''Eucolaspis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

leaf beetle 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 ...

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 native to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, where it is a serious pest of apple trees and other fruit crops. The genus has also been reported from Fiji.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the genus is generally considered to be unresolved, as it is ambiguous how many species the genus contains. Fifteen species were described from New Zealand by

Fabricius Fabricius ( la, smith, german: Schmied, Schmidt) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *people from the Ancient Roman gens Fabricia: **Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, the first of the Fabricii to move to Rome * Johann Goldsmid (1587� ...

(1781),

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

(1846) and Broun (1880, 1893, 1909). In 1957, Shaw revised the genus, reducing the number of species in New Zealand to five (including two newly described species of his own). However, later entomologists ignored Shaw's synonymy. In the same year, two species of the genus were described from Fiji by Bryant and Gressitt. In 2015, using morphological and genetic evidence, several researchers proposed instead just three lineages (or putative species) of the genus in the mainland of New Zealand, using the names "''Eucolaspis puncticollis''", "''Eucolaspis picticornis''" and "''Eucolaspis jucunda''". However, in 2019, Spanish entomologist Jesús Gómez-Zurita analysed the diversity and distribution of the genus, and his observations generally agreed with the conclusions of Shaw's 1957 revision, identifying at least five species of ''Eucolaspis'' in New Zealand. In addition, he described a new species, '' Eucolaspis kotatou'', from Te Paki, near

Cape Reinga , type =Cape , photo = Cape Reinga, Northland, New Zealand, October 2007.jpg , photo_width = 270px , photo_alt = , photo_caption = , map = New Zealand , map_width = 270px ...

Species

New Zealand species, according to Shaw (1957) and Gómez-Zurita (2019): * '' Eucolaspis antennata'' Shaw, 1957 * '' Eucolaspis brunnea'' (

, 1781) (synonyms: ''E. brevicollis'' ( Broun, 1880); ''E. ochracea'' Broun, 1893; ''E. colorata'' Broun, 1893; ''E. vittiger'' Broun, 1893; ''E. picticornis'' Broun, 1893) * '' Eucolaspis hudsoni'' Shaw, 1957 * '' Eucolaspis jucunda'' ( Broun, 1880) (synonyms: ''E. subaenea'' ( Broun, 1880); ''E. mera'' ( Broun, 1880); ''E. atrocerulea'' ( Broun, 1880)) * '' Eucolaspis kotatou'' Gómez-Zurita, 2019 * ''

Eucolaspis pallidipennis ''Eucolaspis'' is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. It is native to New Zealand, where it is a serious pest of apple trees and other fruit crops. The genus has also been reported from Fiji. Taxonomy The taxonomy of the genus i ...

'' (

, 1846) (synonyms: ''E. puncticollis'' ( Broun, 1880); ''E. sculpta'' ( Broun, 1880); ''E. montana'' Broun, 1893; ''E. plicatus'' Broun, 1909) Fiji species, according to Bryant & Gressitt (1957): * '' Eucolaspis castanea'' Bryant, 1957 * ''

Eucolaspis saltator ''Eucolaspis'' is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. It is native to New Zealand, where it is a serious pest of apple trees and other fruit crops. The genus has also been reported from Fiji. Taxonomy The taxonomy of the genus ...

'' Gressitt, 1957

References

Eumolpinae Chrysomelidae genera Beetles of New Zealand Insects of Fiji {{Eumolpinae-stub