Psammoecus trimaculatus Motschulsky, 1858

Yoshida 1, Takahiro, Karner, Michael & Hirowatari, Toshiya, 2018, A Revision of Taiwanese Species in the Genus Psammoecus Latreille (Coleoptera, Silvanidae), Zoological studies 57 (18), pp. 1-18 : 12-13

Psammoecus trimaculatus Motschulsky, 1858

( Fig. 1E )

Psammaechus [sic] trimaculatus Motschulsky, 1858 : Etud. Ent. 7: 45. Type locality: Sri Lanka. (referring to Hetschko (1930))

Psammoecus trimaculatus: Waterhouse 1876: 124 . - Reitter 1879: 509. - Grouvelle 1906: 125. - Grouvelle 1908: 476. - Hetschko 1930: 81. (catalogue) - Hisamatsu 1977: 21. - Hisamatsu 1982: 16. - Pal 1985: 41, figs 15-29. - Sato 1989: 377. - Sen Gupta and Pal 1996: 186, figs 252-265. - Sasaki et al. 2002: 224. - Halstead et al. 2007 - Hirano 2009: 66. - Hirano 2010: 15. - Karner 2012: 24 . - Yoshida and Hirowatari 2014: 24 , figs 1C, 5, 13G-I. - Karner 2014: 15 .

Psammoecus triguttatus: Hirano 2009: 64 , 65, 66. - Hirano 2010: 12, 14. (misidentification)

Specimens examined: TAIWAN: [Taichung City] 1 male, Wufeng, Wufeng District, 30-VI-2008, C. -F. Lee leg. (TARI). [Taitung County] 1 male, Lanyu (= Orchid Island), Lanyu Township, 4-IV-2011, Y. -T. Wang leg. (TARI). [Kaohsiung City] 1 male, Liu Kui (= Liouguei), 30-III-1986, K. Baba leg. (EUMJ); 1 male, same locality, 2-IV-1986, K. Baba leg. (EUMJ); 1 ex., Tsai Tie Ku, near Liu Kui (= Liouguei), 2-V-1986, K. Baba leg. (EUMJ). [Pingtung County] 1 ex., Akau (= Pingtung City), 1-10-XII-1907, H. Sauter leg. (ZMHB; studied by MK); 1 male (Catalog No. 1566-401), Yingdar, 19- 20-V-1993, C. S. Lin & W. T. Yang leg., UV Light. (NMNS).

Diagnosis: This species is closely similar to P. triguttatus and P. labyrinthicus , and it is difficult to distinguish them by their external characters. This species can be distinguished from the former by the larger basis of parameres and the wider distance between the posterior margin of the phallobase and the deepest point of incision of the anterior margin of the phallobase, and from the latter by the larger bases of parameres and the wider protuberances on the inner margins of the branches of the anterior phallobase (see Yoshida and Hirawatari 2014).

Distribution: Taiwan; Japan ( Yoshida and Hirowatari 2014); Russia (Kovalev 2016); Madagascar ( Karner 2012); Mauritius, France (Réunion), South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda ( Karner 2014); Nepal, India and Bhutan ( Pal 1985).

Remarks: Pal (1985) provided a redescription of this species, Yoshida and Hirowatari (2014) provided a detailed description of male genital structures of this species.

Only male genitalia provide reliable diagnostic characters when separating P. trimaculatus from closely related species. Accordingly, Yoshida and Hirowatari (2014) only considered data from specimens that were determined by study of genital structures to be reliable. The same practice was applied in the present study.

Figures

Fig. 1. Psammoecus species of Taiwan, habitus. (A) P. taiwanensis sp. nov. (B) P. delicatus Grouvelle (C) P. harmandi Grouvelle (D) P. dentatus Grouvelle (E) P. trimaculatus Motschulsky (F) P. triguttatus Reitter (G) P. labyrinthicus Yoshida and Hirowatari (H) P. simonis Grouvelle (I) P. hiranoi Yoshida and Hirowatari. Scale bar = 1.0 mm.