''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family

Chrysomelidae The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle ...

. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the

Galerucinae The Galerucinae are a large subfamily of the leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), containing about 15,000 species in more than 1000 genera, of which about 500 genera and about 8000 species make up the flea beetle tribe Alticini. The division into tr ...

''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is missing from the

Nearctic realm The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

. The genus was first established by

Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat was a French entomologist, born 29 March 1799 in Paris and died 16 December 1884 in Paris. In government service in Paris, this amateur entomologist studied mainly beetles and birds. He published nearly 250 note ...

in 1836 to include species of Galerucinae with an elongated basi-metatarsus (the first

tarsomere The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments (called podomeres) are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: ''coxa'' (meaning hip, plur ...

of the hind leg). The generic name ''Monolepta'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

(''monos'', meaning 'one') and (''leptos'', meaning 'thin, slender'). In 1875,

Félicien Chapuis Félicien Chapuis (29 April 1824 – 30 September 1879) was a Belgian doctor and entomologist. He specialised in Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wing ...

established the supra-generic group "Monoleptites", which included other Galerucinae with an elongated basi-metatarsus. Other genera traditionally placed in this group include, for example, '' Luperodes'', '' Candezea'' and '' Barombiella''. The group "Monoleptites" was later found to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

, as an elongated basi-metatarsus has evolved multiple times in the Galerucinae.

Selected species

* '' Monolepta albipunctata'' Lei, Xu, Yang & Nie, 2021 * ''

Monolepta alticola ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' Lei, Xu, Yang & Nie, 2021 * '' Monolepta annamita'' Laboissiere, 1889 * '' Monolepta australis'' Jacoby, 1882 * '' Monolepta bioculata'' (Fabricius, 1781) * '' Monolepta bivittata'' Lei, Xu, Yang & Nie, 2021 * '' Monolepta cavipennis'' Baly, 1878 * ''

Monolepta cruciata ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' Guérin de Méneville, 1847 * ''

Monolepta hagiangana ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' Bezděk & Beenen, 2020 * ''

Monolepta kuroheri ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' Kimoto, 1966 * ''

Monolepta leechi ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' Jacoby, 1890 * ''

Monolepta leuce ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' Weise, 1903 * ''

Monolepta marginella ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' Weise, 1903 * ''

Monolepta melanogaster ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' (Wiedemann, 1823) * ''

Monolepta mengsongensis ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' Lei, Xu, Yang & Nie, 2021 * ''

Monolepta pallidula ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' (Baly, 1874) * ''

Monolepta quadriguttata ''Monolepta'' is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae ''sensu stricto'', with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide. It is m ...

'' (Motschulsky, 1860) * '' Monolepta rubripennis'' Lei, Xu, Yang & Nie, 2021 * '' Monolepta rufofulva'' Chujo, 1938 * '' Monolepta sauteri'' Chujo, 1935 * '' Monolepta signata'' (Olivier, 1808)

Selected species

References

Further reading