Coraliomela Jacobson 1899: 253

Synonomys

Psilurnus Weise 1900 218.

Silurnus Weise 1910: 103.

Type Species

Alurnus brunnea Thunberg (=Alurnus corallina Vigors).

Diagnosis

Coraliomela can be distinguished by the following combination of characters:

• the lateral margin of the pronotumpronotum:
  occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
  and the elytra lacking long, stiff spines
• the head lacking a frontal horn
• the pronotumpronotum:
  occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
  having a tuft of setae in each angle
• the antennae having 11-antennomeres, subserrate, with antennomere 4 being distinctly shorter than 3
• the elytral punctures not being in regular rows but densely grouped together
• the elytra having no costae or only a vestige visible
• the elytra being subparallel.

Description

Body large (21-35 mm), elongate ellipse; color generally red or black.

Head: flat or slightly convex between eyes; fronsfrons:
upper anterior portion of head capsule above the clypeus
with small depressions on anterior margin; interantennal keel absent; sulci near eyeeye:
elongate, slightly prominent, multifaceted; usually slightly kidney-shaped
faint; punctation dense and irregular.

Antenna: short, barely reaching base of pronotumpronotum:
occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
; with 11-antennomeres; antennomere 3 not as long as 4 to 5 combined; 4 shorter than 3.

Pronotum: transverse; slightly narrowing anteriorly; lateral margins almost parallel; densely punctate; slight basal impression present on each side of middle; with tuft of setae in each angle.

Scutellum: triangular.

Elytron: wider than pronotumpronotum:
occupies all of dorsal part of the prothorax; in anterior angles or posterior angles there may be a small tubercle or pore with a seta
; punctation irregular, impressed; vestige of irregular costae visible; margined laterally.

Venter: rugose.

Distribution

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.

World Fauna

Number of species: 4 (Staines 2012). Key to species Fischer (1935).

Hosts

Allagoptera, Arecastrum, Attalea, Cocos, Copernicia, Elaeis, Euterpe,Phoenix, Syagrus, (Arecaceae).

References

Fischer, C. R. 1935. Os coleopteros phytophagos da tribu Alurnini, pragas das palmeiras (Chrysomelidae, Hispinae). Revista de Entomologica Rio de Janiero 5:257-292.

Jacobson, G. G. 1899. De genere Alurno (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). Annuaire du Musée Zoologique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences St. Pétersbourgh 4:245-256.

Staines, C. L. 2012. Tribe Alurnini. Catalog of the hispines of the world (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). http://entomology.si.edu/Collections_Coleoptera.html

Weise, J. 1900. Eine neue Alurnus-Form. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 1900:218-219.

Weise, J. 1910. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der amerikanischen Hispinen. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 76: 67-127.