Diphucephala

Diphucephala sp., copyright Jean & Fred Hort.

Belongs within: Melolonthinae.

Diphucephala is an Australian genus of diurnal, metallic-coloured chafers often seen congregating on flowers.

Characters (from Macleay 1886): Mentum flat or convex, narrowed at the base, slightly rounded, truncate or slightly emarginate in front. Maxillae robust, the external lobe armed with five or six teeth. Palpi very short, the last joint of the labial obconic, that of the maxillary oval, more or less thick. Head moderately long, flat; clypeus large; nearly square, separated from the forehead by a fine suture, varying in the sexes, emarginate in front. Eyes moderate. Antennae short, of eight joints: first long, swelled at the apex, second nearly as long, obconic, third short, fourth elongate and compressed, fifth very short, the three last forming an oblong mass in males, oval in females. Thorax of varying length, more or less angular on sides, sinuate or truncate at base, often grooved or foveate on disk. Scutellum of curvilinear triangular form, very sharp at extremity. Elytra of an oblong square form, rounded with a perpendicular border at apex. Legs rather long; anterior tibiae bi- or unidentate at their extremities without terminal spur, the four posterior ciliated or velvety; tarsi of variable length, the three or four first joints of the anterior and two or three first of the intermediate dilated in the males and clothed with long hairs, claws robust, cleft at the summit. Pygidium perpendicular, of variable form and size.

<==Diphucephala Dejean 1821 HW92
    |--*D. sericea (Kirby 1818) HW92 [=Melolontha sericea HW92; incl. D. viridis Sturm 1826 Mas86]
    |--D. affinis Waterhouse 1837 HW92
    |--D. angusticeps Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. aurolimbata Blanchard 1850 HW92
    |--D. aurulenta (Kirby 1818) [=Melolontha aurulenta; incl. D. foveolata Boisduval 1835] HW92
    |--D. azureipennis Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. barnardi Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. beryllina Burmeister 1855 HW92
    |--D. carteri Blackburn 1906 HW92
    |--D. castanoptera Waterhouse 1837 HW92
    |--D. childrenii Waterhouse 1837 HW92
    |--D. coerulea Macleay 1883 HW92
    |--D. colaspidoides (Gyllenhall in Schönherr 1817) (see below for synonymy) HW92
    |--D. concinna Lea 1930 HW92
    |--D. crebra Blackburn 1906 HW92
    |--D. cribripennis Lea 1924 HW92
    |--D. cuprea Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. dentipes Oke 1951 HW92
    |--D. dicksoniae Lea 1930 HW92
    |--D. edwardsii Waterhouse 1837 HW92
    |--D. elegans Blackburn 1892 HW92
    |--D. fulgida Boisduval 1835 HW92
    |--D. furcata Guérin-Méneville 1830 [incl. D. acanthopus Boisduval 1835] HW92
    |--D. glabra Lea 1930 HW92
    |--D. hirtipennis Macleay 1883 HW92
    |--D. hirtipes Lea 1916 HW92
    |--D. hopei Waterhouse 1837 HW92
    |--D. humeralis Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. ignota Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. insularis Lea 1916 HW92
    |--D. lateralis Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. laticeps Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. laticollis Lea 1895 HW92
    |--D. latipennis Macleay 1883 HW92
    |--D. lineata Boisduval 1835 [incl. D. pilistriata Waterhouse 1837] HW92
    |--D. lineatocollis B35
    |--D. macrops Lea 1924 HW92
    |--D. mastersi Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. minima Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. montana Lea 1930 HW92
    |--D. nigritarsis Lea 1917 HW92
    |--D. nitens Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. nitidicollis Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. obscura Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. obsoleta Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. parviceps Lea 1924 HW92
    |--D. parvula Waterhouse 1837 HW92
    |--D. prasina Macleay 1886 [incl. D. kershawi Blackburn 1897] HW92
    |--D. puberula Blackburn 1906 HW92
    |--D. pubescens Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. pubiventris Burmeister 1855 HW92
    |--D. pulchella Waterhouse 1837 (see below for synonymy) HW92
    |--D. pulcherrima Blackburn 1906 HW92
    |--D. purpureitarsis Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. pygidialis Lea 1916 HW92
    |--D. pygmaea Waterhouse 1837 HW92
    |--D. quadratigera Blanchard 1850 HW92
    |--D. rectipennis Blackburn 1906 HW92
    |--D. regalis Lea 1917 HW92
    |--D. richmondia Macleay 1886 HW92
    |--D. rufipes Waterhouse 1837 HW92
    |--D. rugosa Boisduval 1835 HW92 [incl. D. aenea Sturm 1826 Mas86, D. spencii Waterhouse 1837 HW92]
    |--D. rugosula Dalla Torre 1912 [=D. rugosa Macleay 1886 non Boisduval 1835] HW92
    |--D. smaragdula Boisduval 1835 HW92
    |--D. sordida Blackburn 1906 HW92
    |--D. spreta Blackburn 1892 HW92
    |--D. tantilla Lea 1917 HW92
    |--D. tarsalis Lea 1916 HW92
    `--D. waterhousei Burmeister 1855 HW92

Nomen nudum: Diphucephala effulgens Macleay 1886 Mac86

Diphucephala colaspidoides (Gyllenhall in Schönherr 1817) [=Melolontha colaspidoides; incl. D. lineatocolis Boisduval 1835, D. splendens Macleay 1826] HW92

Diphucephala pulchella Waterhouse 1837 [incl. D. pusilla Waterhouse 1837, D. smaragdula Burmeister 1855 non Boisduval 1835] HW92

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B35] Boisduval, J. B. 1835. Voyage de Découvertes de l’Astrolabe. Exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Faune entomologique de l'océan Pacifique, avec l'illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le voyage vol. 2. Coléoptères et autres ordres. J. Tastu: Paris.

[HW92] Houston, W. W. K., & T. A. Weir. 1992. Melolonthinae. In: Houston, W. W. K. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 9. Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea pp. 174–358. AGPS Press: Canberra.

[Mac86] Macleay, W. 1886. Miscellanea entomologica. No. I.—The genus Diphucephala. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (2): 381–402.

[Mas86] Masters, G. 1886. Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of Australia. Part III. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (1): 21–126.