Supraspecific taxonomy of the flea beetle genus Blepharida Chevrolat, 1836 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in the Afrotropical Region and description of Afroblepharida subgen. nov

The supraspecific taxonomy of the species traditionally attributed to the flea beetle genus Blepharida Chevrolat, 1836 is discussed. A cladistic analysis, based on 30 morphological characters of traditional Blepharida species, has revealed that two genera occur in Sub-Saharan Africa: Calotheca Heyden, 1887 and Blepharidina Bechyné, 1968. The latter genus is known from Africa, and probably also Madagascar, and has two subgenera: Blepharidina s.str. and Afroblepharida subgen. nov. Twenty-seven traditional Blepharida species are here attributed to the genus Calotheca Heyden, while eighteen species are assigned to the genus Blepharidina Bechyné. Four Blepharidina species, antinorii (Chapuis, 1879), gedyei (Bryant, 1948), scripta (Weise, 1904) and somaliensis (Bryant, 1948), belong to the new subgenus Afroblepharida. The following new synonymies are established: Eutheca conradsi Weise, 1906 = Eutheca erlangeri Weise, 1907 syn. nov. = Blepharidella irregularis Bryant, 1945 syn. nov.; Blepharida marginalis Weise, 1902 = Blepharida monticola Weise, 1926 syn. nov. = Blepharida ugandae Bryant, 1944 syn. nov.; Blepharida inornata Jacoby, 1895 = Blepharida semisulcata Achard, 1922 syn. nov.; Blepharidella lewini Weise in Lewin, 1912 = Blepharidella picticollis Bryant, 1945 syn. nov.; Podontia nigrotessellata Baly, 1865 = Blepharidella rubrosignata Bryant, 1945 syn. nov. = Blepharidella variabilis Bryant, 1945 syn. nov.; Blepharida ornata Baly, 1881 = Blepharida freyi Bechyné, 1954 syn. nov.; Podontia reticulata Baly, 1865 = Blepharida guttula Bryant, 1944 syn. nov.; Blepharida antinorii Chapuis, 1879 = Blepharida sudanica Bryant, 1944 syn. nov.; Blepharida scripta Weise, 1904 = Blepharida geminata Bryant, 1944 syn. nov. In addition: Blepharida plagipennis Achard, 1922, its locality certainly mislabeled, is transferred to the New World genus Notozona Chevrolat, 1837; Calotheca thunbergi is proposed as the new name for Blepharida stolida (Thunberg, 1808). Finally, an updated catalogue of the known species of Calotheca and Blepharidina is also supplied, including new synonymies, material examined, new faunistic records, distributions and chorotypes.