Outline of the history and status of the Japanese Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera)

The status of the Japanese fauna of the family Chrysomelidae is reviewed from the viewpoints of systematics and zoogeography based on a new systematic catalog in which 648 species belonging to 172 genera in 17 subfamilies were compiled by Takizawa and Suzuki. The rich Japanese chrysomelid fauna reflects a remarkable diversity of its natural environments. The number of species is relatively high in five subfamilies: Alticinae, Galerucinae, Eumolpinae, Chrysomelinae, and Cryptocephalinae. The percentage of indigenous species (275) compared with the total number of species exceeds 42.4%. The local faunas are compared among 10 regions. The history of studies on the Japanese Chrysomelidae is presented in three stages, Stage I (1758–1850), Stage II (1851–1950), and Stage III (1951–2023). Changes in number of species are presented for every 10 years period from 1758 to 2023. The cumulative number of species in the whole family clearly demonstrates a unique pattern with two remarkable increase times. We chose 10 representative coleopterists who contributed much to the elucidation of the Japanese chrysomelid fauna.