Notocupes Explained

Notocupes is an extinct genus of medium-sized archostematan beetles from the Mesozoic Era of Eurasia, including over 50 described species. Historically, the genus was classified as a member of the family Ommatidae, but the presence of characters such as the horizontal mandibular cutting edge, separated procoxae and overlapping abdominal sternites indicate that the genus may have a closer affinity with the family Cupedidae.^[1] Notocupes is considered to be a junior synonym of Zygadenia by Kirejtshuk (2020),^[2] but other researchers suggest to reserve the genus Zygadenia as a form taxon for isolated elytra that probably belong to the genus Notocupes, while retaining Notocupes as a valid genus for complete body fossils.^{[3] [4] [5]} Most species of Notocupes were described from compression fossils. An additional three species were described from Cenomanian-aged Burmese amber, which were treated as a separate genus, Echinocups, by Kirejtshuk (2020), but Li et al. (2023) consider Echinocups to be a junior synonym of Notocupes.^[6] Notocupes has a flattened body, which may suggest that it occupied narrow habitats, such as living under bark. Some species had serrated/spined margins of the carapace, which may have served as a defense against predators, or served as camouflage to resemble bark.

Strelnikova & Yan (2023) advise splitting up the genus Notocupes into four genera: Notocupes, Rhabdocupes, Conexicoxa and the new genus Brachilatus.^[7]

Triassic species

Ladinian (242 Ma to ~237 Ma)

Tongchuan Formation, China

• N. shiluoensis

Carnian (237 Ma to 227 Ma)

Koldzat Formation, Kazakhstan

• N. oxypygus

Madygen Formation, Kyrgyzstan

• N. laticella
• N. rostratus
• N. tenuis

Jurassic species

Hettangian (201.3 Ma to 199.3 Ma)

Dzhil Formation, Kyrgyzstan

• N. cellulosus
• N. issykkulensis
• N. kirghizicus
• N. latus
• N. sogutensis

Guanyintan Formation, China

• N. homorus

Toarcian (182.7 Ma to 174.1 Ma)

Guanyintan Formation, China

• N. lini

Sulyukta Formation, Kyrgyzstan

• N. crassus

Bajocian (170.3 Ma to 168.3 Ma)

Bakhar Formation, Mongolia

• N. brachycephalus
• N. exiguus
• N. longicollis

Callovian (166.1 Ma to 163.5 Ma)

Haifanggou Formation, China

• N. daohugouensis
• N. dischides
• N. jurassicus
• N. pingi
• N. robustus
• N. spinosus

Tyumen Formation, Russia

• N. patulus

Oxfordian (163.5 Ma to 157.3 Ma)

Karabastau Formation, Kazakhstan

• N. foersteri
• N. lapidarius
• N. nigromonticola
• N. picturatus
• N. pulcher

Tithonian (152.1 Ma To 145.0 Ma)

Shar Teeg, Mongolia

• N. brachycephalus
• N. exiguus

Solnhofen, Germany

• N. reticulatus
• N. tripartitus

Cretaceous species

Hauterivian (132.9 Ma to 129.4 Ma)

Dabeigou Formation, China

• N. lentus

Barremian (129.4 Ma to 125.0 Ma)

Jianshangou Formation, China

• N. laetus

La Huérguina Formation, Las Hoyas, Spain

• N. diazromerali
• N. longicoxa
• N. siniestri
• N. viridis

La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation, Las Hoyas, Spain

• N. martinclosas
• N. oculatus

Ulan-Argalant Formation, Mongolia

• N. mongolicus

Aptian (125.0 to ~113.0 Ma)

Argun Formation, Russia

• N. semen
• N. sibiricus

Baojiatun Formation, China

• N. baojiatunensis

Dzun-Bain Formation, Mongolia

• N. dundulaensis
• N. elegans

Jehol Group, China

• N. validus

Khasurty Formation, Russia

• N. khasurtyiensis

Laiyang Formation, China

• N. laiyangensis
• N. ludongensis
• N. tuanwangensis

Shahai Formation, China

• N. kezuoensis

Yixian Formation, China

• N. alienus
• N. cyclodontus
• N. epicharis
• N. eumeurus
• N. minisculus
• N. porrectus
• N. protensus
• N. psilatus
• N. rudis
• N. stabilis

Zaza Formation, Russia

• N. caudatus
• N. excellens
• N. vitimensis

Albian (~113.0 to 100.5 Ma)

Jinju Formation, South Korea

• N. premeris

Cenomanian (100.5 to 93.9 Ma)

Burmese amber, Myanmar

• N. denticollis (sometimes placed in separate genus Echinocups)
• N. neli (sometimes placed in separate genus Echinocups)
• N. ohmkuhnlei (sometimes placed in separate genus Echinocups)

Turonian (93.9 to 89.8 Ma)

Emanra Formation, Russia

• N. khetanensis

Kzyl-Zhar Locality, Kazakhstan

• N. caducus

Notes and References

1. Li . Yan-Da . Tihelka . Erik . Yamamoto . Shûhei . Newton . Alfred F. . Xia . Fang-Yuan . Liu . Ye . Huang . Di-Ying . Cai . Chen-Yang . 2023-08-22 . Mesozoic Notocupes revealed as the sister group of Cupedidae (Coleoptera: Archostemata) . Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution . 11 . 10.3389/fevo.2023.1015627 . 2296-701X. free .
2. Kirejtshuk . Alexander G. . 2020 . Taxonomic Review of Fossil Coleopterous Families (Insecta, Coleoptera). Suborder Archostemata: Superfamilies Coleopseoidea and Cupedoidea . Geosciences . 10 . 2 . 73 . 10.3390/geosciences10020073 . 2020Geosc..10...73K . 2076-3263 . free.
3. Strelnikova. O.D.. Yan. E.V.. 2021. Redescriptions of beetles of the Notocupes generic complex (Coleoptera: Archostemata: Ommatidae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Buryatia. Palaeoentomology. 4. 5. 499–514. 10.11646/palaeoentomology.4.5.15. 240527664 .
4. Strelnikova. O.D.. Yan. E.V.. 2023. Redescriptions of the Triassic Notocupes beetles (Archostemata: Ommatidae) from Kyrgyzstan and South Kazakhstan. Palaeoentomology. 6. 2. 174–190. 10.11646/palaeoentomology.6.2.9. 258403180 .
5. Soo Bin Lee. Gi Soo Nam. Yan-Da Li. A new species of Notocupes (Coleoptera: Archostemata) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Jinju Formation in South Korea. Cretaceous Research. 140. 2022. 105357. 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105357. 2022CrRes.14005357L . 252147645 .
6. 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 .
7. Strelnikova. O.D.. Yan. E.V.. 2023. On splitting of the genus Notocupes (Coleoptera: Archostemata): new data on morphology and taxonomy. Far Eastern Entomologist. 488. 1–28. 10.25221/fee.488.1. free.