S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 49. (Budapest, 1988)

12 (13) Pronotal sculpture consists of polygonal cells, sometimes partly transformed into wrinkles, but without distinct punctures Anthaxiina C. G

. 13 (12) Pronotal sculpture at least partly consists of simple punctures: even if they are transformed into wrinkles, some deep punctures are always apparent within them 14 14 (15) Antennae of 6 pectinate; elytra parallel to apical fifth or sixth, then roundedly truncate Xenorhipina str. n. 15 (14) Antennae not pectinate; elytra parallel at most to apical fourth, then roundedlycuneately narrowed to apex 16 16 (19) Lateral margin of pronotum crenulate 17 17 (18) Tarsal claws simple; vertex ca. half as wide as head Trigonogeniina Cob. 18 (17) Tarsal claws toothed; width of vertex at most 1/5 that of head Coomaniellina Bily 19 (16) Lateral margin of pronotum smooth 20 20 (23) Pygidium concave, sloping obliquely down, not covered by elytra; anal sternite rounded at apex 21 21 (22) Metacoxal plates laterally narrowed to 1/5 or less of their medial width; their hind margin very strongly emarginate; tarsal claws toothed; prosternai process cuneate, with no apparent lateral lobes «, ,. TT , r Maoraxiina Hoi. 22 (21) Metacoxal plates nearly parallel-sided; tarsal claws simple; prosternai process tridentate, with broadly triangular lateral lobes Neocuridina str. n. 2 3 (20) Pygidium invisible and/or apex of anal sternite bispinose 24 24 (25) Front deeply concave; labrum ca. as long as wide, deeply furrowed along median line Curidina str. n. 25 (24) Front flat or convex; labrum much wider than long, without median furrow Melanophilina Bed. 26 (11) Epistome separated from front by a distinct suture „ . . T J Sphenoptenna Lac. In the Nascionina str. n. I place three genera: Nascioides Kerr, (which, may be, should be separated into an independent subtribe), Nascio C.G. and Pterobothris Frm. (I do not mention the genera known to me only from descriptions or not at all. ) Trachykelina str. n. includes only Trachykele Mars. - this is a very curious animal, which may be really allied to the Nascionina str. n., but may be not at all; both these subtribes seem to represent relatively little modified offsprings of the ancient stock, ancestral to all the Buprestinae Leach. The closest relatives of Kisanthobiina Rieht, probably belong to Bubastina Obb. or Philanthaxiina str. n. ; these, in turn, are apparently very closely related to each other, and it was not without hesitation, that I decided to create a new subtribe for the latter. Incidentally, Notobubastes Cart, has nothing to do with Bubastina Obb. : as well the "key character" (sensorial pits on the lower surface of antennái joints), as open antennái grooves, "uneven" sculpture of the dorsal surface, prosternai process with a smooth median relief bordered by a furrow on both sides, trispinose elytral apex, and - last but not least general appearance, leaves little doubt that it belongs not only to Psilopterina Lac., but,very specifically, to the large genus Psiloptera Sol. ! Indeed, I am quite persuaded, that if Noto bubastes aurosulcata Cart, is found originally in South America instead of Australia, its descriptor would range it without any hesitation in the subgenus Lampetis Spin, near P. (L. ) po- lymita Chevr. or P. (L. ) geniculata Wath. There are, however, some discrepancies in the structure of tarsi and antennae, proportions of head, etc., which allow to retain Notobubastes Cart, as a separate subgenus of Psiloptera Sol. All the above-mentioned groups used to be counted among - or near - what BELLAMY et WILLIAMS (1985) refer to as "Buprestes" (as opposed to "Anthaxiae"), on the sole basis of having the epimeron "not concealed by the abdominal projection". This statement is only partly true, since both those groups which "should have" the epimeron concealed (e.g. the Melanophilina Bed. ), and those which "should not" (e.g. Philanthaxiina str.n. ), show a great deal of variability in this character. To be sure, the feature selected by me for the definition of the Anthaxiini C.G. - the location of sensory foveae on the terminal vs. ventral surface of antennái joints - does not seem too clear-cut, either, but I prefer it over the "concealing of epimeron" because in my opinion it leads to the arrangement making much more biological sense; according to many important - even if difficult to quantify or describe in the key characters (such as the general body form, system of colouration, pronotal and elytral sculp-