Oxycoleus laetus Júlio, 1997

(Figs 36–37)

Oxycoleus laetus Julio, 1997: 3; Júlio et al., 2000: 23 (holotype); Martins & Galileo, 2003: 59; Monné, 2005: 427 (cat.); Monné & Monné, 2016: 27 (holotype); Monné, 2021: 623 (cat).

Remarks. Júlio (1997) compared O. laetus with O. ruficollis (Zajciw, 1964) . However, the species appears to be more similar to O. brasiliensis (Tippmann, 1953) . Comparing the photographs of the holotype male of O. laetus and O. brasiliensis (wrongly described as a female, see Zajciw (1964) and Martins & Galileo (2003)), the most reliable difference appears to be the length of the antennae: longer in males of O. brasiliensis (the antennae extend about a third of their length beyond the body – Tippmann (1953)) than in O. laetus (antennae surpassing elytral apex by the two last antennomeres – Júlio (1997)). Unfortunately, the holotype and paratypes of O. laetus, as well as the holotype of O. brasiliensis were destroyed during the fire in 2018 at the MNRJ.

Júlio (1997) also reported on the elytra (translated): “elytral carina restricted to a short shining area on apical 1/6.” However, the two females examined by us have no elytral carina even on the apical area.

Material examined. BRAZIL, Mato Grosso: Chapada, 2 females, no date and collector indicated (MZSP) .