Poeciloxestia Lane, 1965

Poeciloxestia Lane, 1965 View in CoL

Poeciloxestia Lane, 1965: 269 View in CoL .

Poeciloxestia ( Regularilinea) Özdikmen, 2025l: 3351 . Syn. nov.

Remarks. Özdikmen(2025l) divided Poeciloxestia into two subgenera and reported:“In the first group [ Poeciloxestia ( Poeciloxestia) Lane, 1965: 269 ], longitudinal dark band on suture of elytra distinctly irregularly bordered, the band clearly expanded both in basal and apical parts, and narrowed in the middle part, or clearly expanded only in basal or apical parts;” and “In the second group, longitudinal dark band on suture of elytra more or less regularly bordered.”

It’s really very difficult to say what we truly think about this subgenus; however it is completely absurd and without any scientific basis. Without any doubt, the shape of the dark area on the elytra is nothing more than a specific feature and could never be used as a generic feature.

Fragoso (1978) made a serious and detailed study of Poeciloxestia and observed nothing that would allow it to be separated into subgenera. Furthermore, according to Fragoso (1978), “The dark dorso-elytral vitta, which shows considerable intraspecific variation, defies definition, and it is extremely difficult to ascertain which pattern is ancestral.” He also presented a hypothetical phylogenetic tree based on elytral length, prosternal shape, and pronotal sculpturing, not attributing any special value to the elytral dark macula. Therefore, we are synonymizing Poeciloxestia ( Regularilinea) with Poeciloxestia .