| Summary: | Genus Electroxylita gen. nov. Type species: Electroxylita chronographica sp. nov. , here designated. Note. The newly described fossil taxon, Electroxylita gen. nov. , possesses typical external morphological characters of the tribe Xylitini within the subfamily Melandryinae: procoxae contiguous, pretarsal claws simple, 11-segmented antennae short and filiform, base of pronotum closely associated with elytral base, head concealed from above, lateral and basal edges of pronotum margined, lateral pronotal sides carinate, pronotum without impressions at base, notosternal sutures distinct but non-carinate, penultimate tarsomere of pro- and mesotarsi widened, meso- and metatibial spurs equal in lengths and comparatively short, tibiae without ridges, protrochantin visible, metatarsomere 1 long etc. However, Electroxylita gen. nov. does not fully correspond to any extant genus of the tribe, and therefore it is placed into a new genus. Differential diagnosis. The tribe Xylitini, consists of 5–6 extant genera (Nikitsky & Pollock 2010), namely Xylita Paykull, 1798, Rushia Förel, 1893, Dolotarsus Jacquelin du Val, 1863, Scotochroa LeConte, 1874 (which may be synonymous with Dolotarsus ), Scotochroides Mank, 1939, and Spilotus LeConte, 1862. Electroxylita gen. nov. differs from Xylita , Rushia , Dolotarsus , and Scotochroa in conical antennomeres distinctly longer than wide. The newly described genus can be distinguished from Rushia , Spilotus , and Xylita by the comparatively short prosternum before proxocal cavities, from Rushia by the anteriorly converging lateral pronotal margins, from Scotochroa by the shape of apical maxillary palpomere, from Xylita by the separate mesocoxae and transverse pronotum, from Scotochroides by shorter and not so robust antennae, from Spilotus in procoxal cavities with distinct fissure, unicolorous elytra, and weakly bisinuate pronotal base. The oldest geological record of the family Melandryidae is Archaeoxylita zherichini Nikitsky 1977 from Lower Cretaceous (Santonian) Taimyr amber ...
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