Lycocerus atropygidialis ( Pic, 1937 ) Pic, 1937

Yang, Yuxia & Yang, Xingke, 2014, Notes on Lycocerus kiontochananus (Pic, 1921) and description of two new species of Lycocerus Gorham from China (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), Zootaxa 3774 (6), pp. 523-534 : 527-528

Lycocerus atropygidialis ( Pic, 1937) stat. nov.

Figs 4 , 13 , 31

Cantharis perroudi var. atropygidialis Pic, 1937: 143 . Synonymized with Athemus kiontochananus ( Pic, 1921) by Wittmer, 1982: 341.

Lycocerus kiontochananus: Kazantsev & Brancucci, 2007: 251 .

Type material examined. Cantharis perroudi var. Atropygidialis : Holotype ♀ ( MNHN): [p]“T’ienmushan \ Musée Heude”, [h-p]“22.6.36 \ O. PIEL coll.”, [h]“ v. atropygidialis \ Pic”, [h]“ Athemus \ kiontochananus \ (Pic) \ det. W. Wittmer ”, [p]“P. \ 498”, [p]“HOLOTYPUS”. The right antennomeres III–XI and right meso-leg of the holotype are missing.

Other material examined. CHINA: Zhejiang: 1♀ ( IZAS): “T’ienmushan, 2.VI.37, O. PIEL coll.”.

Redescription. Female ( Fig. 4 ). Body black, except mandibles dark brown, pronotum reddish brown, slightly darkened at anterior and posterior margins. Body densely covered with black pubescence, head, antennomeres I −III, pronotum, all coxae, trochanters and basal parts of femora, meso- and meta-ventrites and ventral part of abdomen with pale yellow pubescence, of which slightly longer on clypeus, pronotum and pro-legs than other parts.

Head sub-rounded, surface finely and densely punctuate, width across eyes slightly wider than anterior margin of pronotum, eyes slightly protruding; terminal maxillary palpomere nearly triangular, widest in middle, apical half of inner margin arcuate; antennae ( Fig. 13 ) extending to basal one-third length of elytra when reclined, antennomere II slightly longer than wide at apex, III −XI flattened, III −X slightly widened apically, long-triangular, VI longest, XI slightly longer than X and acute at apex.

Pronotum subquadrate, distinctly wider than long, widest near base, anterior margin arcuate, lateral margins diverging posteridly, posterior margin nearly straight, anterior angles rounded, posterior angles nearly rectangular, disc slightly convex on posterolateral parts, surface finely and slightly sparsely punctuate than that on head.

Elytra about 4 times longer than pronotum, 3.5 times longer than width across humeri, humeral width distinctly wider than posterior margin of pronotum, outer margins nearly parallel, disc mat, coarsely and densely punctuate, present with two slightly distinct longitudinal costae near inner margins. Legs slender, all tarsal claws simple.

Abdominal sternite VIII ( Fig. 31 ) with a middle and two lateral large emarginations at posterior margin, the middle emargination slightly shallower than lateral ones, the portion of posterior margin between middle and lateral emarginations obtuse at apex respectively.

Body length: 10.0 mm; width: 2.5 mm. Male unknown.

Distribution. China (Zhejiang).

Remarks. This species was synonymized with L. kiontochananus ( Pic, 1921) by Wittmer (1982). In the present study, it is reinstated as a valid species, since that its abdominal sternite VIII and antennae of the holotype are found to be different from that of the latter species. Furthermore, it is different from L. perroudi ( Pic, 1937) stat. rev. in the characters of antennae, pronotum and abdominal sternite VIII, which are sufficient to place it at the specific level. Therefore, we suggest Cantharis perroudi var. atropygidialis Pic, 1937 be resurrected from synonymy with L. kontochananus and upgraded to the specific status.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Habitus, dorsal view: 1. Holotype of Cantharis kiontochanana Pic, 1921; 2. Holotype of Lycocerus kejvali Švihla, 2004; 3. Holotype of Cantharis perroudi Pic, 1937; 4. Holotype of C. perroudi var. atropygidialis Pic, 1937. 1, 3 – 4. female; 2. male.

FIGURES 9 – 19. Antennae, dorsal view: 9 – 10. Lycocerus kiontochananus (Pic, 1921); 11 – 12. L. perroudi (Pic, 1937) stat. rev.; 13. L. atropygidialis (Pic, 1937) stat. nov.; 14 – 15. L. jendeki Švihla, 2005; 16 – 17. L. metalliceps sp. nov.; 18 – 19. L. hainanus sp. nov. 9, 11, 14, 16, 18. male; 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19. female. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 29 – 34. Abdominal sternite VIII of female, ventral view: 29. Lycocerus kiontochananus (Pic, 1921); 30. L. perroudi (Pic, 1937) stat. rev.; 31. L. atropygidialis (Pic, 1937) stat. nov.; 32. L. jendeki Švihla, 2005; 33. L. metalliceps sp. nov.; 34. L. hainanus sp. nov. Scale bars: 1 mm.