Laius

Laius sp., copyright Budak.

Belongs within: Melyridae.

Laius is a genus of relatively small, often reddish soft-bodied beetles.

Characters (from Lea 1909): Comparatively small; usually reddish with metallic-blue, purple or green markings. Antennae short, fairly stout, apparently ten-segmented (true second segment hidden by first), apparent second segment (true third segment) often enormously inflated in male, first segment also more or less inflated. Male with front femora sometimes deeply grooved, front tarsi of peculiar shape and black-tipped.

<==Laius L09
    |--L. alleni Lea 1909 L09
    |--L. armicollis Lea 1909 L09
    |--L. asperipennis Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. bellulus L09
    |--L. carus Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. cavicornis Lea 1909 L09
    |--L. cinctus L09 [=Apalochrus cinctus L09; incl. L. femoralis Blackb. 1891 L09, L. mastersi Macleay 1872 L09, M86]
    |--L. conicicornis Blackb. 1886 L09
    |--L. cyanocephalus Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. distortus Blackb. 1886 L09
    |--L. egenus Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. eremita Blackb. 1895 L09
    |--L. eyrensis Blackb. 1891 L09
    |--L. fastidiosus Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. flavopictus Lea 1909 L09
    |--L. guttulatus Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. insignicornis Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. intermedius Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. major Blackb. 1888 L09
    |--L. nidicola Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. nodicornis Blackb. 1886 L09
    |--L. oblongosignatus Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. orcicornis Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. orthodoxus Lea 1909 L09
    |--L. pallidus Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. plagiaticollis Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. planiceps Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. pretiosus Blackb. 1891 L09
    |--L. quinquenotatus Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. quinqueplagiatus Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. rufovirens Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. rugiceps Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. rugulipennis Fairm. 1877 L09
    |--L. sculptus Lea 1909 L09
    |--L. sinus Lea 1898 L09
    |--L. tarsalis Lea 1909 L09
    |--L. trisignatus L09
    |--L. variegatus Blackb. 1888 L09
    |--L. venustus Erichs. 1840 G89
    |--L. verticalis (Macleay 1827) [=Malachius verticalis] L09
    |--L. ‘verticalis’ Fairmaire 1877 (n. d.) non Malachius verticalis Macleay 1827 L09
    `--L. villosus Lea 1898 L09

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[G89] Gestro, R. 1889. Viaggio ab Assab nel Mar Rosso dei signori G. Doria ed O. Beccari con il R. Avviso «Esploratore» dal 16 Novembre 1879 al 26 Febbraio 1880.—IV. Coleotteri. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2^a, 7: 5–72.

[L09] Lea, A. M. 1909. Revision of the Australian and Tasmanian Malacodermidae. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1909 (1): 45–251, pls 2–6.

[M86] Masters, G. 1886. Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of Australia. Part IV. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (2): 259–380.