Laius is a genus of soft-winged flower beetles (Melyridae) that belongs to the subfamily Malachiinae. Members of this genus inhabit a wide range which includes East Africa to Southeast Asia, Australia and some islands located in the Pacific Ocean. They can be found inhabiting rocks on the seashore.
Their endophallic structure contains two primary sclerites that are named the gonoporal piece and ligula respectively. It also contains secondary sclerite called the additional sclerite on the basal part of the gonoporal piece in some species and a membranous basal area known as the spinous area that is closely covered with many spines.
Taxonomy The genus was established in 1830 by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville, a French entomologist. Many species that belonged to this genus have been removed and transferred to genera such as Intybia. The genus Nossibeus was synonymised with genus Laius in a 2014 study by Hiroyuki Yoshitomi.
Species There are currently 39 described species that belong to this genus. They are listed below: Laius adonis (Pic, 1921) Laius alleni Lea, 1909 Laius andamanensis Yoshitomi, 2014 Laius asahinai Nakane, 1955 Laius baliensis Yoshitomi, 2014 Laius corporaali Pic, 1921 Laius cyaneus Guérin, 1830 Laius diabolicus Pic, 1905 Laius etsukoae Sato, Yoshitomi & Ohbayashi, 2006 Laius fenchihuensis Wittmer, 1982 Laius flavicornis (Fabricius, 1801) Laius keiichii Sato, Yoshitomi & Ohbayashi, 2006 Laius lutaoensis Yoshitomi & Lee, 2010 Laius luteonotatus Pic, 1921 Laius maai Wittmer, 1973 Laius madli Yoshitomi, 2010 Laius marchei Pic, 1922 Laius martirei Constantin, 2015 Laius miyamotoi Nakane, 1955 Laius niponicus Lewis, 1895 Laius pankowi Wittmer, 1999 Laius parnaudeaui Constantin, 2015 Laius pici Miwa, 1931 Laius pisanganus Pic, 1921 Laius politus Fairmaire, 1880 Laius purpureipennis Lea, 1916 Laius rodriguesensis Yoshitomi, 2014 Laius rufipes Montrouzier, 1860 Laius sabangensis Wittmer, 1985 Laius satoi Yoshitomi, 2008 Laius sericatus Champion, 1924 Laius simingensis Liu, Qiu & Li, 2026 Laius submariniformis Wittmer, 1985 Laius sumatrensis Wittmer, 1954 Laius taiwanus Yoshitomi & Lee, 2010 Laius tibialis Gahan, 1900 Laius triangulatus Wittmer, 1954 Laius venustus Erichson, 1840 Laius xiamenensis Liu, Qiu & Li, 2026
References