''Chrysochus'' is a genus of
leaf beetles in the subfamily
Eumolpinae. It is known from
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
,
Europe and
Asia.
Etymology
The name of the genus is derived from the
Greek word (), meaning "goldsmith".
Taxonomic history
In 1836, the genus ''Chrysochus'' was first established by
Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat in
Dejean's ''Catalogue des Coléoptères'', including the species ''Chrysomela asiatica''
Pallas, 1771, ''C. aurata''
Fabricius, 1775 and ''C. pretiosa''
Fabricius, 1792 (now ''
Chrysochares asiaticus'', ''
Chrysochus auratus'' and ''
Chrysochus asclepiadeus'', respectively). ''Chrysomela praetiosa'' was designated as the
type species of the genus by
Sylvain Auguste de Marseul
Sylvain Auguste de Marseul (January 21, 1812 in Fougerolles-du-Plessis in Normandy РApril 16, 1890 in Paris) was a French Roman Catholic priest and entomologist. He taught in the Petit s̩minaire de Paris from 1833 to 1836. In 1842, fo ...
in 1864.
The generic name ''Chrysochus''
Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836 is a
conserved name
A conserved name or ''nomen conservandum'' (plural ''nomina conservanda'', abbreviated as ''nom. cons.'') is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules whic ...
. It was threatened by ''
Eumolpus'' in the sense used by
Kugelann in
Illiger, 1798, which included ''Chrysomela praetiosa''. An application to conserve ''Chrysochus'' and other names by suppressing ''Eumolpus''
Illiger, 1798 was accepted by the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
in 2012.
Species
There are at least eight described species in ''Chrysochus''. Six are found in the
Palearctic realm,
and only two are found in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
Another species, ''Chrysochus mniszechi'', was described in 1877 by
Édouard Lefèvre
Édouard Lefèvre (22 January 183917 June 1894) was a French botanist and later entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera. He became a member of the Entomological Society of France
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of ...
, from three specimens he had seen (one in the collection of , and two from Henry Deyrolle's). While he did not know where the specimens were collected from, Lefèvre thought that they probably came from North America.
The following species, all from the
Oriental realm
The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia.
Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...
, were formerly included in ''Chrysochus''. They were transferred to the genera ''
Parheminodes'' and ''
Platycorynus'' in 2021:
* ''Chrysochus conspectus''
Lefèvre, 1890: moved to ''
Parheminodes''
* ''Chrysochus hageni''
Jacoby, 1884:
moved to ''
Parheminodes''
* ''Chrysochus languei''
Lefèvre, 1893: moved to ''
Platycorynus''
* ''Chrysochus massiei''
Lefèvre, 1893: moved to ''
Parheminodes''
* ''Chrysochus mouhoti''
Baly, 1864: moved to ''
Parheminodes''
* ''Chrysochus nilgiriensis''
Jacoby, 1908:
moved to ''
Parheminodes''
* ''Chrysochus pulcher''
Baly, 1864:
moved to ''
Parheminodes''
Biology
All species of ''Chryochus'' feed on plants in the
Apocynaceae (dogbane) and
Asclepiadaceae
The Asclepiadoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Formerly, they were treated as a separate family under the name Asclepiadaceae, e.g. by APG II, and known as the milkweed family.
They form a group of perennial herbs, twin ...
(milkweed) families. A small mutation has allowed the two North American species, ''
C. auratus'' and ''
C. cobaltinus'', in particular to feed on the plant species containing
cardenolides, while all other species of the genus feed on plant species without cardenolides.
References
Further reading
*
{{taxonbar, from1=Q14933600
Eumolpinae
Chrysomelidae genera
Beetles of the United States
Beetles of Europe
Beetles of Asia
Taxa named by Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat