Platerodrilus Pic, 1921

Masek, Michal & Bocak, Ladislav, 2014, The taxonomy and diversity of Platerodrilus (Coleoptera, Lycidae) inferred from molecular data and morphology of adults and larvae, ZooKeys 426, pp. 29-63 : 35-37

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Lycidae

Platerodrilus Pic, 1921

Platerodrilus Pic, 1921: 13.

Platerodrilus sinuatus Pic, 1921 (subsequent designation by Kazantsev 2002: 6). Type species.

Duliticola Mjöberg, 1925: 133; Kazantsev 2002: 6.

Duliticola paradoxa Mjöberg, 1925 (by monotypy). Type species.

Platerodriloplesius Wittmer, 1941: 196 (as a subgenus of Platerodrilus Pic, 1921); Kazantsev 2009 (genus rank); syn. n.

Platerodriloplesius bicolor Wittmer, 1966 (by monotypy). Type species.

Falsocalochromus Pic, 1942: 3, syn. n.

Falsocalochromus ruficollis Pic, 1942: 4 (by monotypy). Type species.

Platrilus Kazantsev, 2009: 61, syn. n.

Platerodrilus hirtus Wittmer, 1938 (by original designation). Type species.

Adult male.

Diagnosis. Platerodrilus differs from most Miniduliticolini in the stout body (6-11 mm) and characteristic types of male genitalia (Figs 44-72). The morphologically similar Pendola has genitalia resembling those of Lyropaeus ( Bocak 2002). Lyropaeus differs in 10-segmented antennae and absent transverse costae on elytra.

Description. Male. Body 5.8-10.8 mm, flat, slightly widened posteriorly, densely pubescent. Pronotum and elytra bicoloured, uniformly yellow or black (Figs 4-17).

Head small, prognathous to slightly hypognathous, partly retracted in pronotum. Eyes hemispherically prominent, frontal interocular distance longer than maximum eye diameter. Labrum sclerotized, transverse, separated from clypeus, mandibles slender, long, slightly curved, incisor margin simple, without teeth, maxilla tiny, with setose mala, stipes plate-like, cardo vestigial, palpifer short, maxillary palpi 4-segmented, palpomere 1 shortest, about twice longer than palpifer, palpomere 2 longest, slender, palpomere 3 slightly longer than wide, apical palpomere slender, drop-like, with slender apical part. Labium reduced, mentum plate-like, formed by single sclerite, ligula absent, palpi 3-segmented, basal palpomeres subequal, rectangular to slightly longer than wide, apical palpomere twice longer than wide at base, pointed to apex.

Antennal tubercles present, usually strongly prominent. Antennae 11-segmented, slightly surpassing middle of elytral length, dark coloured, never with apical antennomeres pale, antennae usually weakly serrate, a few species with flabellate antennae. Scapus pear-like, robust, pedicel and antennomere 3 subequal in length, antennomeres of serrate antennae flattened, from antennomere 4 gradually slenderer, apical antennomere long, parallel-sided. Flabellate antennae with lamellae of antennomeres 3-10 longer than body of antennomere; whole antennae with dense erected pubescence.

Pronotum transverse with prominent to obtuse anterior angles (Figs 18-31), without carinae. Lateral margins elevated, straight to widely rounded, frontal angles sometimes inconspicuous, posterior angles mostly sharp, posterior margin bisinuate. Pronotum with deep depression along lateral margins, with sparse, long, erected pubescence. Scutellum longer than wide, triangular, simply rounded at apex. Elytra flat, slightly widened posteriorly, with well marked humeri; elytral costae inconspicuous, only costa 2 and 4 traceable in whole elytra, costa 4 forming humeral edge, other costae apparent at humeri, undefined in rest of elytral length. Two rows of inconspicuous, irregular cells traceable between costae, giving appearance of secondary costa in some parts of elytra. Elytra with dense, long pubescence. Wings fully developed. Legs slen der, coxae long, movable, trochanters very slender, femora flat, robust, tibiae slenderer than femora, tarsi slender, 5-segmented, tarsomeres 3-4 with small pads, tarsomere 5 long, slender, claws simple. Male abdomen slender, shorter and narrower than elytra, 8 segmented, tergum 8 simply rounded at apex, sternum 8 with strengthened lateral margins at base and membranous window basally. Male genitalia trilobate, variable in relative length of phallus and parameres, phallus stout, almost straight and sometimes laterally compressed or phallus long, very slender, sickle like (Figs 52-72); parameres reaching to half or four fifths of phallic length, with fine spines along internal margin, fully sclerotized (Figs 44-47) or considerably shorter, apically with membranous process, phallobase short, emarginate basally (Figs 48-51).

Female mature larva.

Diagnosis. Body shape characteristic ("trilobite larva" Figs 32-43). Two body types are present: the flat, wide (Figs 32-42) and robust, vermiform (Fig. 43). Although different in general appearance these larvae share common diagnostic characters: the fossa antennalis closed, separated from the mouth-parts by pleurostoma (the pleurostoma absent from other lycids); slender, longitudinal sclerite present ventrally of pleurostoma; mala sclerotized. The apical antennomere with several peg-like processes. The complex, oval meso- and metathoracic spiracles are cribriform, the sieve plate with multiple openings. They are situated in large depressions. Similar larvae of Lyropaeus differ in the shape of the apical antennomere and both Macrolibnetis and Lyropaeus do not have spiracular cavities in abdominal segments ( Masek et al. 2014).

Description. Body wide, considerably flattened due to extensively projected lateral plates (Figs 32-41) or slender with postero-lateral processes (Fig. 43), usually dark brown, cryptically coloured, some species aposematically coloured with brightly coloured patches. Head prolonged, rounded anteriorly; epicranium consists of dorsal and pleural plates, membranous between plates. Complete fossa antennalis dorsally limited by epicranium, ventrally by sclerotized pleurostoma. Longitudinal sclerite situated ventrally of pleurostoma. Basal antennomere very short, apical antennomere with several peg-like processes ventrally and more extensive, sclerotized area dorsally. Mala sclerotized, with peg-like process. Cervical membrane extensive, with pigmented patches postero-ventrally. Pronotum trapezoid, terga with considerably widened lateral plates and sometimes with tubercles at posterior margin. Prosternum prolonged, episterna extensive, attached to prosternum. Extensive spiracular plates with spiracular openings at margin and bottom of extensive cavity in both, meso- and metathorax. Legs slender, relatively long, trochanters divided in two parts. Abdomen with large lateral processes, spiracular openings on margin and bottom of cavities in segments A1-A8. Sterna A1-A8 with slender postero-lateral processes, upper pleurites extensive, with similar process at outer posterior angle. Lower pleurites very small, with short process only in segments A3-A8. Segment A9 widest at apex, with short, fixed urogomphi (Figs 35-40, 43).

Remark.

Sexually mature larviform females observed only by Mjöberg (1925) and Wong (1996) were not available to us. The collected larvae did not pass the final ecdysis and their maturity is supposed on the basis of their body length. Only several lower instar larvae were collected and they differ from later instars in shorter and partly missing processes and absence of spiracular cavities.

Biology.

The information on biology was given by Wong (1996) and Bocak and Matsuda (2003).