Dematochroma
Dematochroma is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. It is mostly distributed in New Caledonia, though it is also found on Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, Timor and Vanuatu. Adult beetles are often found at night feeding on leaves, and the larvae eat roots.
Phylogeny
Recent phylogenetic analyses of Eumolpinae of the south Pacific suggest that Dematochroma is paraphyletic: the type species, the Lord Howe endemic D. picea, is placed in a clade including New Caledonian endemic genera Taophila and Tricholapita, which is sister to another clade including other New Caledonian Eumolpinae genera, the New Caledonian species of Dematochroma as well as the New Zealand endemic Atrichatus. Because of such findings, Gómez-Zurita and collaborators have preferred to transfer several New Caledonian species of Dematochroma to other genera. For instance, the genus Thasycles Chapuis, 1874, which was for a long time treated as a synonym of Dematochroma, was reinstated as a valid genus, and a new genus Dematotrichus was established for Dematochroma pilosa and closely related species.Species
Dematochroma antipodum – New CaledoniaDematochroma antipodumoides Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010 – VanuatuDematochroma culminicola – New CaledoniaDematochroma difficilis – New CaledoniaDematochroma doiana Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007 – New CaledoniaDematochroma helleri Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007 – New CaledoniaDematochroma howensis Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2006 – Lord Howe IslandDematochroma lepros – New CaledoniaDematochroma maculifrons – New CaledoniaDematochroma norfolkiana Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2006 – Norfolk IslandDematochroma picea Baly, 1864 – Lord Howe IslandDematochroma samuelsoni Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2011 – New CaledoniaDematochroma shuteae Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2006 – Norfolk IslandDematochroma sylviae Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010 – New CaledoniaDematochroma terastiomerus – New CaledoniaDematochroma terminaliae Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010 – New CaledoniaDematochroma theryi Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010 – New CaledoniaDematochroma timorense Jacoby, 1894 – TimorThe following species are synonyms:Dematochroma poyensis Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010: synonym of Dematochroma theryi Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010Dematochroma soldatii Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010: synonym of Dematochroma antipodumoides Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010
The following species have been transferred to other genera:Dematochroma cancellata : transferred to Cazeresia, as synonym of Cazeresia striata Dematochroma foaensis Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007: transferred to RhyparidaDematochroma fusca Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007: transferred to ThasyclesDematochroma humboldtiana : transferred to CazeresiaDematochroma laboulbenei : transferred to ThasyclesDematochroma panieensis Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007: transferred to ThasyclesDematochroma pilosa Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007: transferred to DematotrichusDematochroma thyiana Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2008: transferred to ''Cazeresia''