APTEROPEDA CHEVROLAT, 1836

Type species: Haltica ciliata Olivier, 1808 = Apteropeda orbiculata Marsham, 1802.

Synonymy: No generic synonyms.

Phylogenetic position: Apteropeda is a sister-group to the Oriental and Eastern Palaearctic Argopistes, inside the Dibolia group.

Diversity and distribution: The genus has four known species, which are distributed only in the Western Palaearctic (Europe and North Africa).

Revisions: This genus has never been revised. A synoptic key to all known species is given in Warchałowski (2013).

Morphological characteristics: Body 2.0– 3.8 mm long, round-elliptical in dorsal view, convex in lateral view, brown to black or black with metallic lustre. Head nearly hypognathous; frontal ridge present and T-shaped. Antennae 11-segmented without any apical club. Pronotum short, wide, nearly impunctate or densely punctate. Procoxal cavities open posteriorly. Elytra convex, covered by rows of deep punctures. Wingless, humeral calli not developed. Legs relatively short, metatibiae variously modified (e.g. curved or deeply excavated). First metatarsomere elongated. Aedeagus short, bulbous with distinct excavations and furrows in dorsal view. Spermatheca simple; spermathecal duct U-shaped without coils.

Ecology: The ecology and host plants of Apteropeda are not well known. Konstantinov & Vandenberg (1996) list many different vascular plants to be previously documented as food sources (e.g. Ajuga L., Cirsium Mill., Plantago L., Satureja L., Veronica L., etc.), but the beetles are usually collected in plant detritus (ČÍŽek & Doguet, 2008).

Remarks: In the Western Palaearctic, the genus Apteropeda is somewhat similar to Sphaeroderma Stephens, 1831, from which it can be distinguished by having regular rows of punctures on the elytra(Palaearctic Sphaeroderma has confusedly punctate elytra).In general, Apteropeda is similar to the genus Argopistes, from which it can be separated by having nearly hypognathous head (in Argopistes, head is opistognathous) and by having moderately broadened metafemora and long metatibia (in Argopistes, metafemora are extremely enlarged and metatibiae shortened and usually strongly modified).