First record of orsodacnid leaf beetle (Coleoptera: Orsodacnidae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil

ABSTRACT

A new orsodacnid leaf beetle, Aulacoscelis (Cretaulacoscelis) santanensis n. subgen. et n. sp. of the subfamily Aulacoscelidinae of the family Orsodacnidae, is described from the Aptian-Albian Santana Formation of the Lower Cretaceous. The new subgenus differs from the subgenus Aulacoscelis s. str. in the elytra having distinct striae, the large eyes and a narrow-triangular scutellum. This is the first record of a fossil Orsodacnidae and the first Chrysomeloidea described from the Santana Formation.

KEYWORDS:

• Chrysomeloidea
• Aulacoscelidinae
• new taxa
• Santana
• santana formation
• lower Cretaceous
• Aptian-Albian

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Prof. Yu. E. Mikhalov (Yekaterinburg) for the opportunity to study of comparative material of the genus Aulacoscelis, Dr. George O. Poinar, Jr. (USA: Corvallis) for improving the manuscript and two anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).