Meligethes (Meligethes) elytralis Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015

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 : 547-548

Meligethes (Meligethes) elytralis Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015

Examined material. China, SICHUAN, XIANgCHENg COUNTY, 3800–3900 m A.S.L., 29.003889° 99.931944°, 19.vI.2017, LIU & AUDISIO LgT, ON Rosa sericea LINDLEY ( ROSACEAE ), 3 ♂, 4 ♀, AND TWO THIRD-INSTAR LARvAE (NWAU, CAR-MZUR, NMPC, ARCC); 3100–3400 m A.S.L., 28.994444° 99.918056°, 19.vI.2017, LIU & AUDISIO LgT, ON R. sericea , 2 ♂, 2 ♀ (NWAU, CAR-MZUR, NMPC, ARCC); 2800–2900 m A.S.L., 28.946389° 99.806667°, 19.vI.2017, LIU & AUDISIO LgT, ON R. sericea , 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (NWAU, CAR-MZUR).

Distribution. SW CHINA (SICHUAN); pREvIOUSLY ONLY KNOWN fROm THE fEmALE HOLOTYpE COLLECTED IN SICHUAN (AUDISIO et al. 2015) ( FIg. 5A ).

Host-plants. ALL SpECImENS HAvE bEEN COLLECTED, WITH ASSOCIATED LARvAE, ON fLOWERINg SHRUbS Of Rosa sericea , WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED bY WHITE fLOWERS TYpICALLY WITH fOUR pETALS (UNUSUAL fOR A mEmbER Of THE ROSE fAmILY), AND LONg, fLAT AND TYpICALLY REDDISH TO bROWN LARgE AND WIDE THORNS ( FIg. 3b ). R. sericea IS A COmmON mIDDLE AND HIgH ALTITUDE SpECIES, WIDESpREAD fROm SW CHINA TO NE INDIA AND N MYANmAR. THE SpECIES IS pRESENT IN A WIDE vARIETY Of DIffERENT mONTANE HAbITATS (2000–4400 m; LU et al. 2003). WEI et al. (2008) RECENTLY TREATED THE TAXONOmIC pRObLEmS INvOLvINg R. sericea AND ALLIED TAXA. THE ObSERvATIONS AbOvE AppEAR TO CONfIRm THAT WITHIN CHINESE MELIgETHINAE SOmE STRICTLY ENDEmIC AND ONLY LOCALLY DISTRIbUTED SpECIES ARE fREqUENTLY ASSOCIATED AS LARvAE WITH WIDESpREAD fLORAL HOST SpECIES; AND THESE TAXA ARE ONLY RARELY ASSOCIATED WITH STRICTLY ENDEmIC AND LOCAL HOST TAXA (SEE ALSO DISCUSSION AbOUT SpECIATION AND HOST-SHIfT IN AUDISIO & ANTONINI 2015). Meligethes (M.) elytralis SEEmS TO bE CONfINED, AS WELL AS ITS SISTER SpECIES Meligethes (M.) tryznai AUDISIO, SAbATELLI & JELÍNEK, 2015, TO NW YUNNAN ( FIg. 5A ), IN HIgH ALTITUDE HAbITATS (3000–3900 m) WHERE THE LARvAL HOST-pLANTS gROW AT THE EDgE Of SEmIfORESTED HAbITATS.

Taxonomic remarks. DESpITE AN EXTERNAL SImILARITY TO M. tryznai fROm YUNNAN, THIS SpECIES IS WELL- CHARACTERIZED bY ITS pECULIARLY SHApED fEmALE ELYTRAL ApEX, WHICH IS mARKEDLY pROLONgED INTO A bLUNT bUT DISTINCT LObE ( FIg. 1b ; ELYTRAL ApEX IS ARCUATELY TRUNCATE IN bOTH SEXES IN M. tryznai AND ALL OTHER RELATED SpECIES Of THE M. binotatus SpECIES COmpLEX). THE pREvIOUSLY UNKNOWN mALE Of THIS SpECIES IS ALSO CHARACTERIZED bY DISTINCTIvE gENITALIA, EXHIbITINg A STRONgLY ELONgATE AND pECULIARLY bOTTLE-NECK SHApED AEDEAgAL ApEX, COmbINED WITH A pECULIARLY LONg AND DEEpLY INCISED TEgmEN ( FIgS. 2A, b ). THE OvIpOSITOR Of THIS SpECIES IS CHARACTERISTIC DUE TO ITS pECULIARLY WIDE TRUNCATED ApEX (FIg. 15N IN AUDISIO et al. 2015).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus (a, c, d, e, f, g) or female elytral apex (b) of Meligethes species: a (♂), b (♀) M. (Meligethes) elytralis Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015 from Sichuan; c, M. (M.) cinereoargenteus Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015, ♂ from Sichuan; d, M. (M.) auropilosus Liu, Yang, Huang, Jelínek & Audisio, 2016, ♂ from Hubei; e, M. (Odonthogethes) trapezithorax sp. n., ♂ paratype from Hubei; f, M.(O.) tricuspidatus sp. n., ♀ holotype from Hubei; g, M.(O.) luteomaculatus sp. n., ♂ paratype from Hubei.Scale bar:2 mm.

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 5. Distribution maps of Meligethes (Meligethes) species; a (M. tryznai, M. elytralis, M. macrofemoratus, M. auropilosus); b (M. aurifer, M.aureolineatus, M.cinereoargenteus).