Eurymeloe Reitter, 1911

Sanchez-Vialas, Alberto, Ruiz, Jose L., Recuero, Ernesto, Gutierrez-Perez, Felipe & Garcia-Paris, Mario, 2022, A new systematic arrangement for the blister beetle genus Eurymeloe (Meloini, Meloidae, Coleoptera) with the description of a new species from Spain, ZooKeys 1109, pp. 17-48 : 17

Genus Eurymeloe Reitter, 1911

Type species.

Meloe brevicollis Panzer, 1793, by subsequent designation of Pinto and Selander (1970).

Description

(adult). Size small to medium (6-36 mm), with diverse appearance, ranging from very robust to comparatively slender. Body integument colour variable, black, dull grey or dark brown (exceptionally sandy brown) to moderately metallic blue, opaque, bright, silky or sometimes with an oily shininess (Fig. 2A ). Body pubescence short, sometimes quite distinct ( Bolognaia ) or very short, recumbent, often almost imperceptible (subgenus Eurymeloe Eurymeloe ) or absent dorsally ( Coelomeloe ; Fig. 2B ), variable in colour, from yellowish to reddish brown and black. Head rounded, sides straight to arched, convergent to eyes. Eyes small or medium, usually subreniform, variably protruding, without longitudinal depressions behind them. Antennae unmodified in males, moniliform or submoniliform, robust or slender, short to moderate length, not reaching posterior margin of pronotum ( Eurymeloe , Coelomeloe ) or often reaching or even surpassing it ( Bolognaia ). Antennomeres subcylindrical or subconical, relatively robust or slender, highly variable width/length ratio, V to VII neither enlarged nor geniculated. Clypeus transverse, approximately twice as wide as long. Frontoclypeal suture angulated. Labrum wide, fore margin broadly emarginate. Maxillary and labial palpomeres unmodified. Mandibles robust, regularly and strongly curved on the outer margins. Pronotum from flat ( Coelomeloe ) to moderately convex ( Eurymeloe , Bolognaia ), subrectangular ( Coelomeloe , Eurymeloe ), subhexagonal or trapezoidal ( Bolognaia ), transverse or very transverse, usually equal to or more than 1.5 × as wide as long (exceptionally, 1.2-1.3 × as wide as long), with sides subparallel or converging backward; posterior margin usually broadly emarginated, with base not incised in the middle. Head and pronotum punctation from fine and scattered, sometimes almost absent ( Eurymeloe ), to somewhat deep and dense ( Bolognaia ), even very broad, dense, and deep, foveate in appearance ( Coelomeloe ). Hind margin of mesonotum straight or weakly arcuate. Metanotum short and barely visible, covered by the base of the elytra. Mesosternum short and wide, lacking scutum. Mesepisterna meet or not at the midline of the body. Elytra short and dehiscent, imbricate basally, not completely covering abdomen, smooth to densely coriaceous, rugose ( Eurymeloe , Bolognaia ) or with a surface densely foveate ( Coelomeloe ). Hind wings absent. Legs normal, unmodified in male, robust or more or less slender, pilose. Tibiae with two spurs at apex; outer spur of metatibiae widened and obliquely truncate, spoon-shaped. Tarsomeres with or without hair pads or dense setose pubescence on the inferior sides. Tarsal claws smooth, with distinct lower blades. Abdomen large, inflated, hypertrophied. Abdominal terga with medium or small highly sclerotised central plates. Last abdominal ventrite broadly emarginated at hind margin in males. Male genitalia: gonoforceps evenly sclerotised with gonostyli from moderately short to elongate, with distal regions more or less wide, usually digitiform (in lateral view), rounded at apex; gonocoxal plate broadly widened at the middle (in dorsal view); aedeagus robust ( Eurymeloe , Coelomeloe ) or relatively slender ( Bolognaia ), usually shorter than or approximately equal in length to the gonoforceps (in some species of Bolognaia , sometimes a little longer than the gonoforceps), with two dorsal hooks and one endophallic hook.

Larva. The morphological traits of previously known first instar larvae of Eurymeloe (triungulines), including Coelomeloe , and the descriptions of the triungulines of several additional species of Eurymeloe , have been synthesised and studied by Di Giulio et al. (2013, 2014). We herein refer to these works for larval morphological traits.

Taxonomic remarks.

The adult instar of species of the genus Eurymeloe is morphologically diverse, and the three subgenera can be recognised based on this diversity. Adults of the subgenera Eurymeloe , Coelomeloe , and the newly described Bolognaia are distinguishable particularly by the shape of the antennae and the pronotum, the macrosculpture of the pronotum, body integument and pilosity, and the punctation of the head, pronotum, and elytra, among other traits.

Figures

Figure 2. Habitus of some living adult specimens of the current subgenera of Eurymeloe A subgenus Eurymeloe Eurymeloe, represented by a specimen of Eurymeloe (Eurymeloe) ibericus from Puebla de la Sierra, northern Madrid, Spain B subgenus Eurymeloe Coelomeloe, represented by a specimen of Eurymeloe (Coelomeloe) tuccia found 3 km east of Celin, Sierra de Gador, Almeria, Spain C-I subgenus Eurymeloe Bolognaia C Eurymeloe (Bolognaia) affinis from the surroundings of Bab Taza, Rif Mountains, Morocco D E. (Bolognaia) mediterraneus (type species of the subgenus Eurymeloe Bolognaia) from Puebla de la Sierra, northern Madrid, Spain E E. (Bolognaia) glazunovi from Istria, Romania F E. (Bolognaia) gomari from the surroundings of Bab Taza, Rif Mountains, Morocco G E. (Bolognaia) nanus from Alcazar de San Juan, Ciudad Real, Spain H E. (Bolognaia) fernandezi from Los Sauces, La Palma, Canary Islands I Eurymeloe orobates sp. nov., from Puerto de la Quesera, Guadalajara, Spain J Eurymeloe (Bolognaia) murinus from Tizi n'Tichka, High Atlas, Morocco. Photographs: A-C, F, G, I (ASV) E, H, J (MGP) D (J. Aznar Gonzalez de Rueda).