Neocollyris (Orthocollyris) crassicornis (Dejean, 1825)

Wiesner, Jürgen & Anichtchenko, Alexander, 2021, Taxonomic changes among some tiger beetles from India (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae), Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 21 (1), pp. 81-86 : 82

1. Neocollyris (Orthocollyris) crassicornis

(Dejean, 1825)

Neocollyris (Orthocollyris) crassicornis andamana (Bates, 1878) new synonymy

Henry Walter Bates described Collyris Andamana in 1878 (p. 335) based on two female specimens (Fig. 1) from the Andaman Islands (in Latin): “Similar to C. crassicornis (Dej.) (Fig. 2), but larger and the five antennal segments longer and slenderer. Dark blue or purple; femora reddish brown; thorax as in C. crassicornis little constricted, more conical, abruptly constricted anteriorly, very strongly transversely wrinkled; elytra with cylindrical shape, coarsely confluent punctate, points expanded toward apex; labial palps reddish brown.”

In his monograph on the genus Neocollyris, Roger Naviaux lists (1995: 150) andamana as a subspecies of Neocollyris (Orthocollyris) crassicornis (Dejean 1825) : “Differs from the nominative form by its larger size, its more elongate shape and its more coarse elytral sculpture”, (continued in French) “The characters of andamana are very close to those of crassicornis and subclavata; it was considered a subspecies of the latter because of its appearance, but it differs mainly by the less humped shape of the vertex. On the other hand, the fact that subclavata also exists in the Andaman Islands tends to show the opposite. The concept of a distinct species is not proven, it seems to be a good geographical race of the species crassicornis . … Length 14 – 18 mm.”

(Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, West Bengal), Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia ( Malacca), Indonesia (Sumatra, Jawa, Bali), China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Zehjiang), Taiwan. The specimens from the Andaman Islands cannot be distinguished from specimens from other localities by size and elytral surface sculpture, as these are within the range of variation of the species. N. andamana (Bates, 1878) is thus included herein as a synonym of N. crassicornis (Dejean, 1825) .