Subgenus Pharaonus (Tamerlanius) Keith, Sabatinelli, and Uliana, new subgenus Type species. Phyllopertha lederi Reitter, 1888 here designated. Description. Clypeus flat, with the anterior margin bordered but not raised, sides convergent forwards with anterior angles obtuse. Labrum visible from above. Males with short antennal club, 1.2–1.3 times as long as the rest of the antenna. In males, internal (main) claw of the prolegs broad, subrectangular, with truncate apex (Fig. 2). Aedeagus large (parameres size greater than 1 mm), bearing 2 ventral apophyses between the parameres. Detailed morphometrical data and comparisons with the subgenus Pharanous are reported in Table 1. Species included. Phyllopertha lederi Reitter, 1888; Phyllopertha semenowi Reitter, 1887. Ethymology. From Tamerlane, historically known as Timur, the founder of the Timurid empire, in whose area this generic taxon is distributed. Discussion. Tamerlanius is given a subgeneric rank as a conservative approach due to the lack of information on Popilliina phylogeny. The considerable differences in the aedeagic structure may eventually support generic assignment, but this is better evaluated in a broader taxonomic context. The distribution of Tamerlanius is limited to central Asia and is well separated from that of the nominotypical subgenus Pharaonus, which occurs from North Africa to Iran through the Levant. ; Published as part of Keith, Denis, Sabatinelli, Guido & Uliana, Marco, 2015, Synopsis of the genus Pharaonus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae), with descriptions of new taxa, pp. 167-180 in Zootaxa 4012 (1) on page 177, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.4012.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/244632