Pseudasydates Blaisdell, 1938

Mayor, Adriean J. & Gimmel, Matthew L., 2019, Revision of the Soft-Winged Flower Beetles of the Genus Asydates Casey, 1895 (Coleoptera: Melyridae: Dasytinae: Listrini), The Coleopterists Bulletin (mo 17) 73, pp. 1-71 : 52

Pseudasydates Blaisdell, 1938 , status restored

( Figs. 48A–F , 49A–F )

Type Species. Pseudasydates inyoensis Blaisdell, 1938 .

CHECKLIST OF THE SPECIES OF PSEUDASYDATES

Pseudasydates explanatus ( Casey, 1895) , new combination (from Asydates )

Asydates explanatus var. rufipennis Pic, 1910 Asydates puncticeps Blaisdell, 1924 . Synonymized with P. explanatus (as Asydates explanatus ) by Mawdsley (2002a: 124).

Pseudasydates inyoensis Blaisdell, 1938 , restored combination (from Asydates )

Remarks. We had originally intended to include a revision of Pseudasydates in the current paper. However, very late in the study we discovered that there were numerous undescribed species similar in external appearance, represented by small numbers of specimens and scattered in the collections of various institutions. Almost nothing is known about the phenology and floral relationships of these species, so we are postponing preparation of the revision of Pseudasydates until more field work can be done. All of the species have a similar gestalt, and most are known from the Mojave, Sonoran, and Great Basin deserts, where they are known to occur in the early spring from March to May.

Pseudasydates ( Fig. 48 ) is distinct from Asydates , and in this paper its nomenclatural status as a separate genus is restored. The two genera do not appear to be closely related, but they were previously associated based on the similar habitus, broad elytral epipleura (not present in all species), and lack of modified male tibial spurs. In Pseudasydates , the male head is unmodified, male abdominal setae are unmodified, the pronotum is shiny and devoid of microsculpture, the median lobe of the aedeagus tends to be longer and flatter (in species so far examined), the internal sac of the median lobe has only a field of small spicules, without a cluster of stout lamellae, and the tegmen is well sclerotized in the apical portion of the ring with several (4–10) setae at the apex ( Fig. 49 ). The species of Pseudasydates are more numerous than presently suggested by the number of valid names and will be treated in full in a future contribution.

Figures

Fig. 48. Pseudasydates species, habitus. Dorsal view: A) Male, B) Female. Lateral view: C) Male, D) Female.

Fig. 49. Pseudasydates species, male terminalia. A) Male pygidium and attached abdominal sternite VIII and spiculum gastrale, ventral view, B) Median lobe of aedeagus, right lateral view, specimen from CA: San Bernardino County: Clark Mountains, C) Median lobe of aedeagus, right lateral view, specimen from AZ: Maricopa County: South Mountain Park, D) Median lobe of aedeagus, right lateral view, specimen from CA: Kern County: 30 miles west of Bakersfield, E) Tegmen of aedeagus (apex directed upward), specimen from CA: San Bernardino County: Clark Mountains; F) tegmen of aedeagus (apex directed upward), specimen from CA: Kern County: 30 miles west of Bakersfield. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.