''Spilopyra'' is a genus of

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 Spilopyrinae. It is found in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. The genus is distinguished from other genera in Spilopyrinae by highly contrasting patterns of

metallic color A metallic color is a color that appears to be that of a polished metal. The visual sensation usually associated with metals is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid color, because the shiny effect is due to the mater ...

on its head,

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

and

elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...

Species

* '' Spilopyra safrina'' Reid & Beatson, 2010 – north Queensland * '' Spilopyra scratchley'' Reid & Beatson, 2010 – eastern New Guinea * '' Spilopyra semiramis'' Reid & Beatson, 2010 – central New Guinea * '' Spilopyra stirlingi'' Lea, 1914 – north Queensland * '' Spilopyra sumptuosa'' Baly, 1860 – central Queensland to northern New South Wales

References

External links

Australian Faunal Directory – Genus ''Spilopyra'' Baly, 1860
Chrysomelidae genera Beetles of Australia Beetles of Papua New Guinea Taxa named by Joseph Sugar Baly {{Chrysomelidae-stub