Oncocephala Agassiz 1846: 259

Synonomys

Onchocephala Chevrolat 1836: 390 Nomen nudum.

Onchocephala Chevrolat 1847: 110 (misspelling).

Oncocephala Chevrolat.

Nepius Thomson 1857b: 225.

Onchocephala Weise 1911a: 50 (not Chevrolat).

Oncocephala Uhmann (misattribution).

Type Species

Oncocephala quadrilobata Guérin-Méneville.

Diagnosis

Oncocephala can be distinguished by the following combination of characters:

• body wedged-shaped
• lateral margin 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
  and elytra without long, stiff spines
• head without frontal horn between antennae, vertexvertex:
  occupies the area behind and between the eyes
  with erect headpiece, labial palps with 3 palpomeres
• antennae not thickened apically, apical 4 antennomeres similar to others
• pronotum pronotum:
  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 seta in each anterior angle, with strong tubercles on anterior ½
• elytra with costae or tubercles, exterior apical angle rounded or with small tooth
• apex of elytra without tooth-like projection

Description

Body wedged-shaped; color brown or black.

Head: vertexvertex:
occupies the area behind and between the eyes
with erect rhomboid, triangular or oblong headpiece which obscures antennal base; labrumlabrum:
triangular, joined to the clypeus and the oral orifice
transverse, subemarginate; maxillary palps with apical palpomere oval, longer than preceding; eyeeye:
elongate, slightly prominent, multifaceted; usually slightly kidney-shaped
oval, coarsely facetted.

Antenna: robust; subfiliform; with 11-antennomeres; antennomeres 1 and 2 subglobose; 3 to 10 cylindrical, 3 longest, 4 to 10 decreasing in length; 11 pointed at apex; 3 to 11 finely striate.

Pronotum: transverse; lateral margin convergent from base to apex, margined; anterior and posterior angles acute; anterior margin weakly projecting over head; surface irregular, with strong tubercles on anterior ½.

Scutellum: elongate; pointed at apex.

Elytron: widens apically; exterior apical angle with tooth-like or spine-like projection; apex truncate; humerus rounded; surface punctate-striate; with interrupted costae and tubercles.

Venter: prosternumprosternum:
contains two anterior coxal cavities
wide, convex, not canaliculate, widens posteriorly; mesosternummesosternum:
narrow between middle coxae, separated from metasternum by a transverse suture; forming the anterior part of the middle coxal cavities
without swelling on posterior margin; metasternum with tubercle posteriorly.

Leg: short; robust; protibia with small tooth.

Distribution

Angola, Cameroon, China, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.

World Fauna

Described species: 38 (Staines 2102). Key: Gestro 1899(1901), Maulik 1919, Uhmann 1954h, Chen et al. 1986, Medvedev 1992b, Kimoto 1999.

Hosts

Commelina (Commelinaceae); Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae); Dioscoreaceae; Orchidaceae; Oryza (Poaceae); Rumex (Polygonaceae); Solanum (Solanaceae); Zingiberaceae.

References

Agassiz, L. 1846. Nomenclatoris zoologici index universalis: Nomina systematica classium, ordinum, familiarum et generum animalium omnium. Fasciculus XI. Continens Coleoptera. Soloduri. 170 pp.

Chen, S. H., P. Y. Yu, C. H. Sun, C. H. T'an, & Y. Zia. 1986. Fauna Sinica (Insecta: Coleoptera: Hispidae). Science Press, Beijing. 653 pp.

Chevrolat, L. A. A. 1836. in P. F. M. A. Dejean, Catalogue des Coléoptères de la collection de M. le comte Dejean. Troisième edition, revue, corrigée et augmentée, livr. 5, pp. 385‑503. Mequignon-Marvis. Paris.

Chevrolat, L. A. A. 1847. in C. D. d'Orbigny, Dictionnaire universal d'histoire naturelle. Vol. 9. C. Renard. Paris. 766 pp.

Gestro, R. 1899 (1901). Materiali per lo studio delle Hispidae. VIII. Osservazioni sul genere Oncocephala. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova (2)20(40):313-330.

Kimoto, S. 1999. Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. VI. Hispinae. Bulletin of the Institute of Comparative Studies of International Cultures and Societies 23: 59-159.

Maulik, S. 1919. Hispinae and Cassidinae of India, Burma and Ceylon. The fauna of British India. Taylor & Francis, London. 439 pp.

Medvedev, L. N. 1992b. Revision of the subfamily Hispinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in the fauna of Vietnam. Part 1. pp. 127-156 In L. N. Medvedev (ed). Systematization and ecology of insects of Vietnam. Nauka, Moscow. 264 pp. [in Russian]

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

Thomson, J. 1857b. Voyage au Gabon. Archives Entomologiques 2:7-376.

Uhmann, E. 1954h. Coléoptères Chrysomélides Hispinae. 148. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Hispinae (Coleopt. Chrysomelidae). Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire No. 40. La Réserve Naturelle Intégrale du Mont Nimba Fascicule II:175-198.

Weise, J. 1911a. Coleopterorum Catalogus Chrysomelidae: Hispinae. W. Junk, Berlin. pars 35:1-94.