Denierella emmerichi ( Pic, 1934 ) Pic, 1934

Batelka, Jan & Hájek, Jiří, 2015, New synonyms, combinations and faunistic records in the genus Denierella Kaszab (Coleoptera: Meloidae), Zootaxa 4000 (1), pp. 123-130 : 124-125

Denierella emmerichi ( Pic, 1934) comb. nov.

( Fig. 1 )

Epicauta emmerichi Pic, 1934: 86 .

Denierella serrata Kaszab, 1952b: 88 , syn. nov.

Epicauta apicipennis Tan, 1958: 165 (synonymy by Kaszab 1960: 256).

Type locality. Epicauta emmerichi : “Ginfushan” [= Jinfo Shan, ca. 29°04′N 107°18′E, highest peak of Dalou Mts., Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality, China]. Denierella serrata : “ China: Fukien, Kuatun, 2300 m ” [= Guadun, ca. 27°44.6′N 117°38.0′E, Fujian Province, China]. Epicauta apicipennis : “Szechuan: Omei-shan 600- 1000 m ” [= Emei Shan, ca. 29°31.2′N 103°20.0′E].

Type material examined. Epicauta emmerichi : Lectotype ♂, by present designation ( NMPC), labelled: “Südost Szechuan / 600–1600 m / Ginfushan China / Em. Reitter [printed] // Typus [red label, printed] // Emmerichi / n sp Pic / Cotypen [pink label, handwritten] // LECTOTYPE / EPICAUTA / emmerichi / Pic, 1934 / J. Batelka & J. Hájek des. 2015 [red label, printed] // DENIERELLA / emmerichi / ( Pic, 1934) / = serrata Kaszab, 1952 / Jan Batelka det. 2013 [printed]”. Paralectotypes: 5 specimens, labelled: “Südost Szechuan / 600–1600 m / Ginfushan China / Em. Reitter [printed] // Cotypus [red label, printed]” and the respective paralectotype label ( NMPC). Number of syntypes unknown.

Denierella serrata : Holotype ♂ ( ZFMK), labelled: “Kuatun(2300m) 27,40n. Br. / 117,40ö.L. J.Klapperich / 19. 5.1938 (Fukien) [violet label, typed] // Holotypus [red typing, printed] 1952 / Denierella ♂ / serrata Kaszab [white label with red border, handwritten]”. Paratypes: 1♀, labelled: “Kuatun(2300m) 27,40n. Br. / 117,40ö.L. J.Klapperich / 31. 5.1938 (Fukien) [violet label, typed] // Allotypus [red typing, printed] 1952 / Denierella ♀ / serrata Kaszab [white label with red border, handwritten]”; 1 specimen, labelled: “Kuatun(2300m) 27,40n. Br. / 117,40ö.L. J.Klapperich / 26. 5.1938 (Fukien) [violet label, typed] // “Para- [handwritten] typus [red typing, printed] 1952 / Denierella / serrata Kaszab [white label with red border, handwritten]” (all ZFMK).

Additional material examined. CHINA: GUANGDONG Prov.: 2 specimens, Danxia Shan National Park, WoLongGang Forest Walkway, 25°01.3′N, 113°44.5′E, 100 m, 23.+ 26.iv.2013, J. Hájek & J. Růžička leg. SICHUAN Prov.: 11 specimens, Nitou Tatsienlu [= Kangding], Em. Reitter; 1 specimen, Tatsienlu Tjiji, Urwald- Rodungen [= forest-clearings], Em. Reitter.; 1 specimen [identified as Epicauta laticornis Haag-Rutenberg, 1880 by M. Dvořák in 1990], same data as preceding specimen, ex. coll. J. Hlisnikovski; ZHEJIANG Prov.: 7 specimens, Tienmushan [ca. 30°20′0″N, 119°25′0″E], Reitter (all NMPC) [one specimen identified as Epicauta nepalensis (Hope, 1831) by M. Dvořák in 1990].

Remarks. The type series of Epicauta emmerichi originated from the collection of Emmerich Reitter, confiscated after World War II and subsequently deposited in the National Museum, Prague (NMPC) (for more information, see Bezděk & Hájek (2010)). Originally, all specimens from localities “Ginfushan”, “Tatsienlu” and “Giufushan” were labelled as syntypes, but only Ginfushan is mentioned in the original description ( Pic 1934), so we excluded specimens from other localities from the type series. Moreover, the sole specimen from Giufushan is not even a member of Denierella , but belongs to Epicauta . We designated a lectotype to fix the formerly ambiguous identity of the species.

Synonymy. The original description of Epicauta emmerichi , although exceptionally detailed by Pic’s standards, did not contain any information about the pretarsal claws. However, all specimens from the type locality have serrate claws and thus have to be classified in the genus Denierella . Kaszab (1952b) did not include the species in his newly described genus Denierella , possibly because of its ambiguous identity and the fact that representatives of both Denierella and Epicauta were identified as E. emmerichi . Instead, he described the species again under the name D. serrata . Comparison of the two types revealed that they are undoubtedly conspecific, and therefore we establish Denierella serrata as a junior subjective synonym of D. emmerichi .

Kaszab (1960) described a subspecies Epicauta emmerichi yunnanensis from Yunnan (type locality: “Tsangshan, W. Tali, 2100–3000 m ”). We have seen two paratypes of this taxon from BMNH, of which one specimen (locality: Luchanglö Peilung) is Denierella minutiserra Tan, 1988 , and the second specimen (locality: Chien-chuen-chau) is a male of “true” Epicauta (i.e. lacking the serration of the pretarsal claws and with a deeply emarginate basal segment of the fore tarsi), which belongs to Epicauta Gruppe III sensu Kaszab (1952a). As we have had no possibility to study the holotype of the species (probably deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing), we are not able to solve the status of the taxon, and leave it provisionally as Epicauta yunnanensis , stat. nov.

Bologna (2008) listed Epicauta apicipennis as a valid species within the genus Epicauta , but no taxonomic reason was given for this act, so we consider the synonymy proposed by Kaszab (1960) and repeated by Yang & Ren (2007) as still valid.

Distribution. China. The type locality is situated in present-day Chongqing Municipality; subsequently Denierella emmerichi has been reported also from Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Zhejiang ( Yang & Ren 2007). Bologna (2008) also mentioned Hubei and Hainan. First record from Guangdong province.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Habitus of Denierella. 1 — D. emmerichi (Pic, 1934), lectotype (19 mm); 2 — D. promerotricha (Dvořák, 1996), holotype (24 mm); 3 — D. thailandica (Dvořák, 1996), holotype (16 mm).