Lamprima imberbis Carter, 1926

Reid, Chris A. M., Smith, Kindi & Beatson, Max, 2018, Revision of the genus Lamprima Latreille, 1804 (Coleoptera: Lucanidae), Zootaxa 4446 (2), pp. 151-202 : 195-196

Lamprima imberbis Carter, 1926

( Figs 3 , 52 , 64 )

Lamprima imberbis Carter, 1926: 59 (type locality: Dorrigo).

Material examined. Holotype ( Fig. 6 ): ♂ "/ Dorrigo W Heron / ♂ type / Lamprima imberbis Carter / Lamprima imberbis Cart. N.S. Wales Type I.15895 / SAMA Database no 25-034446 /" ( SAM).

Description. Male. Length 23 mm; pronotum slightly narrower than elytra; upper surface entirely dark bronzebrown, except mandibles, apices femora, tibial teeth and tarsomeres dark purple or bluish black; head, pronotum and elytra shiny, not distinctly reticulately microsculptured (but note that the only specimen is dull from surface accretion of dirt); upper surfaces of pronotum and elytra apparently glabrous, but each puncture with minute simple seta arising from anterior edge.

Head: sides and apex with scattered erect setae; head length approximately half width; sides convergent from small but angularly projecting temples, along feebly convex eyes, then head parallel sided to obtuse anterior angles; projecting temples notched in lateral view; clypeus with deeply concave anterior margin; dorsum with two smooth ridges from anterior angles to midline of base of head where they meet at about 100°; area subtended by these ridges strongly and closely punctate, except two smooth tubercles at sides of anterior margin; area between ridges and sides of head also strongly punctate. Antennomere 2 slightly elongate, 3–4 elongate, 5 quadrate, 6 transverse, 7 cupuliform or at least broadly expanded on one side; mandible length 16% of overall length; inner faces of mandibles glabrous; mandibles bent inwards one third from base, almost symmetrical, right slightly longer than left; upper surfaces with large, erect, elongate tooth about 2/3 along dorsolateral ridge, tips almost straight, not bent upwards; mandibles laterally smooth with sparse, small punctures; ventral inner edge untoothed, finely crenulate in apical half.

Thorax: shape of pronotum typical for Lamprima , strongly arched, almost hexagonal, broadest just behind middle, anterior margin truncate with protruding anterior angles, basal margin strongly sinuate, anterior and posterior angles obtuse, anterior margin much narrower than basal margin, lateral margination crenulate except anterior quarter; distinctly punctate, punctures as large as on head and separated by 1–3 diameters, anterior of disc more closely punctate than posterior; pronotal disc evenly convex, each side with a small dimple. Hypomeron densely punctate, with mostly recumbent setae; scutellum semiovate with sparse, small punctures; base of epipleural upper margin slightly produced; elytra slightly expanded posterior to humeri, then contracted to rounded apices, sides broadly explanate in posterior 2/3; elytra distinctly bevelled at base to accommodate base of pronotum; elytral surfaces sparsely and shallowly longitudinally grooved and more densely but more shallowly, transversely wrinkled, with one distinct longitudinal groove near suture from base of elytron almost to apex; surface between grooves distinctly punctate in basal third, punctures large but smaller than on pronotal disc, and separated by 1–4 diameters, becoming much smaller and sparser on apical half. Elytral humeri prominent so hindwings probably fully developed; meso-metaventral process apex blunt, 100° in lateral view; protibial spur curved, narrowly elongate, and external margin with 4 acute teeth diminishing in size from apex to base; protibia almost parallel-sided from base to apex if teeth are ignored; inner margin gently curved to distally directed truncate lobe with spur articulated from beneath lobe; apex of lobe with few pale setae, not converging into a tuft; spur simple, elongate-conical; upper surface of protibia with two irregular rows of large, setose punctures, separated by a shallow ridge; mesotibiae and metatibiae with 2–4 small external teeth.

Abdomen: sides of ventrites I–V similar to pterothoracic venter, with dense, small punctures and setae; middle third of ventrites more sparsely punctate, surface microsculpture as dorsum; apex ventrite V truncate. Genitalia: not examined.

Female. unknown.

Taxonomy. This distinctive species is known only from its male holotype. Nagel (1930: 87) suggested L. imberbis was most similar to L. aurata (as L. varians ), but he cannot have seen Carter's specimen. Lamprima imberbis differs from all other Lamprima by the structure of the mandibles and protibial spurs, and due to its similarity to Phalacrognathus , discussed above, we hypothesise that it is the sister species to all other Lamprima .

Distribution and conservation status. Lamprima imberbis was described from a single specimen labelled “Dorrigo”, a town on the Dorrigo Plateau, an area extensively logged in the early 20th century ( Carter 1933). The collector, William Heron, was an amateur who supplied museums, and for many years was resident of the town of Bellingen ( Daniels 2004), just below the Dorrigo escarpment. Heron seems to have used the appellation “Dorrigo” to refer to anywhere on or near the Dorrigo plateau, not just the vicinity of the town of that name. There is still considerable mature native forest around the edges of the extensive plateau, but almost all the once extensive rainforest on basalt has been cleared ( Adam 1987). Numerous collectors have searched for this species and failed to find it. Although it could be argued that the status of L. imberbis is still “data deficient”, we think that this category is an excuse to do nothing for the conservation of most invertebrates. Lamprima imberbis should be regarded as at least endangered (International Union for Conservation of Nature 2012), if not already extinct.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Male Lamprima species, dorsal view: 1, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875); 2, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 3, L. imberbis Carter, 1926 (holotype); 4, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885. Figure 3 courtesy Peter Hudson, South Australian Museum. All figures to same scale.

FIGURES 45–53. Male Lamprima species, mandibles, lateral view: 45, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875), elongate mandible form; 46, L. adolphinae, short mandible form; 47, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 48, L. aurata Latreille, 1804, elongate mandible form, northern Queensland; 49, L. aurata, New South Wales, large male; 50, L. aurata, New South Wales, small male; 51, L. aurata, Western Australia; 52, L. imberbis Carter, 1926, holotype; 53, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885. Figure 52 courtesy Peter Hudson, South Australian Museum.

FIGURES 62–65. Male Lamprima species, protibiae: 62, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875); 63, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 64, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885; 65, L. imberbis Carter, 1926. Figure 64 courtesy Peter Hudson, South Australian Museum.

FIGURES 5–14. Males of Lamprima aurata Latreille, 1804, dorsal view: 5, Kuranda, northern Queensland; 6, Milmerran, inland southern Queensland; 7, Otford, coastal New South Wales; 8, Hobbys Yards, inland New South Wales; 9, Big Desert, Victoria; 10, Kingston Beach, Tasmania; 11, Adelaide, South Australia; 12, Kangaroo Island, South Australia; 13, Mount Barker, Western Australia; 14, Perth, Western Australia. All figures to same scale.