Clarification of ambiguous genus records for Australian Cleridae (Coleoptera: Cleroidea)

Abstract

The status of the genera Balcus Sharp, Gastrocentrum Gorham, Korynetes Herbst, Solervicensia Barr, Monophylla Spinola and Thanasimus Latreille in Australia is assessed based on review of dubious or ambiguous published Australian records of the following species-group taxa: Balcus violaceus (Fabricius), a New Zealand species listed as Australian by Schenkling (1906); Gastrocentrum dux (Westwood), described from Australia by Westwood (1853); Korynetes abdominalis (Fabricius), an Indian species listed as Australian by Schenkling (1906); Korynetes coeruleus (De Geer), a Palearctic species with a synonym, Corynetes unicolor Chevrolat, 1876, described from Australia; Monophylla terminata (Say), a North American species with a synonym, Elasmocerus picticollis Blackburn, 1901, described from Australia; Solervicensia ovata (Spinola), a South American species with two synonyms (one newly proposed) described from Australia, viz. Labasiella duboulayi Pic, 1950, and Korynetes nigrosignatus Pic, 1941 new synonym; and Thanasimus dubius (Fabricius), a North American species introduced to Australia for the biological control of Ips grandicollis (Eichhoff) (Scolytinae). All six of the abovementioned genera are deemed absent from Australia due to the lack of evidence for the occurrence of representative species within the Australian political region.