Hycleus pakistanus Bologna sp., 2018

Bologna, Marco A., B, Ladislav Černý & B, Ahmed Zubair, 2018, Meloidae (Coleoptera) of Pakistan and Kashmir with the description of three new species, new faunistic and taxonomic records, and a zoogeographic analysis, Turkish Journal of Zoology 42 (6), pp. 637-660 : 649-651

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.3906/zoo-1712-36

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/33408557-FFFD-FF8C-FF11-FCA0FC4642FC

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Hycleus pakistanus Bologna sp.
status

sp.

Hycleus pakistanus Bologna sp. nov. ( Figures 7b View Figure 7 and 8 View Figure 8 )

ZooBank taxon LSID: 70D962DF-F572-4B11-81C2- 375A01D1BF6D

Type material. Female holotype and 2 female paratypes, “ Baluchistan, Nushki, 8.x.2016 ” ( CB) ; 1 male paratype, idem, 16.vi.2016 ( CB) ; 2 male and 2 female paratypes, idem, 16.vii.2015 ( CB) . Type specimens are all more or less damaged, and we selected one of the better preserved females as holotype with almost complete legs and one complete antenna. Paratypes lack a few or almost all antennomeres (except I– II) , one or parts of legs, and sections of dorsal setation. Genitalia and sternite IX (spiculum gastrale) are dissected and glued on the paper label together with the specimen

Other specimens not considered paratypes, from Baluchistan, Nushki, Kili Jamaildini , 25.v.2016 and 22.vii.2012 ( FUUZM), were examined as photos .

Type locality. Pakistan, Baluchistan, Nushki .

Description. Body length: 11.5–14.1 mm. Body shiny and black except legs, antennae, labial and maxillary palpi, and apex of labrum orange, elytra slightly shining, yellowbrown with the following black pattern: a narrow margin around scutellum, a humeral round spot, an anterior row of three spots, progressively smaller from inner to external margins, one middle incomplete, narrow transverse fascia not reaching the inner nor the external margin, anteriorly angulated in the middle, and one preapical suboval spot with a linear, laterally directed projection ( Figure 7b View Figure 7 ). Silver setation very dense and quite long on the whole surface, but short, sparse, and recumbent on elytra, mixed on humerus with sparse black erect setae. Apex of tibiae and ventral side of tarsomeres, especially the basal ones, with black robust setae lining golden pads on venter.

Head transverse, subrectangular, with the maximum width at the level of eyes; punctures shallow, fine and quite dense, intermediate surface impunctate, shiny, particularly on frons; frons almost flat, with a middle smooth rounded area and a depression immediately behind, and with a faint short longitudinal line, more or less visible; vertex slightly convex, templa short, subparallel, shorter than the longitudinal diameter of eye; eye subglobose, with the anterodorsal margin distinctly sinuate at the level of the antennal insertion. Clypeus distinctly narrower than the interocular width, slightly rounded on sides, flat and with punctures as on head except impunctate anteriorly, fronto-clypeal suture distinct; labrum slightly longer and narrower than clypeus, the fore margin slightly sinuate, the fore portion impunctate and sloping, leaving apical half of mandibles exposed. Maxillary palpomeres without obvious sexual dimorphism, subcylindrical and stout, IV flattened and slightly enlarged apically, with black setae on the external side of the apex of each palpomere (except IV), these most noticeable on III; maxillae not modified; labial palpi with long and dense setae, particularly on the penultimate palpomere. Mandibles distinctly longer than labrum, falcate and pointed, in lateral view slightly curved, apical half abruptly reclinate. Antennae with 11 antennomeres, I–VI slightly shiny and darker, the following opaque; antennomere I subequal in length to II–III together; II short and subcylindrical; III–VI slender and subcylindrical, III distinctly longer than IV; VII–IX similar in length, subtrapezoidal, apically enlarged on external side, increasing in width and length from VII to X, XI at base almost as wide as X but ca. 1.8 times longer, the apical half distinctly narrowed, apex obtuse.

Pronotum subhexagonal, almost as long as wide and slightly wider than head, slightly sinuate on sides before the middle and then distinctly narrowing anteriad; fore portion of disk distinctly depressed; a wide medial longitudinal depression in middle, base depressed just in front of mesonotum, dorsal surface with a longitudinal medial deep depression; punctures as on head. Elytra parallel, dorsally slightly convex anteriorly, with dense shallow punctures; elytral pattern as in Figure 7b View Figure 7 . Mesosternum of the Mesoscutatus-type ( Figure 8a View Figure 8 ) with the “scutum” very large, smooth and shiny, covering surface almost completely, slightly raised over the remaining surface, with long setae posteriorly; fore margins of mesepisterna well defined. Legs slender; protibial spurs different, the anterior one slender and curved, the posterior one robust, stick-like; both mesotibial spurs slightly robust, stick-like; metatibial spurs different, the inner one slender and pointed, the external one spatulate and widened; male protibiae with sparse black and longer setae, lacking in female; male protarsomeres with golden pads and distinctly longer black setae fringing tarsomeres I–III, pads of meso- and metatarsomeres also with black short and robust setae; all female tarsal pads with black robust setae mixed with short golden setae.

Posterior margin of the penultimate male abdominal ventrite almost straight, that of the last visible ventrite deeply V-emarginate. Male genitalia as in Figure 8b View Figure 8 ; gonoforceps robust, suddenly narrowed at apex, depressed on the dorsal apical half; aedeagus with distal hook distinctly smaller than proximal hook, which is gibbous.

Distribution. Endemic to western Pakistan.

