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.
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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