Deretrichia


Deretrichia is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. It is known from Australia, New Guinea and associated islands in the Australasian realm, east of Wallace's Line, with the exception of one doubtful record from Borneo. It was first erected by the German entomologist Julius Weise in 1913 for six species transferred from Rhyparida. In 1963, the genus was revised by Brian J. Selman, who described many new species from unique specimens and transferred some more species from Rhyparida.
The described species are considered to be rare, and some are possibly already extinct. In almost every location that Deretrichia has been found, very few specimens were collected, and they were rarely collected again in the same locations, possibly because of deforestation in those areas. Selman wrote that "recently Deretrichia specimens have been collected only in regions, e.g. New Guinea, where large areas of the coastal forest belt had survived".
Deretrichia can be distinguished from Rhyparida by the location of setae on the front of the prothorax. In Rhyparida, a single seta is found on each front corner of the pronotum. In Deretrichia, these setae are instead found lower down on the sides of the prothorax, at the point where the corners of the episternum and the lateral arms of the prosternum meet.

Species

Deretrichia alternataBacan, HalmaheraDeretrichia amboinensis Selman, 1963 – AmbonDeretrichia andannensisWestern New Guinea Deretrichia approximataMisoolDeretrichia australis Selman, 1963 – Australia: Queensland Deretrichia batchianica Selman, 1963 – BacanDeretrichia bipustulataWaigeoDeretrichia brunnea – BacanDeretrichia bryanti Selman, 1963 – HalmaheraDeretrichia cyclopensis Selman, 1963 – Western New Guinea Deretrichia doryensis Selman, 1963 – Western New Guinea Deretrichia flebilis Selman, 1963 – TernateDeretrichia frontalis – Western New Guinea Deretrichia giloloensis Selman, 1963 – HalmaheraDeretrichia guadalcanalensis Selman, 1963 – Solomon Islands Deretrichia hincksi Selman, 1963 – Western New Guinea Deretrichia inornataTanimbarDeretrichia intermediaWaigeoDeretrichia laevifrons – Western New Guinea Deretrichia laticollisBorneo Deretrichia livida Selman, 1963 – Western New Guinea Deretrichia minuta Selman, 1963 – TasmaniaDeretrichia morokensis Selman, 1963 – Papua New Guinea Deretrichia nigra Selman, 1963 – HalmaheraDeretrichia nigronotata Selman, 1963 – New Guinea Deretrichia pallidocaudata Selman, 1963 – SeramDeretrichia papuensis Selman, 1963 – Papua New Guinea Deretrichia paumomuensis Selman, 1963 – Papua New Guinea Deretrichia pinguis Selman, 1963 – Papua New Guinea Deretrichia plebeja – Western New Guinea Deretrichia rothschildi – HalmaheraDeretrichia ruginotum Selman, 1963 – Bacan, HalmaheraDeretrichia semipunctata – BacanDeretrichia separata – BacanDeretrichia sordida – Bacan, TernateDeretrichia sulcicollisSula IslandsDeretrichia szentivani Selman, 1963 – New Britain, Feni IslandsDeretrichia tibialisMisoolDeretrichia tibialis Medvedev, 2013 – Western New Guinea Deretrichia timorensisTimorDeretrichia variabilis – Western New Guinea Deretrichia viridis Selman, 1963 – Papua New Guinea Deretrichia wallacei Selman, 1963 – Misool