Prionispa Chapuis 1875: 337

Synonomys

None.

Type Species

Prionispa subopaca Chapuis.

Diagnosis

Prionispa 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
  without erect headpiece, labial palps with 3 palpomeres
• antennae not thickened apically, apical 4 antennomeres similar to others, antennomere 3 longer than 1 and 2 combined
• 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
• elytra with costae or tubercles, exterior apical angle with tooth-like or spine-like projection
• apex of elytra without tooth-like projection

Description

Small; wedged-shaped.

Head: large, rounded; eyeeye:
elongate, slightly prominent, multifaceted; usually slightly kidney-shaped
small, ovate; projection present between antennae; medial carina present; labrumlabrum:
triangular, joined to the clypeus and the oral orifice
large, entire; mandible obtuse; maxillary palps with palpomere 4 as long as 1 to 3 combined, pointed at apex.

Antenna: widening to apex, robust; more than ⅓ body length; with 11-antennomeres; antennomeres 1 and 2 ovate; 3 to 7 cylindrical, 3 longest; 8 to 11 thicker, shorter, setose.

Pronotum: subquadrate; lateral margin weakly sinuate; anterior margin straight; anterior and posterior angles notched or not; posterior margin sinuate laterally; surface deeply punctate.

Scutellum: elongate.

Elytron: dilated apically; exterior apical angle produced, acute; surface coarsely punctate-striate; with 4 costae, tubercles present or not.

Venter: impunctate; prosternumprosternum:
contains two anterior coxal cavities
wide, convex between coxae, dilated apically; mesoternum with swelling apically.

Leg: tibiatibia:
variable in length; joins femur and tarsus
straight, with fine setae on inner margin.

Distribution

Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.

World Fauna

Described species: 29 (Staines 2012). Key: Maulik 1919, Gressitt 1957b, 1963, Gressitt & Kimoto 1963a, Chen et al. 1986, Medvedev 1992b.

Hosts

Pollia (Commelinaceae); Disporum (Liliaceae); Zingiberaceae.

References

Chapuis, F. 1875. in J. T. Lacordaire, Histoire naturelle des insectes. Genera des Coléoptères, Vol. 11, Famille des Phytophages, 420 pp. Encylopédique de Roret; Paris.

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.

Gressitt, J. L. 1957b. Hispine beetles from the South Pacific (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Nova Guinea n. s. 8:205‑324.

Gressitt, J. L. 1963. Hispine beetles (Chrysomelidae) from New Guinea. Pacific Insects 5:591‑714.

Gressitt, J. L. & S. Kimoto. 1963a. The Chrysomelidae (Coleopt.) of China and Korea. Part 2. Pacific Insects Monograph 1B:301‑1026.

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