Taxonomy of the Cryptocephalus heraldicus Group (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Cryptocephalinae) from China

This is a study on the leaf beetle subgenus Cryptocephalus Geoffroy, 1762 from China, with the particular emphasis upon the species-group classification of the subgenus and the taxonomy of the Cryptocephalus heraldicus species group. A new key is compiled to all the species groups found in China. Four new species are described from China: Cryptocephalus (Cryptocephalus) biordopunctatus sp. nov. from Yunnan, C. hani sp. nov. from Shanxi, Hubei, Shaanxi and Gansu, C. incisodentatus sp. nov. from Sichuan and Yunnan, and C. nigroflavusiventerus sp. nov. from Yunnan. Three species are found for the first time in China: C. lacosus Pic, 1922, C. nigriceps Allard, 1891 and C. rajah Jacoby, 1908. The species C. nigrolimbatus Jacoby, 1890 is transferred from the subgenus Burlinius Lopatin to this subgenus and assigned to the Cryptocephalus heraldicus group. The species number of this group is now 30 in total according to our result of taxonomic review. A key to all the mainland China species of this species group is provided as well as high quality color images and line drawings of adult habitus, aedeagus, and other important structures. All the types of the new species are deposited in the collection of Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZ-CAS).