Diagnosis. This Hycleus species belongs to the group H. pallipes , and among this group to the H. nigriplantis subgroup (sensu Pardo Alcaide, 1958). Its assignment here is based on the elongate, pointed, and apically reclinate mandibles, the robust pro- and mesotibial spurs, and the spatulate external metatibial spur.Within the H. nigriplantis lineage it differs from H. rouxi by its completely yellow rather than black antennae, its 11 distinct antennomeres,

the yellow body setation, the uniformly yellow apex of the elytra; from H. nigriplantis , which is very similar, it differs primarily by the elytra being shiny yellow and not subopaque ochre, and by the different elytral pattern in which the black apical spot is transverse and not undulate and does not reach the inner suture; from H. dohrni it differs by the uniformly yellow setae on the head, and the elytral pattern characterized by smaller black spots and uniformly yellow elytral apex that lacks a narrow black margin, From both dohrni and nigriplantis it also differs by the wider modified portion of mesosternum (“scutum”), which occupies the major part of the sternite.

Etymology. The new species is named after the country to which it is apparently endemic.

Remarks. Affinities and similarities among the species of the subgroup of H. nigriplantis are discussed in the Diagnosis.

Hycleus phaleratus Group (sensu Pan et al., 2014)

Hycleus biundulatus (Pallas, 1782)

New records. Pakistan: 3 exx., Islamabad , 15.ix.2011, G. Sabatinelli ( CB, in alcohol 95%); 22 exx., northern Pakistan, Taxila, nr. Islamabad , 525 m, N 33°44′47.2″ E 72°48′05″, 23.9.2001, M. Šlachta ( CC) ; more than 100 exx., Punjab, Changa Manga – forest motel, 70 km S of Lahore, 19–21.viii.1998, L. Černý and L. Čížek ( CC) .

Distribution. Species widely distributed in the Oriental region: its range includes China (Fujian, Yunnan), Indonesia (Java), India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan (Pan et al., 2014). Recorded from Pakistan as Mylabris by Hashmi and Tashfeen (1992).

Remarks. In the literature this species is usually cited as Mylabris / Hycleus pustulata /us (Thunberg, 1791).

Hycleus cichorii (Linnaeus, 1758)

New records. Pakistan: 8 exx., Lower Dir , Tehsil , Samar Bagh , 12.vii.16 ( CB); 4 exx., Kashmir, Kotli, 26.viii.2016 ( CB) .

Distribution. Pan et al. (2014) cited this species from SE China (Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong, Taiwan, Hong Kong), Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia (Java), Nepal, Sikkim, and northern India and doubtfully from Japan. Recorded from Pakistan by Hashmi and Tashfeen (1992) as Mylabris , but not reported by Bologna (2008).

Hycleus horai (Saha, 1972)

Distribution. Endemic to Pakistan; described from the Salt Range and other eastern localities (Saha, 1972).

Remarks. The validity of this species needs confirmation; it could be a synonym of H. phaleratus (Pallas, 1781) . The characters listed by Saha (1972) hardly seem diagnostic in such a complex group of species (Pan et al., 2014).

Hycleus medioinsignatus (Pic, 1909)

New records. Pakistan: 1 ex., Kashmir , Azad, Kotli, 13.vii.2014 ( CB) ; 1 ex., idem, 26.viii.2016 ( CB) .

Distribution. Previously recorded from Mongolia; central, eastern, and southern China; northern India (Himanchal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab); and Nepal (Pan et al, 2014); it is a new species record for Pakistan. We also know of specimens from northern Punjab ( India) close to Kashmir [24 exx., Kangra valley-Yol, 1300 m, iv– vii.1944 C. Lomi (CB, MRSN)].

Hycleus phaleratus (Pallas, 1781)

New records. Pakistan: 1 ex., Baluchistan, Nushki , 10.vi.2016 ( CB) ; 1 ex. idem, 8.x.2016 ( CB) ; 5 exx., Lower Dir, Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa, Samar Bagh , 16.vii.2012 ( CB) ; 3 exx., Lower Dir, Timergara, 25.1985 on Hybiscus (MRSNB) ; 2 exx., Swat , 11.vii.2012 ( CB) ; 1 ex., Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dera Ismail Khan , 15.vii.2016 ( CB) ; 1 ex., Kashmir, Rawalakot , 17.viii.2009 ( CB) ; 2 exx., Kashmir, Azad, Kotli , 13.vii.2014 ( CB) ; 3 exx., northern Pakistan, Taxila, near Islamabad , 525 m, N 33°44′47.2″ E 72°48′05″, 23.9.2001, M. Šlachta ( CC) .

Distribution. Oriental element, widely distributed from western Pakistan to Indochina and southern China (Pan et al., 2014). Recorded from Pakistan by Anand (1984) and Hashmi and Tashfeen (1992 as Mylabris phalarata ).

Remarks. This species belongs to a difficult group of species, never studied in detail and difficult to identify (see Pan et al., 2014). For this reason, the validity of the subsp. choaicus Saha, 1972 , described from Pakistan, needs confirmation and we prefer to list our records at the species level only.

Incertae sedis Group

Hycleus jacquemonti (Blanchard, 1844)

Distribution. Described and recorded only from Kashmir (see Anand, 1989; Bologna, 2008).

Remarks. The species has not been studied since its description and it remains as incertae sedis.

Tribe Cerocomini

Rhampholyssa steveni (Fischer von Waldheim, 1824)

New records. Pakistan: 1 ex., Baluchistan, Nushki 8.x.2016 ( CB) .

Distribution. Turanian species belonging to a genus that includes only R. steveni and R. antennata Reitter, 1906 . This species is recorded from southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan ( Turco and Bologna, 2008), and Chinese Xinjiang ( Wang et al., 2012). Both tribe and genus are new for Pakistan.

Tribe Meloini

CB

The CB Rhizobium Collection

CC

CSIRO Canberra Rhizobium Collection

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Meloidae

Genus

Hycleus

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