Tillicera Spinola, 1841

Murakami, Hiroyuki, Gerstmeier, Roland & Sakai, Kaoru, 2022, Description of two new species of the genus Tillicera Spinola (Coleoptera, Cleridae, Clerinae), with new synonyms, new distributional records, and an updated key, ZooKeys 1095, pp. 123-142 : 123

Genus Tillicera Spinola, 1841

Tillicera Spinola, 1841: 73; Gerstmeier and Bernhard 2010: 3; Gerstmeier and Stapel 2016: 539.

Diagnosis.

The genus Tillicera is closely related to Hemitrachys Gorham but differs from it by the following characteristics ( Yang and Yang 2013; Gerstmeier and Stapel 2016): antennomeres V-XI not clubbed; elytral length to width ratio 2.01-2.37; pulvillar formula 4-4-2, 4-4-3 or 4-4-4 ( Hemitrachys : antennomeres V-XI clubbed; elytral length to width ratio 1.58-1.80; pulvillar formula 4-2-2).

Remarks.

In male and female adults of Thanasimus substriatus , sensilla basiconica were distributed in clusters that formed a line along the posterior border from the fifth to the eighth antennomere ( Zhang et al. 2021). The area of the apical margin of antennae in ventral view, which is vested with sensilla basiconica, was discovered in Tillicera callosa , Tillicera fortis sp. nov., Tillicera spinosa sp. nov., and Hemitrachys tubericollis Yang & Yang, 2013 for the first time (Figs 29-31 , 34 , 35 ). The genus Tillicera is included in the Tillicera genus group with Apopempsis , Cardiostichus , Hemitrachys , Placocerus , and Plathanocera ( Gerstmeier and Stapel 2016); the monophyly of the genus group, however, is questioned by Bartlett (2021).

In the first author’s observations, this remarkable antennal structure is also seen in two other genera, Clerus Geoffroy, 1762 and Omadius Laporte, 1838, which are included into the subtribe Clerina Latreille, 1802 (see Bartlett 2021). Further investigation is required to clarify the intergeneric relationships.

Figures

Figures 28 - 31. Antennae of Tillicera spp. (28 dorsal view 29 - 31 ventral view) 28 male antennomere XI of T. spinosa sp. nov. 29 female antennomere X of T. spinosa sp. nov. 30 female antennomeres VII-IX of T. spinosa sp. nov. 31 male antennomeres IV and V of T. callosa. Abbreviations: P pit-like sensillum SB an area of sensilla basiconica.

Figures 32 - 35. Hemitrachys tubericollis 32, 33 habitus in dorsal (32) and ventral (33) views 34 male antennomeres IX-XI in ventral view 35 male antennomeres V-VIII in ventral view. Abbreviations: SB an area of sensilla basiconica.