Harpalus giacomazzoi Kataev & Wrase, 1996

Kataev, Boris M. & Liang, Hongbin, 2007, Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Harpalus in China, with description of new taxa (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalini), Zootaxa 1604, pp. 1-20 : 14

Harpalus giacomazzoi Kataev & Wrase, 1996

Remarks. This species is a member of the Transpalaearctic anxius species group ( Kataev 1989) which is characterized by the pronotum impunctate basally and with basal edge glabrous, the protibia with one ventroapical spine and without prominent ventroapical tubercle in male, the abdominal sternites usually glabrous, the last abdominal sternite without pronounced sexual dimorphism and the internal sac with very characteristic longitudinal spiny patch on left side and usually with two small separate teeth. H. giacomazzoii is the single species of this group distributed in central China and may be distinguished from other related species by the large body, the rounded pronotal basal angles, the short metepisterna and the internal sac of the aedeagus without or with very small separate teeth. This species has been described from the several specimens collected in two localities, both within western Sichuan, China: Batang and 50 km to east of Batang. As noted in the original description ( Kataev & Wrase 1996), the specimens from each of these localities differ slightly in body size, shape of pronotum and details of the internal sac of the median lobe of aedeagus. The new material examined from Sichuan and Tibet revealed the marked morphological variability of H. giacomazzoi both within one population and geographically. The species seems to consist of several morphologically recognizable allopatric populations some of which may be treated as subspecies. Based on the available material, now we divide H. giacomazzoi into two subspecies treating the particularly remarkable specimens from Tibet as belonging to a separate subspecies. Further study of the variability of H. giacomazzoi based on more extensive material is necessary.