années 1822, 1823, 1824 et 1825, sous le minestère et conformément aux instructions de S.E.M. le Marquis de Clermont-Tonnerre, Ministre de la Marine; et publié sous les auspices de son Excellence Mgr le Cte de Chabrol, Ministre de la Marine et des Colonies|location= Paris |publisher= A. Bertrand|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3866288}} [Text; Zoologie 2(2), Division 1] (plates 1 and 2 of “Insectes” published in 1830; text in 1838). However, Guérin-Méneville completed the description with the publication of a text in 1838. Consequently, the Australian Faunal Directory considers the first valid publication to be that of Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1835 (as Malachius bellulus).{{Cite web |title=Australian Faunal Directory: Dicranolaius bellulus |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Dicranolaius_bellulus |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=biodiversity.org.au |language=en}}{{cite book|author=Boisduval, J.B.A.D. de |date=1835|title= Faune Entomologique de l'Ocean Pacifique, Découvertes de l'Astrolabe exécuté pendant les Années 1826–29, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville.|volume=2| pages=135|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34906583}} Taxonomic reasons for the various synonyms are given in a 2017 paper by Liu, Slipinski and Pang.{{cite Q|Q99660811|pages= 405-548 [413, Fig. 1]}}