Meligethes (Odonthogethes) pallidoelytrorum Chen & Kirejtshuk, 2013

Liu, Meike, Huang, Min, Cline, Andrew Richard & Audisio, Paolo, 2018, New and poorly known Meligethes Stephens from China, with bionomical data on some species (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Meligethinae), Zootaxa 4392 (3), pp. 546-566 : 561

Meligethes (Odonthogethes) pallidoelytrorum Chen & Kirejtshuk, 2013 , in Chen et al. 2013

( MALE gENITALIA AS IN FIgS. 2A, b IN LIU et al. 2017. THE OvIpOSITOR Of THIS SpECIES IS ILLUSTRATED IN FIg. 3f IN LIU et al. 2017.)

Examined material. China, SICHUAN, LUDINg COUNTY, MOXI TOWN, MT. GONggA, HAILUOgOU, 2950–2970 m A.S.L., 29.575° 101.996667°, 22.vI.2017, LIU & AUDISIO LgT, ON Rubus niveus THUNb. ( ROSACEAE ), 7 ♂, 9 ♀ ( NWAU, CAR- MZUR, NMPC, ARCC).

Distribution. KNOWN THUS fAR WITH CERTAINTY ONLY fROm SICHUAN pROvINCE (CHEN et al. 2013; AUDISIO et al. 2015) ( FIg. 6A ).

Host-plants. SEvERAL ADULT SpECImENS AND TWO LARvAE HAvE bEEN RECENTLY COLLECTED (SEE AbOvE: MT. GONggA, SICHUAN, JUNE 2017) ON REDDISH fLOWERS Of THE SHRUb Rubus niveus THUNb. ( ROSACEAE ) ( FIg. 4b ), WHICH REpRESENTS A TRUE LARvAL HOST-pLANT. COmbINED LOCALITY DATA INDICATES THAT THIS SpECIES AppEARS TO pREfER THE EDgES Of mIDDLE-HIgH ALTITUDE fORESTED AREAS (2000–3000 m), IN RATHER SHADY AND HUmID pLACES, fREqUENTLY AT THE EDgES Of RIvER bANKS AND SmALL STREAmS.

Taxonomic remarks. DESpITE ITS EXTERNAL SImILARITY TO M. simulator fROm SHAANXI, GANSU AND TO M. luteomaculatus Sp. N. fROm HUbEI, THIS SpECIES IS WELL-CHARACTERIZED bY ITS DISTINCTIvE mALE gENITALIA ( FIgS. 2A–D IN LIU et al. 2017). FEmALE SpECImENS Of M. pallidoelytrorum ON THE CONTRARY SHARE A SImILAR AppEARINg OvIpOSITOR AS M. simulator ( FIg. 2K HEREIN AND FIg. 3g IN LIU et al. 2017).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Male (a–f) and female (g–l) genitalia of Meligethes species (a, c, e, tegmen, dorsal view; b, d, f, median lobe of aedeagus, dorsal view); a, b, M. (Meligethes) elytralis Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015, ♂ from Sichuan; c, d, M. (Odonthogethes) trapezithoraxsp.n., ♂ paratype from Hubei;e, f, M.(O.)luteomaculatus sp.n., ♂ paratype from Hubei;g, M. (M.) auropilosus Liu, Yang, Huang, Jelínek & Audisio, 2016, ♀ from Hubei; h, M. (O.) trapezithorax sp. n., ♀ paratype from Hubei; i, M. (O.) tricuspidatus sp. n., ♀ holotype from Hubei; j, M. (O.) luteomaculatus sp. n., ♀ paratype from Hubei; k, M. (O.) pallidoelytrorum Chen & Kirejtshuk, 2013, ♀ from Sichuan; l, M. (M.) cinereoargenteus Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015, ♀ from Sichuan.Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 3. Actual and/or putative Rosaceae larval host plants of Meligethes (Meligethes) species: a, Rosa multiflora from Zhejiang (host plant of M. (M.) violaceus); b, Rosa sericea from Sichuan (host plant of M. (M.) elytralis and probably also of M. (M.) macrofemoratus); c, Rosa soulieana from Sichuan (host plant of M. (M.) binotatus); d, Rosa cymosa from Sichuan (likely host plant of M. (M.) transmissus); e, Rosa moyesii from Sichuan (likely host plant of M. (M.) semenovi); f, Rosa giraldii from Shaanxi (probably the host plant of M.(M.) aurifer).

FIGURE 4. Actual and/or putative Rosaceae larval host plants of Meligethes (Odonthogethes) species: a, Rubus rosifolius from Hubei (likely host plant of M.(O.) trapezithorax sp.n., M. (O.) tricuspidatus sp. n., and M. (O.) luteomaculatus sp. n.); b, Rubus niveus from Sichuan (host plant of M.(O.) pallidoelytrorum); c, Photyniaserratifolia from Chongqing (likely host plant of M. (O.) flavicollis); d, Malus asiatica from Guizhou (likely host plant of M. (O.) pectoralis); e, Sorbaria arborea from Shaanxi (likely host plant of M. (O.) wagneri).

FIGURE 6. Distribution maps of Meligethes (Odonthogethes) species; a (M. simulator, M. pallidoelytrorum, M. luteomaculatus sp. n., M. tricuspidatus sp. n., and M. trapezithorax sp. n.); b (M.wagneri, M. ferruginoides, M. pectoralis, M. pseudopectoralis).