Echinocups Explained

Echinocups is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle. It was created in 2020 to house three species originally assigned to Notocupes, E. denticollis,^[1] E. neli^[2] and E. ohmkuhnlei^[3] The genus name refers to the sharp spikes present on the elytra.^[4] All three species are known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber of Myanmar. The status of Echinocups as a distinct genus was contested by Li et al. (2023), who considered the genus Echinocups to be a junior synonym of the genus Notocupes.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Jiang. Zhuoyin. Li. Yingge. Song. Chengjun. Shi. Hongliang. Liu. Ye. Chen. Rui. Kong. Fanli. April 2020. A new species of the genus Notocupes from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Archostemata: Ommatidae). Cretaceous Research. 108. 104335. 10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104335. 0195-6671.
2. TIHELKA. ERIK. HUANG. DIYING. CAI. CHENYANG. 2019-12-20. New notocupedin beetle in Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Archostemata: Ommatidae). Palaeoentomology. 2. 6. 570–575. 10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.6.5. 2624-2834.
3. Jarzembowski. Edmund A.. Wang. Bo. Zheng. Daran. February 2020. The first notocupedin beetle in mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar (Insecta: Coleoptera: Archostemata). Cretaceous Research. 106. 104225. 10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104225. 0195-6671.
4. A. G. Kirejtshuk and E. A. Jarzembowski. 2020. Appendix A. Taxonomic review of fossil coleopterous families (Insecta, Coleoptera). Suborder Archostemata: Superfamilies Coleopseoidea and Cupedoidea. Geosciences 10:73
5. Li . Y.-D. . Tihelka . E. . Newton . A. F. . Huang . D.-Y. . Cai . C.-Y. . New species of Notocupes (Coleoptera: Archostemata) from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou beds, with discussion on the generic circumscription . 2023 . Palaeoentomology . 6 . 4 . 398–415 . 10.11646/palaeoentomology.6.4.11 . free .