Lepina (beetle)
{{Short description|Genus of leaf beetles}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| taxon = Lepina
| authority = Baly, 1863{{cite journal|last=Baly|first=J. S.|year=1863|title=An attempt at a classification of the Eumolpidae|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13387745|journal=The Journal of Entomology|volume=2|pages=143–163}}
| display_parents = 2
| type_species = Lepina inconspicua
| type_species_authority = Baly, 1863
| synonyms = Demotinella Jacoby, 1908
}}
Lepina is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae.{{cite book|last=Mohamedsaid|first=M. S.|year=2004|title=Catalogue of the Malaysian Chrysomelidae (Insecta: Coleoptera)|pages=1–239|place=Sofia|publisher=Pensoft Publishers|series=Pensoft Series Faunistica|volume=36|isbn=9546422010|issn=1312-0174}} It is widely distributed in Southeast Asia. It is very close to the genus Apolepis.
Etymology
The name of the genus is derived from the ancient Greek word {{wikt-lang|grc|λεπίς}} (lepis), meaning "scale".{{cite book|last1=Gemminger|first1=M.|last2=Harold|first2=E. von|year=1874|title=Catalogus Coleopterorum hucusque descriptorum synonymicus et systematicus. Tom. XI. Chrysomelidae (Pars I.)|volume=11 |place=Monachii [= München]|publisher=G. Beck|page=3393|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10178437}}
Description
The genus Lepina has the following characteristics: The body is oblong, subcylindrical, and covered with narrow curved scales. The head is small, deeply set in the thorax, perpendicular; the eyes are entire; the frontoclypeus (or epistome) has a convex triangle shape. The
antennae are sub-filiform; the last five segments are almost globular, the 2nd segment is thickened and is distinctly larger than the 3rd segment. The prothorax is broader than long, subcylindrical; the prosternum is separated from the episternum by a sutural groove. The legs are moderately robust; the pro- and metafemora have a small ventral tooth; the basal segment of the tarsi is barely longer than the second; the claws are bifid.{{cite journal|last=Baly|first=J. S.|year=1867|title=Phytophaga Malayana; a revision of the phytophagous beetles of the Malay Archipelago, with descriptions of the new species collected by Mr. A. R. Wallace|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14694386|journal=Transactions of the Entomological Society of London|series=3|volume=4|pages=1–300|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2311.1866.tb01857.x}}{{cite journal|last=Lefèvre|first=É.|year=1885|title=Eumolpidarum hucusque cognitarum catalogus, sectionum conspectu systematico, generum sicut et specierum nonnullarum novarum descriptionibus adjunctis|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27434526|journal=Mémoires de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège|series=2|volume=11|issue=16|pages=1–172}}
Lepina shares many characters with the genus Apolepis, but differs from it by the sutural groove between the prosternum and episternum, the shape of the frontoclypeus (in Apolepis, it does not have a convex triangle shape), and the lateral edging of the pronotum (in Apolepis, it takes the form of a row of teeth, which are not present in Lepina).
Species
The genus includes five species:{{cite contribution|last=Clavareau|first=H.|year=1914|title=Chrysomelidae: 11. Eumolpinae|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10433023|editor-last1=Junk|editor-first1=W.|editor-link1=Wilhelm Junk|editor-last2=Schenkling|editor-first2=S.|editor-link2=Sigmund Schenkling|encyclopedia=Coleopterorum Catalogus|volume=59|pages=135|place=Berlin|publisher=W. Junk}}
- Lepina atra (Lefèvre, 1887) – Sumatra, Borneo
- Lepina aureovillosa Jacoby, 1894 – Tanimbar Islands
- Lepina balyi (Jacoby, 1896) – Sumatra
- Lepina inconspicua Baly, 1863 – Penang Island
- Lepina pectoralis (Jacoby, 1908) – Myanmar: Tanintharyi Region: Tavoy
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q104845841}}
Category:Taxa named by Joseph Sugar Baly
{{Eumolpinae-stub}}