The Laccophilus alluaudi -group

Diagnosis. Members of this group are characterised by: body dorso-ventrally flattened (not subcylindrical); elytra provided with characteristic straight and somewhat broad longitudinal dark vittae (their medial area often more or less paler) alternating with more or less interrupted yellow stripes; dorsal reticulation double (discernible at least on pronotum disk and scutellar region of elytra); metacoxal plates without stridulation apparatus; metacoxal process posteriorly truncate, not expanded; posterior margin of apical abdominal ventrite not modified (i.e. not sinuate on both sides of midline); male apical abdominal ventrite symmetric, lacking process on left side. The allaudi -group is endemic of Madagascar and the Comoro islands.

Species list. With the three species newly described below, the alluaudi -group comprises the following species (distribution data for previously described species from Biström et al. 2015 and our own sampling data):

- Laccophilus alluaudi Régimbart, 1900 (widespread Madagascar endemic);

- Laccophilus bergsteni sp. nov. (endemic of the mountain massifs of central Madagascar)

- Laccophilus comes Guignot, 1955 (endemic of Madagascar, mainly in eastern rain forests, with isolated records along the central western coast);

- Laccophilus furthi Biström, Nilsson & Bergsten, 2015 (known only from Ranomafana and Andasibe in eastern Madagascar);

- Laccophilus leguyaderi sp. nov. (endemic of the Andringitra mountain massif in central-southern Madagascar);

- Laccophilus makay sp. nov. (endemic of the Makay massif in south-western Madagascar);

- Laccophilus pseustes Guignot, 1955 (known only from the Isalo massif in central-south Madagascar);

- Laccophilus seyrigi Guignot, 1937 (a very rare species endemic of southern Madagascar, described from Békily and sampled by us in the Isalo massif and south of the Makay);

- Laccophilus tigrinus Guignot, 1959 (endemic of the Comoro islands).