Rhyncheros LeConte, 1881: 17

Kusy, Dominik, Motyka, Michal, Fusek, Lukas, Li, Yun, Bocek, Matej, Bilkova, Renata, Ruskova, Michaela & Bocak, Ladislav, 2021, Sexually dimorphic characters and shared aposematic patterns mislead the morphology-based classification of the Lycini (Coleoptera: Lycidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191 (3), pp. 902-902 : 902-

Rhyncheros LeConte, 1881: 17 .

Type species: Lycus sanguinipennis Say, 1823 .

= Thoracocalon Bourgeois, 1883 , syn. nov.

Type species: Lycus adumbratus Bourgeois, 1877 .

= Lyconotus Green, 1949 , syn. nov.

Type species: Lycus lateralis Melsheimer, 1846 (not Lycus semiustus Chevrolat, 1834 , designated by Zaragoza-Caballero, 1996).

Diagnosis

Rhyncheros contains all New World Lycini without the sexually dimorphic shape of elytra ( Fig. 6U–X ). Besides, it differs from Neolycus in the absence of thorns in the middle part of the phallus ( Fig. 6 AE –A G).

Redescription

Adults: Body slender.Head mostly concealed by pronotum, rostrate. Rostrum long. Pronotum widest at base, with projected posterior angles. Elytra without sexual dimorphism, moderately dilated posteriorly in both sexes; four indistinct costae in each elytron ( Fig. 6U–X ). Male genitalia without any thorns around, with membranous ventral part apically and simple apex ( Fig. 6 AE – AG).

Distribution

N e a r c t i c r e g i o n a n d t h e n o r t h e r n p a r t o f t h e Neotropical region ( Fig. 5A ); Mesoamerica, Columbia (two spp.), Ecuador (two spp.), and French Guiana and north-eastern Brazil (one sp.) ( Kleine, 1933) .

Remarks

Rhyncheros , a long-overlooked genus, was placed in Dictyopterini by Kleine (1933) and later transferred into the Lycini as a synonym of Lycus ( Green, 1949) . The type species, Rhyncheros sanguinipennis , was placed in the subgenus Lycostomus . The current analysis recovered that Lycus occurs only in the Afrotropical region and Lycostomus in the Palaearctic and Oriental regions ( Fig. 5A ). Rhyncheros , Celiasis and Neolycus are valid names for the Nearctic and Neotropical Lycini , and further available genus-rank names are Lyconotus and Thoracocalon . We compared the structure of genitalia of R. sanguinipennis , the type species of Rhyncheros , and Lycus lateralis , the type species of Lyconotus , and they indicate close relationships of these species. Based on recovered relationships of Nearctic species ( Fig. 2 ), we propose that Lyconotus should be considered a younger subjective synonym of Rhyncheros . Thoracocalon is the name last used in the Lycini classification in the late 19 th century, and the type species was unavailable for the present study. The genus differs from other Lycini in having widened lateral margins of the pronotum ( Bourgeois, 1883). The slightly wider pronotum can also be observed in some Rhyncheros ( Fig. 6U ). Therefore, we propose that Thoracocalon should be synonymized with Rhyncheros .

Figures

Figure 2. The distribution and alpha diversity of the Lycini as defined until the present analysis.

Figure 5. A, the revised distribution of genera and their alpha diversity. B, the putative dispersal routes recovered by the analysis of the pruned dataset. The grey lines designate dispersal barriers that were never crossed by the Lycini.

Figure 6. Lycus pallidus (F.), male unless stated otherwise. A, general appearance, ventral view. B, apical part of the rostrum, ventral view. C, antenna. D, head, dorsal view. E, prothorax and head, ventral view. F, pronotum, dorsal view. G, meso- and metasternum, ventral view; mesosternum. H, ventral view. I, mesothoracic spiracle with attached trachea. J, abdomen. K, abdomen of Neolycus fernandezi (Dugès), male. L, female terminal ventrite. M, female terminal tergite. N, terminal abdominal segments. O, male genitalia. P, ovipositor. Q, female internal genital duct. R, metatarsus. S, N.