Chaetocnema Stephens, 1831 Figs 28154301

=Brinckaltica Bechyné, 1959b (synonymized by Scherer 1961)

=Exorhina Weise, 1886 (synonymized by Heikertinger and Csiki 1940)

=Plectroscelis Chevrolat, 1836 (synonymized by Weise 1886)

References.

Stephens 1831: 325; Chevrolat 1836: 393; Baly 1877: 166; Weise 1886: 750; Bryant 1928: 393; Heikertinger and Csiki 1940: 376; Laboissière 1942: 81; Bechyné 1959b: 236; 1960b: 91; Scherer 1961: 259; Biondi 2001b: 233; 2002a: 266; 2002b: 356; Biondi and D’Alessandro 2006: 720; 2010a: 405.

Type species.

Chaetocnema: Chrysomela concinna Marsham, 1802 (Europe), by subsequent designation by Westwood (1840: 42); Exorhina: Haltica chlorophana Duftschmid, 1825: 286 (Austria), by subsequent designation by Döberl (2010: 508); Brinckaltica: Chaetocnema subaterrima Jacoby, 1900: 254 (Natal), by original designation.

Distribution.

All zoogeographical regions (Fig. 301).

Ecology.

This genus is mainly associated with plants in the families Chenopodiaceae, Cyperaceae, Juncaceae, Poaceae (also known as Gramineae), and Polygonaceae (cf. Jolivet and Hawkeswood 1995). In the Afrotropical region some Chaetocnema are serious pests of rice (Biondi and D’Alessandro 2008a).

Notes.

Over one hundred species are known from Madagascar and Sub-Saharan Africa.