Subfamily Buprestinae Leach, 1815

Maoaxia auroimpressa [artist André Olwage]

© Copyright Commonwealth of Australia

Museums

Regional Maps

• Bupresti Leach, W.E. 1815. Entomology. pp. 57-172 in Brewster (ed.). The Edinburgh Encyclopedia. Edinburgh : William Blackburn Vol. 9(1) 764 pp. [reprint 1830] [85].

  Type genus:

   Buprestis Linnaeus, 1758 [by indication].

Introduction

The nominate subfamily was originally recognized by Lacordaire (1857) as Buprestides vrais (Group I). The inclusion of the subtribe Polycestina under Buprestini by Holynski (1993) is rejected due to the significant differences in both adult and larval morphology discussed under Polycestinae above.

The concept of Buprestinae used by Théry (1929) included all elements of the family except for the groups placed in his concept of Chalcophorinae. Those two subfamilies were separated based on the distribution of the antennal sensory pores. More recent discussions about the use of antennal sensory pore distribution and other characters in defining certain higher taxa and the appropriate level for those groups to be separated can be found in the works of Holynski (1993), Levey (1978) and Toyama (1987). The recent, extensive discussion on relationships based on antennal sensory structures by Volkovitsh (2001) has resulted in the inclusion of eleven tribes containing Australian taxa presented below.

In this Catalogue, 874 described species are recorded from Australia.

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

Anthaxia (HapIanthaxia) novaehollandiae Obenberger, 1928 [the type locality (Melbourne) is wrong, due to mislabelling; after examination of the holotype, it turns out to be synonym of Anthaxia (HapIanthaxia) splendida Chevrolat, 1837 from south-western Africa (Bílý 2002).] — Bílý, S. 2002. New species, subspecies and taxonomical notes on Anthaxia (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) from the Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions. Folia Heyrovskyana 10(4): 195-203 [202]

General References

Bellamy, C.L. 2002. Coleoptera: Buprestoidea. In Houston, W.W.K. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 29.5. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia. pp. XII 491 +4 colour pls

Holynski, R. 1993. A reassessment of the internal classification of the Buprestidae Leach (Coleoptera). Crystal, series Zoologica 1: 1-42

Lacordaire, J.T. 1857. Histoire naturelle des insectes. Genera des Coléoptères ou exposé méthodique de critique de tous les genres proposés jusqu'ici dans cet ordre d'insectes. Paris : Roret Vol. 4 554 pp.

Levey, B. 1978. A new tribe, Epistomentini, of Buprestidae (Coleoptera) with a redefinition of the tribe Chrysochroini. Systematic Entomology 3: 153-158

Théry, A. 1929. Classification. pp. 266-275 in Carter, H.J. A check list of the Australian Buprestidae. With tables and keys to sub-families, tribes, and genera (by A. Théry). The Australian Zoologist 5(4): 265-304 [Date published 24 Mar 1929]

Toyama, M. 1987. The systematic positions of some buprestid genera (Coleoptera, Buprestidae). Elytra, Tokyo 15(1/2): 1-11

Volkovitsh, M.G. 2001. The comparative morphology of antennal structures in Buprestidae (Coleoptera): evolutionary trends, taxonomic and phylogenetic implications. Part 1. Acta Musei Moraviae, Scientiae biologicae (Brno) 86: 43-169

History of changes