Aulacocheilus is a genus of pleasing fungus beetles (family Erotylidae. Among their family, they are placed in the subfamily Encaustinae (or tribe Encaustini if the subfamily Erotylinae is more widely defined). This genus is known from Indo-Australian region, occurring from South Asia south of the Himalayas through China to Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia and the Wallacea to eastern Australia. One species found in southern to southeastern Europe and several from AfricaDelkeskamp, Kurt (1957): Die äthiopischen Arten der Gattung Aulacochilus [sic] 20. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Erotyliden (Col.) ["The Afrotropical species of Aulacocheilus. 20th contribution to the knowledge of erotylids." Article in German.] Dt. entomol. Z. 4(3-4): 193-197. are traditionally also placed here; it is not certain if this is correct.Chûjô, Michio & Chûjô, Michitaka (1989): A catalog of the Erotylidae (Insecta, Coleoptera) from the old world (excl. the Ethiopian region) II. Esakia 28: 75-96. PDF fulltext.
These are smalllish oval beetles with a rounded back. Like their closest relatives, Aulacocheilus adults often are waxy black with contrasting reddish blotches or irregular bands on the wings, usually with a soft, "molten"-looking margin – hence the name Encaustinae/Encaustini, from Ancient Greek ἔγκαυστος (enkaustos), "hot wax painting". Some species are iridescent, which is rare in Erotylidae.Robertson, James A.; McHugh, Joseph V. & Whiting, Michael F. (2004): A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the pleasing fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae): evolution of colour patterns, gregariousness and mycophagy. Syst. Entomol. 29(2): 173–87. PDF fulltext
Taxonomy and systematics The genus name was often written Aulacochilus, an unjustified emendation popularized by Louis Agassiz in 1846 and formally established by Ludwig Redtenbacher in 1858. However, it was used as Aulaocheilus by French authors around 1840 already. Commonly, it was attributed to Louis Chevrolat's 1842 usage, with the "Erotylus" javanus of Félix Guérin-Méneville designated as type species in 1989. But when Guérin-Méneville established this species in 1841, he already used Aulacocheilus as a subgenus of Erotylus, making it an available genus-group name; the common attribution of the genus to Chevrolat thus was mistaken.Skelley, Paul E.; Leschen, Richard A.B. & Liu, Zhenhua (2021): Nomenclatural notes for some Australian Erotylinae (Coleoptera: Erotylidae). Zootaxa 4966(1): 69–76.
Eventually, it turned out that the genus had in fact been first established in 1836 already – in Pierre Dejean's re-issue of his Catalogue des coléoptères, which contained the first four books but not yet the fifth. Dejean's subsequent use of the genus name in the fifth volume was known to have preceded Guérin-Méneville and Chevrolat, but had been dismissed for supposedly lacking a type species, causing the widespread belief that Chevrolat, by his re-use (and implied validation) of Dejean's name, was the correct authority. But when Dejean established Aulacocheilus, he only put the "Erotylus" quadripustulatus of Johan Fabricius (described in 1801 already) in there, making this the type species by default.
Even before Dejean, Johannes Gistel had proposed the name Berecyntha for the same beetles, but Gistel was suspected of habitual scientific fraud, and like many names he proposed Berecyntha never found common use and became a nomen oblitum ("forgotten name"). Its later re-employment by Joseph Baly for some leaf beetles now in genus Aplosonyx is thus legitimate and valid.
Regardless of whether they are ranked together in a subfamily or tribe, Aulacocheilus is generally considered to be closely related to genus Encaustes; Metallencaustes might be closer still and could even warrant inclusion in Aulacocheilus.Deelder, C.L. (1942): Revision of the Erotylidae (Coleoptera) of the Leiden Museum. Zool. Meded. 24(3): 49-115. Fulltext A close relationship btween Encaustes and Aulacocheilus is also supported by molecular phylogenetic analysis. Unexpectedly, however, Aulacochilus resolved as even more closely related to the genus Coptengis than to Encaustes; traditionally, Coptengis has been placed in the Dacninae (or Dacinini), but it might warrant moving to the Encaustinae/Encaustini.
