''Mecistes'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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

s in the subfamily

Eumolpinae The Eumolpinae are a subfamily of the leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae. It is one of the largest subfamilies of leaf beetles, including more than 500 genera and 7000 species. They are oval, and convex in form, and measure up to 10 mm in size. ...

. It is distributed in central and eastern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, from the Uele region and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

and the Eastern provinces of the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. It closely resembles the

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

genus '' Apolepis''.

Species

Species include: * '' Mecistes audisioi'' Zoia, 2009 – South Africa:

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

* '' Mecistes chapuisi'' Jacoby, 1900 – DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe * '' Mecistes flavipes'' ( Gerstaecker, 1855) – Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana * '' Mecistes grobbelaarae'' Zoia, 2009 – South Africa: Transvaal * '' Mecistes lineatus'' (

Pic PIC or pic may refer to: Places * Penbay International Circuit, or PIC, a motor track circuit in Pingtung County, Taiwan * Pic River, in Ontario, Canada * Picayune (Amtrak station) (Amtrak station code PIC), Mississippi, United States * Pic, a ...

, 1921) – central and northern Tanzania * '' Mecistes seriatus''

Lefèvre Lefebvre (; commonly in English-speaking countries, as well as or ) is a common northern French surname. Alternative forms include ''Lefebvre'', ''le Febvre'', ''Le Febvre'', ''Lefèbvre'', ''le Fèbvre'', ''Le Fèbvre'', as well as the common var ...

, 1885 – Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, Eswatini, South Africa * '' Mecistes tarsalis'' Chapuis, 1874 – DR Congo, Namibia (?), Botswana, South Africa * '' Mecistes thompsoni'' Zoia, 2009 – Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa * '' Mecistes ziliolii'' Zoia, 2009 – Namibia, Botswana, South Africa * '' Mecistes zimbabweensis'' Zoia, 2009 – Zimbabwe

References

Eumolpinae Chrysomelidae genera Taxa named by Félicien Chapuis Beetles of Africa Beetles of Asia {{Eumolpinae-stub