Belongs within: Malachiinae.
Laius is a genus of relatively small, often reddish soft-bodied beetles. The Queensland species L. alleni is distinctive in having an entirely dark dorsum, as well as lacking long hairs and having dilated and grooved front femora and tibiae (Lea 1909).
Characters (from Lea 1909): Comparatively small; usually reddish with metallic-blue, purple or green markings. Antennae short, fairly stout, apparently ten-segmented (true second segment hidden by first), apparent second segment (true third segment) often enormously inflated in male, first segment also more or less inflated. Male with front femora sometimes deeply grooved, front tarsi of peculiar shape and black-tipped.
Laius
|--L. alleni Lea 1909L09
|--L. armicollis Lea 1909L09
|--L. asperipennis Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. bellulusL09
|--L. carus Lea 1898L09
|--L. cavicornis Lea 1909L09
|--L. cinctusL09 [=Apalochrus cinctusL09; incl. L. femoralis Blackb. 1891L09, L. mastersi Macleay 1872L09, M86]
|--L. conicicornis Blackb. 1886L09
|--L. cyanocephalus Lea 1898L09
|--L. distortus Blackb. 1886L09
|--L. egenus Lea 1898L09
|--L. eremita Blackb. 1895L09
|--L. eyrensis Blackb. 1891L09
|--L. fastidiosus Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. flavopictus Lea 1909L09
|--L. guttulatus Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. insignicornis Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. intermedius Lea 1898L09
|--L. major Blackb. 1888L09
|--L. nidicola Lea 1898L09
|--L. nodicornis Blackb. 1886L09
|--L. oblongosignatus Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. orcicornis Lea 1898L09
|--L. orthodoxus Lea 1909L09
|--L. pallidus Lea 1898L09
|--L. plagiaticollis Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. planiceps Lea 1898L09
|--L. pretiosus Blackb. 1891L09
|--L. quinquenotatus Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. quinqueplagiatus Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. rufovirens Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. rugiceps Lea 1898L09
|--L. rugulipennis Fairm. 1877L09
|--L. sculptus Lea 1909L09
|--L. sinus Lea 1898L09
|--L. tarsalis Lea 1909L09
|--L. tibialis Gahan 1900JG19
|--L. trisignatusL09
|--L. variegatus Blackb. 1888L09
|--L. venustus Erichs. 1840G89
|--L. verticalis (Macleay 1827) [=Malachius verticalis]L09
|--L. ‘verticalis’ Fairmaire 1877 (n. d.) non Malachius verticalis Macleay 1827L09
`--L. villosus Lea 1898L09
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[G89] Gestro, R. 1889. Viaggio ab Assab nel Mar Rosso dei signori G. Doria ed O. Beccari con il R. Avviso “Esploratore” dal 16 Novembre 1879 al 26 Febbraio 1880.—IV. Coleotteri. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2a, 7: 5–72.
[JG19] James, D. J., P. T. Green, W. F. Humphreys & J. C. Z. Woinarski. 2019. Endemic species of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Records of the Western Australian Museum 34 (2): 55–114.
[L09] Lea, A. M. 1909. Revision of the Australian and Tasmanian Malacodermidae. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1909 (1): 45–251, pls 2–6.
[M86] Masters, G. 1886. Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of Australia. Part IV. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (2): 259–380.