Species Aulacocheilus contains the following species:
Aulacocheilus agaboides Gorham, 1883 (= A.furciferus) Aulacocheilus anamensis Heller, 1918 (1920) Aulacocheilus angustistriatus M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus ater Achard, 1922 (1923) Aulacocheilus atrocyaneus Motschulsky, 1858 Aulacocheilus australis Schenkling, 1917 (1919) Aulacocheilus biakensis M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus biplagiatus Delkeskamp, 1957 Aulacocheilus birmanicus Bedel, 1871 Aulacocheilus brevis Bedel, 1872 Aulacocheilus brevistriatus M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus capensis LacordaireSkelley, Paul E. (1998): A Catalogue of the Crotch Collection of Erotylidae (Coleoptera). Ann. Zool. 48(1/2): 1-44. PDF fulltext (= A.angolensis) Aulacocheilus chevrolati Lucas Aulacocheilus chrysomelinus Heller, 1918 (1920) Aulacocheilus circumcinctus M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus cribricollis Schenkling, 1917 (1919) Aulacocheilus cruciatus Csiki, 1911 Aulacocheilus crucismelitae Gorham, 1888 Aulacocheilus decussatus Csiki, 1911 (= A.rufocollarus) Aulacocheilus djampeanus Heller, 1918 (1920) Aulacocheilus dohrni Gorham, 1901 Aulacocheilus doriae Bedel, 1871 Aulacocheilus episcaphoides Gorham, 1883 Aulacochilus erythroperonus Delkeskamp, 1935 (= A.quadriplagiatus) Aulacocheilus excellens Csiki, 1911 Aulacocheilus femoralis Heller, 1918 (1920) Aulacocheilus flavocinctus Arrow, 1924 Aulacocheilus fraterculus Arrow, 1921 (1922) (= A.egregius) Aulacocheilus gressitti M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus grouvellei Achard, 1922 (1923) Aulacocheilus humeralis Waterhouse, 1884 Aulacocheilus inclitus Gorham, 1883 Aulacocheilus indicus Gorham, 1895 Aulacocheilus issikii Chûjô, 1936 Aulacocheilus janthinus Lacordaire, 1842 Aulacocheilus japonicus Crotch, 1873 Aulacocheilus javanus (Guerin-Meneville, 1841) Aulacocheilus klapperichi Mader, 1941 Aulacocheilus laoticus Arrow, 1921 (1922) Aulacocheilus leai (Mader, 1934) (= A.tetrastica Lea, 1921 (non Gorham, 1883: preoccupied)) Aulacocheilus longefasciatus Delkeskamp, 1933 Aulacocheilus luniferus (Guerin-Meneville, 1841) (= A.decoratus, A.helleri, A.maculithorax, A.punctatellus, "A.scapularis") Aulacocheilus maculatus Deelder, 1942 Aulacocheilus mediocoeruleus Bedel, 1871 Aulacocheilus micans Bedel, 1871 Aulacocheilus mirifasciatus M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus mocsaryi Csiki, 1910 Aulacocheilus moensicus Gorham, 1901 (= A.birmanicus Gorham, 1888 nec Bedel, 1871) Aulacocheilus moluccanus Gorham, 1889 Aulacocheilus montivagus M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus murrayi Crotch Aulacocheilus negrosensis Chûjô, 1974 Aulacocheilus niger Bedel, 1872 (1873) Aulacocheilus nigrorufus Pal, 1992 Aulacocheilus nilgirensis Arrow, 1925 Aulacocheilus oblongus Arrow, 1925 Aulacocheilus oceanicus Bedel, 1872 (1873) Aulacocheilus octoguttatus Delkeskamp, 1957 Aulacocheilus papuanus Csiki, 1910 (= A.astrolabicus) Aulacocheilus praeclarus M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus prolongatus Arrow, 1926 Aulacocheilus propinquus Lacordaire, 1842 Aulacocheilus quadripustulatus (Fabricius, 1801) Aulacocheilus quadrisignatus (Guerin-Meneville, 1841) Aulacocheilus quadrinotatus Delkeskamp Aulacocheilus rectistriatus M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus reitteri Mader, 1939 Aulacocheilus rhomboides (Montrouzier, 1855) Aulacocheilus rufosexvittatus Mader, 1942 Aulacocheilus rufovittatus Heller, 1923 Aulacocheilus sericeus Bedel, 1871 Aulacocheilus sexguttatus Delkeskamp, 1933 (= A.interruptus) Aulacocheilus shinoharai Miwa & Chûjô, 1939 Aulacocheilus sibiricus Reitter, 1879 (= A.bedeli, A.janthinus Miwa, 1929 nec Lacordaire, 1842) Aulacocheilus sternalis Arrow, 1921 (1922) Aulacocheilus stolzii Ritsema, 1912 (= A.conjungens, A.sicardi) Aulacocheilus subrotundus (Macleay, 1825) (formerly in A.quadripustulatus) Aulacocheilus sumbawanus Achard, 1922 (1923) Aulacocheilus taliensis Achard, 1922 (1923) Aulacocheilus tayabanus Heller, 1916 Aulacocheilus tenuistriatus M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 Aulacocheilus tetradyma Bedel, 1872 (1873) Aulacocheilus tetraphacus Bedel, 1871 Aulacocheilus tricoloratus Gorham, 1896 Aulacocheilus violaceus Germar, 1824 Aulacocheilus vitalisi Arrow, 1921 (1922) Aulacocheilus xingtaiensis Zhao, Ren, Cheng, Huang & Li 2018Zhao, Yanchen; Ren, Guodong; Cheng, Zhiqiang; Huang, Guangzhen & Li, Jing (2018): Taxonomy of Aulacochilus [sic] (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Erotylinae) From China, with a Key Based on Adult Characters. J. Insect Sci. 18(2): 27 [Fulltext]
Subgenera have been proposed for several unusual Aulacocheilus species from Melanesia which have distinctive traits (body shape, thorax lines and elytra punctures) in a "mosaic" fashion; as the genus is highly diverse in this region, and with most species still assigned to the nominate subgenus Aulacocheilus (Aulacocheilus), this arrangement must be considered provisional: Aulacocheilus (Aulacocheilus) Dejean, 1836 – type species A.quadripustulatus (Sri Lanka and eastern India through Southeast Asia into Wallacea at least to Sumbawa) Impressed lengthwise lines between the coxae on all three thorax segments Aulacocheilus (Caulaochilus) M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 – type species A.moluccanus (New Guinea region from Misool to Normanby Island) Coxal lines on pro- and mesothorax; shape rounded, elytra with scattered punctuations. Aulacocheilus (Laucaochilus) M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 – type species A.gressitti (New Guinea), also A.angustistriatus, A.brevistriatus, and A.tenuistriatus Coxal lines on pro- and mesothorax; shape rounded, elytra with lengthwise stripes of punctuations. Aulacocheilus (Olacauchilus) M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 – type species A.mirifasciatus (New Guinea) Coxal lines only on prothorax; shape elongated, elytra with scattered punctuations. Aulacocheilus (Ulacaochilus) M.T.Chûjô & M.Chûjô, 1987 – type species A.montivagus (New Guinea) Coxal lines only on prothorax; shape elongated, elytra with lengthwise stripes of punctuations.
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