Redescription and identity of Taphinella bengalensis Jacoby, 1900(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae)

* Correspondence: bezdek@mendelu.cz Jacoby (1900) described Taphinella bengalensis from an unspecified number of specimens. Jacoby himself was not sure about the generic placement of this species and the assignment to Taphinella Jacoby, 1889 was treated as provisional. Maulik (1936) separated this species from Taphinella and proposed for it a new genus, Taphinellina. After that Taphinellina was more or less forgotten until Wilcox (1973) in his catalogue listed Taphinellina as a valid genus and transferred to Taphinellina most of species currently classified in Charaea Baly, 1878. Seeno and Wilcox (1982) placed both Taphinellina and Charaea in Luperini: Luperina, section Eumeleptites. Beenen (2010) transferred Charaea balyi (Medvedev & SprecherUebersax, 1998) (= Charaea flaviventris Baly, 1878) to Taphinellina and, thus, synonymized both genera as Charaea flaviventris, a type species of Charaea. However, mistakenly he gave generic priority to Taphinellina over the older Charaea. This mistake was corrected by Beenen and Lee (2010). During the ongoing revision of Charaea with the first two parts already published (Bezděk and Lee, 2014, Bezděk, 2015), I also examined the primary type material of Taphinella bengalensis. It proved to be not congeneric with Charaea and is transferred to the genus Cassena Weise, 1892 and redescribed. A Canon EOS 550D digital camera with a Canon MP-E 65 mm lens was used to take the photographs. Images were combined using Helicon Focus 5.1.3 software. The examined material is housed in the following collections: BMNH The Natural History Museum, London, UK (Michael Geiser, Maxwell V. L. Barclay); ISNB Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium (Alain Drumont, Pol Limbourg); MCZ Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (Philipp D. Perkins); NMPC Narodni Muzeum, Praha, Czech Republic (Jiři Hajek). Cassena Weise, 1892 Cassena Weise, 1892: 389. Type: Cassena celebensis Weise, 1892 (designated by Hincks, 1949: 610). Euphyma Baly, 1879: 457. Type: Euphyma collaris Baly, 1879 (by original designation). Solenia Jacoby, 1886: 87. Type: Euphyma collaris Baly, 1879, by substitution of Solenia for Euphyma Baly, 1879 not Baly, 1877, in Chrysomelidae: Cryptocephalinae. Solephyma Maulik, 1936: 329. Type: Euphyma collaris Baly, 1879, by substitution of Solephyma for Solenia Jacoby not Mulsant, 1875, in Staphylinidae. Taphinellina Maulik, 1936: 299. Type: Taphinella bengalensis Jacoby, 1900 (by original designation), syn. nov. Comments. Taphinella bengalensis, a type species of Taphinellina, shares all main generic features with Cassena species: body shape oval, pronotum strongly convex with widely rounded lateral margins, anterior angles swollen, and posterior margin with two short notches (this character was overlooked by Jacoby (1900) in the original description), procoxal cavities closed, prosternal Abstract: The primary type specimens of Taphinella bengalensis Jacoby, 1900 (type species of Taphinellina Maulik, 1936) were examined. The genus Taphinellina is excluded from synonymy with Charaea Baly, 1878 and newly synonymized with Cassena Weise, 1892. Taphinella bengalensis is transferred to Cassena and redescribed, and its lectotype is designated. Color photos of its habitus and drawings of both male and female genitalia are presented.