Leptostylus LeConte 1852

Leptostylus LeConte, 1852 Leptostylus LeConte, 1852: 168. Remarks. Leptostylus is one of the most problematic genera within Acanthocinini. Several features are extremely variable, especially the shape and width of the prosternal and mesoventral processes (Figs 2–11). Additionally, there are intermediate forms between distinctly narrow and distinctly wide processes, making it impossible to use them to attempt to divide Leptostylus. The same situation occurs with other very variable features in this genus, as for example the body shape and the length of lower eye lobes and genae. Currently, Leptostylus includes 95 species (Bezark 2024), of which we examined 46 species. Among the species examined, some of them have narrow thoracic processes, but none with them as narrow as in the new species described here (Fig. 2). Even so, we prefer not to establish a new genus based solely on the width of the thoracic processes, precisely because of the enormous variation found in the genus.