Belarima violacea (Lucas, 1847) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae), a new genus and species for the European fauna

Abstract

Belarima violacea (Lucas) is an uncommon species of the Galerucini tribe ( Coleoptera , Chrysomelidae , Galerucinae ) distributed in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and recorded here for the first time for the European fauna. One male and one female were found, not far from each other, wandering on the sand among the vegetation of the shifting dunes of the Tuscan coast (Rosignano Solvay, Spiagge Bianche). Some hypotheses are proposed to explain the presence of B. violacea on the Italian coast. Morphological descriptions of external habitus, aedeagus and spematheca, the latter here described for the first time, are also provided, accompanied by micro-photographs.