Amphimasoreus amaroides Piochard

Guéorguiev, Borislav, 2013, Taxonomic, nomenclatural, and faunistic records for species in tribes Melaenini, Moriomorphini, Pterostichini, Licinini, and Sphodrini (Coleoptera: Carabidae), Zootaxa 3709 (1) : -

Amphimasoreus amaroides Piochard de la Brûlerie, 1875

Amphimasoreus amaroides Piochard de la Brûlerie, 1875: 156 (type locality: “ Liban ……. dans une clairière du bois d'Ehden! (à 2,000 mètres d'altitude)”).

Platyderodes merkli Apfelbeck, 1904: 279 , 281 (type locality: “ Türkei ”)

Pterostichus (Pseudorthomus) namrun Jedlička, 1963: 17 (type locality: “Anatolien: Namrun ”), new synonymy

Type material of Platyderodes merkli . Syntype ♂, “Belgradu Wald bei Constantinopel Merkl 1890” [black handwritten on white label] / “ Platyderodes merkli Gglb. ” [black handwritten on white label] / “ Typus ” [black print on red label] ( NMW).

Type material of Pterostichus (Pseudorthomus) namrun . Holotype ♂, “ Namrun .Anat.m. 11.– 26.5.60 leg.F.Schubert” [black print on white label] / “ Holotypus ” [black print on pink label] / “ Pterostichus Pseudorthomus schuberti sp.n. det. Ing. Jedlička” [black mixed handwritten & print on pink label] / “ Pterostichus namrun sp.n. det. Ing. Jedlička” [black mixed handwritten & print on pink label] [ Fig. 25 ] ( NMW).

Other studied material of Amphimasoreus amaroides . 1 ♀, without precise locality ( NMW); 1 ♂, “Asia - Minor Alem - Dagh v. Bodemeyer” ( NMW); 2 ♀♀, “Belgradu Waldung Türkey ” ( NMW); “Adana”, 1 f. ( NMW); “Tatvan, Asm.or V/76 1800 m, leg. F.Schubert”, 1 m., 1 f. ( NMW); “Boraboy b. Amasya Asm. Leg. F.Schubert”, 12 s. ( NMW); “Cangal dagh VI.59 Anat.b. Friedl Schubert”, 1 m., 1 f. ( NMW); “Osmaniye, Asm 1000 m, 1.– 8.5.69 leg. F.Schubert”, 3 s. ( NMW); “Tatvan, Asm.or 1900 m, 20.V.69 leg. F.Schubert”, 3 f. ( NMW); 1 ♂, Israel, Golan Heights, xii.1993, M. Warburg ( TAU).

Remarks. Pterostichus namrun Jedlička was described as representative of subgenus Pseudorthomus Chaudoir ( Jedlička, 1963) . Subsequently, Kirschenhofer (1987) accepted the species status, and placed it within subgenus Haptoderus Chaudoir , the latter being a senior synonym of Pseudorthomus . This view was followed by Lorenz (1998: 256, 2005: 277) and Bousquet (2003: 491), as none of these authors have been able to examine the type. Bousquet (2003) placed P. namrun in subgenus Cryobius Chaudoir , the last being treated as senior synonym of Pseudorthomus and Haptoderus , while Lorenz (1998, 2005) retained the valid status of Haptoderus .

The study of the holotype of P. namrun reveals that this species does not belong to tribe Pterostichini . Pterostichus namrun is a species of tribe Sphodrini and obviously is conspecific with Amphimasoreus amaroides . Some comments on the original description of the former are given below, in order to explain the discrepancy between the description and the material examined by Arnošt Jedlička. As a whole the original description is well done and accurate, excluding only two consecutive sentences: “Zwischenräume flach, der dritte im hinteren Drittel mit zwei sehr kleinen Porenpunkten. Scutellarstreifen durch einen kleinen Punkt angedeutet.”. Indeed, all the elytral intervals are flat, but only the left elytron has two small setiferous punctures in interval 3. The first pore of this elytron lies in the middle of interval 3 at the fourth fifth of the elytron, while the second one adjoins stria 2 at the last sixth of elytron. The right elytron possesses only one setiferous puncture adjoining stria 2 at the last sixth of its length. Excluding the Jedlička’s type, all the above examined specimens of A. amaroides possess only one discal puncture on each elytron. The presence of one or even more extra pores on the elytral disc in one or a few individuals of a larger series of the same species is phenotypic variation. Secondly, neither elytron of the holotype of Pterostichus namrun has a true parascutellar setiferous puncture close to the basal margin. Actually, there are three isolated, equal in size and depth punctures inside the base of stria 1 on the left elytron. These represent remnants of a degraded parascutellar stria. The right elytron has no such obvious isolated puncture/s in the area as on the left. Also, Jedlička (1963) pointed out that the type is “ein Weibchen”, but actually it is a male with basal tarsomeres 1–4 of the fore tarsi slightly dilated and with clear vestiture of adhesive hairs ventrally. The extent of the widening of the segments in the male protarsi is appreciably less in Amphimasoreus Piochard de la Brûlerie, 1875, than the same in Pterostichus . Moreover the taxa of the later genus possess only tarsomeres 1–3 dilated in the males. The holotype of Jedlička possesses another peculiar character, which together with the absent parascutellar setiferous punctures and specific structure of the male protarsus, constitute the generic diagnosis of genus Amphimasoreus . The last segments of the maxillary palpi and the labial palpi are spindle-like (short and widened in the middle). Last, but not least, it should be mentioned that Pterostichus namrun has elytra without crossed epipleura before the apex, not the state typical of Pterostichini . A. amaroides is a rather variable species by means of the total length of body: 5.4–7.4 mm, according to the data of Piochard de la Brûlerie (1875: 156), Apfelbeck (1904: 281) and the specimens above listed.

Figures

FIGURE 25. Holotype of Pterostichus namrun Jedlička. Photo by Assen Ihnatov.