Deretrichia
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| Deretrichia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
| Family: | Chrysomelidae |
| Subfamily: | Eumolpinae |
| Tribe: | Typophorini |
| Genus: | Deretrichia Weise, 1913[1] |
| Type species | |
| Rhyparida tibialis Baly, 1867 | |
Deretrichia is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. It is known from Australia, New Guinea and associated islands in the Australasian realm, east of Wallace's Line, with the exception of one doubtful record from Borneo.[2] It was first erected by the German entomologist Julius Weise in 1913 for six species transferred from Rhyparida. In 1963, the genus was revised by Brian J. Selman, who described many new species from unique specimens and transferred some more species from Rhyparida.[2]
The described species are considered to be rare, and some are possibly already extinct. In almost every location that Deretrichia has been found, very few specimens were collected, and they were rarely collected again in the same locations, possibly because of deforestation in those areas. Selman (1963) wrote that "recently Deretrichia specimens have been collected only in regions, e.g. New Guinea, where large areas of the coastal forest belt had survived".[2]
Deretrichia can be distinguished from Rhyparida by the location of setae on the front of the prothorax. In Rhyparida, a single seta is found on each front corner of the pronotum. In Deretrichia, these setae are instead found lower down on the sides of the prothorax, at the point where the corners of the episternum and the lateral arms of the prosternum meet.[2]