Cryptalaus sordidus ( Westwood, 1848 )

Parekar, Harshad, Danani, Drashti & Patwardhan, Amol, 2024, Rediscovery and Redescription of Cryptalaus cardoni (Candèze, 1890) comb. nov (Coleoptera: Elateridae) after a century with notes on other Cryptalaus Ôhira species in India, Zootaxa 5399 (1), pp. 52-64 : 61

Cryptalaus sordidus ( Westwood, 1848)

Alaus sordidus Westwood, 1848: 72 (original description; type locality: Ceylon = Sri Lanka).

Cryptalaus sordidus ( Westwood, 1848) : Cate, 2007: 107 (catalogue; distribution: “North India ”); Parekar & Patwardhan, 2021: 19996 (diagnostic characters; additional description; distributional note).

Chalcolepis pannus Vats & Kashyap, 1992: 194 (original description; type locality: Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, India); Cate, 2007: 208 (placed in Elateridae as species incertae sedis); syn. nov.

Distribution. INDIA: Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.

Remarks. Vats & Kashyap (1992: 194) described Chalcolepis pannus based on material from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The morphological characters stated in the original description do not correspond with the American genus Chalcolepis Candèze, 1857 ( Casari 2008). It is clear from the description that the species described in their publication is Cryptalaus sordidus . Additionally, the dorsal habitus ( Vats & Kashyap 1992: 198; Fig. 4 ) and the illustration of male genitalia of C. pannus (see Vats & Kashyap 1992: 197; Fig. 1 ) are in agreement with that of C. sordidus (see Parekar & Patwardhan 2021: 19992; Fig. 32 and Parekar & Patwardhan 2021: 19995; Figs 35, 45, 46). Paramere with sharp, pointed apex of apical lobe 3.3 times as long as wide are unique to C. sordidus . Therefore, here, we synonymize Chalcolepis pannus Vats & Kashyap, 1992 syn. nov. with Cryptalaus sordidus ( Westwood, 1848) .

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Habitus and habitat of Cryptalaus cardoni (Candèze, 1890) comb. nov. 1, syntype, habitus, dorsal view (credit: J.Constant/RBINS); 2, data labels (credit: J. Constant/RBINS); 3, live specimen (TN275) on light trap; 4, habitat, collection site of C. cardoni in SGNP, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

FIGURES 22–33. Genitalia and terminalia of Cryptalaus spp. 22–27, Cryptalaus cardoni (Candèze, 1890) comb. nov., male (TN275). 22, abdominal tergite VIII; 23, abdominal sternite VIII; 24, abdominal tergites IX–X; 25, abdominal sternite IX; 26, aedeagus, dorsal view; 27, detail of paramere, ventral view. 28–33, Cryptalaus alveolatus Parekar & Patwardhan, 2021, male (HN35). 28, abdominal tergite VIII; 29, abdominal sternite VIII; 30, abdominal tergites IX–X; 31, abdominal sternite IX; 32, aedeagus, dorsal view; 33, detail of paramere, ventral view.