Liparetrini, Burmeister, 1855

Smith, Andrew B. T., 2008, South American Melolonthinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) classification and nomenclature: some problems and solutions, Insecta Mundi 2008 (60), pp. 1-28 : 8

Tribe Liparetrini

Diagnosis (modified from Britton 1990). Antennae with 8-10 antennomeres, including a 3-7 antennomere club; body color testaceous, castaneous, or black (rarely bicolored), surface usually shining; elytral striae paired or approximately equally spaced; wings fully developed, folded, functional; mesosternal / metasternal process absent; metatibiae with 2 apical spurs, spurs set below and above the tarsal articulation (tarsus moves between tibial spurs); abdominal ventrites without a longitudinal ridge on each side; claws simple, without a tooth on the concave side; metatibiae with an interrupted or complete, obliquely transverse spinose ridge near the middle (sometimes absent).

Remarks. The tribe Liparetrini is endemic to Australia and there is little merit to the previous placement New World taxa in this tribe by some authors (for a definition and detailed treatment of Liparetrini , see Britton [1980, 1990]). Accordingly, the genera Aplodema , Blepharotoma , and the New World species formerly placed in Heteronyx have all been transferred to the tribe Sericoidini (see above under the heading for Blepharotoma ). Evans (2003) also listed the monotypic genus Zaburina Saylor (from Colombia) and the species Aplodema rufescens (Saylor) (from Guyana) in the tribe Liparetrini . These taxa are here removed from the tribe Liparetrini and placed in incertae sedis, pending a thorough examination of the type material. I will refrain from speculating on the proper classification of these taxa other than to say that their previous placement and possibly the distribution given are highly dubious. I examined the holotype of Zaburina columbiana Saylor a few years ago at the California Academy of Sciences and noted that it had a labrum projecting below clypeus, metatibial spurs on either side of tarsus, and propygidial suture evident. These characters suggest that this taxon might either belong in the tribe Sericini or could be a mislabeled Australian specimen.