Emphania Erichson, 1847

Ahrens, Dirk & Fabrizi, Silvia, 2008, A taxonomic revision of the Malagasy genus Emphania Erichson, 1847 (Insecta, Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini), Zoosystema 30 (4), pp. 917-927 : 918-919

Genus Emphania Erichson, 1847

Emphania Erichson, 1847: 695 . — Blanchard 1850: 80. — Burmeister 1855: 180. — Brenske 1899: 238. — Ahrens 2004a: 32; 2004b: 38. — ICZN 2005: 177.

Heptomera Blanchard, 1850: 89 . — Brenske 1899: 238. — Ahrens 2004a: 32; 2004b: 38. — ICZN 2005: 177.

TYPE SPECIES (fixed by decision of the ICZN [2005: 177]). — Heptomera metallica Blanchard, 1850 .

DIAGNOSIS. — Body surface brown with greenish shine, completely shiny and glabrous, except for a few small setae on the head. Labroclypeus shiny and subtrapezoidal, with the lateral border and ocular canthus producing an indistinct blunt angle, margins weakly reflexed, anteriorly shallowly sinuate medially. Antenna dark brown, with nine antennomeres, club in both sexes with three antennomeres. Mentum anteriorly weakly elevated. Hypomeron ventrally with an acute edge which is produced ventrally. Elytra oblong, widest at middle, apical border of elytra chitinous, without short microtrichomes. Ventral surface shiny, thorax and metacoxa with moderately large and moderately dense punctures, sparsely setose. Metasternum produced anteriorly, between mesocoxae 1.5 times as wide as mesofemur, mesosternum protruding anteriorly forming a small mesosternal process. Each abdominal sternite, in addition to generally distributed fine and moderately dense punctures, with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a short and robust seta, penultimate sternite apically with a shiny smooth chitinous border which is one fourth as long as sternite. Legs moderately wide; metacoxa large and long, glabrous except for a few long setae laterally; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and (moderately) densely punctate; metafemur with the anterior edge acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line, posterior ventral margin medially weakly convex, weakly widened in apical half and not serrate, dorsally not serrated, finely setose; apex of metatibia interiorly near tarsal articulation sharply truncate with an angle of approximately 45°; protibia short, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth. Basal tooth of protarsal claws normally pointed. Parameres symmetric.

NOMENCLATURAL HISTORY

The genus Emphania Erichson, 1847 was established without any included nominal species, with a short but significant morphological description and distributional data (“ Madagascar ”). Blanchard (1850) was the first author who subsequently used the name Emphania with reference to Erichson (1847). He included 17 new species in Emphania which he considered a “divisio” within the genus Omaloplia Schoenherr, 1817 . The original specimen, on which the description by Erichson was based, was later studied and described as a new species ( Emphania chloris ) by Burmeister (1855). Based on the revisionary work by Brenske (1899) who synonymized Emphania chloris with Heptomera metallica Blanchard, 1850 and considered the genus to be monospecific, the name Emphania was defined in the sense of Burmeister and Brenske.

No taxon included by Blanchard in Emphania fits the original description of the genus by Erichson (1847: 695, translated from German): “ Pleophylla m., Emphania m. (in both the metasternum produces a robust anteriorly protruding process; in the first, from the ‘Kaffernländern’ [old term for territories of Bantu people in Southeast Africa], the antennal club has six joints, in the second from Madagascar the antennal club has three joints)”. The name Emphania Erichson was redefined ( Ahrens 2004a; ICZN 2005) since no type species had been designated before. In order to conserve the taxonomic identity and the prevailing usage of Emphania , any of the nominal species included subsequently by Blanchard (1850) was selected as the type species of Emphania but the species Heptomera metallica , the senior synonym of E. chloris , on which Emphania was originally established. This decision ( ICZN 2005) to override Article 67.2.2 ( ICZN 1999) was mainly based on the fact that a type species designation of any of the species named by Blanchard under Emphania would affect the synonymy and definition of five additional generic names: Comaserica Brenske, 1897 ; Hyposerica Brenske, 1897 ; Maladera Mulsant & Rey, 1871 ; Neuroserica Brenske, 1900 ; and Tamnoserica Brenske, 1899 . These genera were used by Brenske (1897, 1900) for the 17 species described under “ Emphania ” by Blanchard (1850). All these nominal genera have been used as valid names since they were erected. For all of these genera whose type species designation was still pending recently also a type species was designated ( Ahrens 2007).

KEY TO THE SPECIES OF EMPHANIA ERICHSON, 1847 (MALES)

1. External angle of metacoxa posteriorly right-angled .................................................... 2

— External angle of metacoxa posteriorly produced forming a sharp tooth ..................... 3

2. Intervals of elytra flat ...................................................................................... E. nitida — Intervals of elytra convex .......................................................................... E. sulcipennis

3. Pronotum laterally with distinct robust basal marginal line ........................................ 3 — Pronotum laterally with very fine indistinct basal marginal line .................................. 5

4. Elytra with convex semicircular declivity distinctly separated from apical portion of elytra. Apex of parameres strongly bent upwards and interiorly ( Fig. 1B, C ) ......... E. metallica

— Elytra without convex declivity separated from apical portion of elytra. Apex of parameres only slightly curved interiorly ( Fig. 2K ) ............................................. E. erichsoni n. sp.

5. Antennal club slightly (max 1.5 times) longer than the remaining antennomeres combined ................................................................................................................................... 6

— Antennal club twice as long as the remaining antennomeres combined ......................... ................................................................................................. E. subsmaragdina n. sp.

6. Parameres fused with the phallobasis, aedeagus strongly elongate ( Fig. 2P, Q ) ............... .................................................................................................... E. ranomafanae n. sp.

— Parameres not fused with the phallobasis, aedeagus moderately elongate ( Figs 1E ; 2G ) ................................................................................................................................... 7

7. Body size: 6.5 mm. Parameres less than one quarter as long as the phallobasis ( Fig. 2G ) ....................................................................................................... E. semiviridis n. sp.

— Body size: 8.2-9.9 mm. Parameres almost half as long as the phallobasis ( Fig. 1E ) ......... ............................................................................................................ E. lacroixi n. sp.

Figures

FIG. 1. — A, Distribution of the species of Emphania (Emphania erichsoni n. sp.could not be localized due to insufficient label information “Madagascar”),the habitus of the type species E.metallica (Blanchard,1850) is shown (not scaled) in upper left corner;B-D, E. metallica (Blanchard, 1850) (lectotype); E-G, E. lacroixi n. sp. (holotype); B, E, aedeagus, left side lateral views; C, F, aedeagus, dorsal views; D, G, aedeagus, right side lateral views. Scale bars: 1 mm.

FIG. 2. — A-C, Emphania nitida Moser, 1911 (lectotype); D-F, E. sulcipennis Moser, 1911 (Madagascar Nord, Montagne d’Ambre); G-I, E. semiviridis n. sp. (holotype); J-L, E. erichsoni n. sp. (holotype); M-O, E. subsmaragdina n. sp. (holotype); P-R, E. ranomafanae n. sp. (holotype); A, D, G, J, M, P, aedeagus,left side lateral views;B, E, H, K, N, Q, aedeagus,dorsal views;C, F, I, L, O, R, aedeagus, right side lateral views. Scale bars: 1 mm.