Elathous Reitter, 1890

Etzler, Frank E., 2019, Generic Reclassification of Limonius Eschscholtz, 1829 (Elateridae: Dendrometrinae) sensu Candèze 1860 of the World, Zootaxa 4683 (3), pp. 301-335 : 306-307

1. Elathous Reitter, 1890 ; pg. 247, 44 species

Type species: Elathous buyssoni Reitter, 1890: 247 (designated by Hyslop 1921: 644).

Elathous ; Van Dyke 1932: 357; Fall 1934: 30; Glen 1950: 167; Lane 1971: 21; Kishii 1987: 80; Platia 1994: 105; Sánchez-Ruiz 1996: 106; Johnson 2002: 169; Cate 2007: 167 [164?].

Athoina Reitter, 1906: 399 . Incorrect subsequent spelling of Elathouina ( Sánchez-Ruiz 1996) .

Athouinus Reitter, 1905: 114 . Incorrect subsequent spelling of Elathouina ( Sánchez-Ruiz 1996) , appears only in table at end of Reitter 1905.

Elathouina Reitter, 1905: 19 . Type species: Athous revelierei Mulsant and Rey, 1875 (= A. perrisii ); by monotypy: Schwarz 1907, pg. 197; Leseigneur 1972: 183.

Leptoschema auct. nec. Horn, 1884 (pars): Reitter 1905 a; Schwarz 1907: 196.

Limonius auct. nec. Eschscholtz, 1829 (pars): Van Dyke 1932; Al Dhafer 2009.

Melanathous Reitter, 1905 a: 24 . Type species: Melanathous sequensi Reitter, 1905 (= Elathous brucki (Candèze, 1878)) ; by monotypy: Schwarz 1907, pg. 198

Nearctic species (7).

Elathous bicolor ( LeConte, 1853) : 428 ( Athous ).

Limonius kondratieffi Al Dhafer, 2009: 299 new synonymy.

Elathous brevicornis Fall, 1934: 30 .

Elathous brunellus Fall, 1934: 31 .

Elathous californicus Van Dyke, 1932: 359 .

Elathous discalceatus (Say, 1839) : 169 ( Elater ).

Elathous oberndorfferi Schwarz, 1903: 207 (syn. by Van Dyke, 1932)

Elathous huguenini ( Van Dyke, 1932) : 346 ( Limonius ) new combination.

Elathous nebulosus ( Van Dyke, 1932) : 345 ( Limonius ).

Palearctic species (37).

Elathous brucki (Candèze, 1878) : clxviii ( Athous ).

Melanathous sequensi Reitter, 1905: 25 .

Elathous brunneus (Lewis, 1894) : 195 ( Limonius ).

Elathous buyssoni Reitter, 1890: 248 .

Elathous candezei Reitter, 1890: 248 .

Elathous chiarae Guglielmi and Platia, 1985: 192 .

Elathous crovatoi Platia and Schimmel, 1992: 52 .

Elathous cyprius Baudi di Selve, 1871: 54 (Athous) .

Elathous depressus Platia and Schimmel, 1991: 131 .

Elathous ekaterinae Preiss, 2003: 55 .

Elathous emgei (Schwarz, 1893) : 191 ( Leptoschema ).

Elathous emrei Platia, 2011: 208 .

Elathous graecus Platia, 2008: 143 .

Elathous impressifrons (Hampe, 1866) : 373 ( Athous ).

Elathous lizleri Mertlik, 2005: 170 .

Elathous lizlerwerneri Mertlik and Dusanek, 2006: 152 .

Elathous maestrei Zapata and Sánchez-Ruiz, 2012: 108 .

Elathous malatyanus Etzler new replacement name

Elathous bicolor Platia, 2010: 27 , not Athous bicolor LeConte, 1853 . [HN]

Elathous melanarius Platia and Kakiopoulos, 2014: 102 .

Elathous mertliki Platia and Schimmel, 1992: 93 .

Elathous murzovi Platia, 2010: 27 .

Elathous niger Schwarz, 1897: 130 .

Elathous nigricans Platia and Schimmel, 1991: 132 .

Elathous nurayae Platia, 2011: 207 .

Elathous pavesii Platia and Schimmel, 1992: 94 .

Elathous perrisii (Desbroches des Loges, 1873) : 366 ( Athous ).

Athous amicus Perris, 1874: 4 .

Athous revelierei Mulsant and Rey, 1875: 81 .

Elathous platiai Zapata and Sánchez-Ruiz, 2007: 221 .

Elathous rufobasalis Wurst, 1994: 62 .

Elathous rufus ( Candèze, 1860) : 384 ( Limonius ).

Elathous schwarzi Reitter, 1898: 346 .

Elathous serti Kabalak, Avcý, and Platia, 2013: 86 .

Elathous smyrnensis Schwarz, 1903: 207 .

Elathous syriacus Schwarz, 1903: 208 .

Elathous talassemtani Németh and Platia, 2015: 92 .

Elathous tezcani Platia, 2014: 44 .

Elathous turcicus Platia and Gudenzi, 2005: 114 .

Elathous vasquezi (Cobos, 1969) : 11 ( Leptoschema ).

Elathous yamamotoi Ôhira, 1995: 189 .

Diagnosis. S pecies in this genus share the following unique combination of characters: the frontal margin is well developed with a triangular depression on the frons; prosternal sutures are excavate and grooved anteriorly; hypomeron with posterior edge nearly straight, not emarginate; tarsi lacking membraneous lobes; male genitalia variable, but usually wedge-like with parameres lacking apical hooks (type species genitalia) (e.g. Fig. 3); female internal genitalia have a pear-shaped uterus and an inverted pear-shaped bursa copulatrix bearing three apical accessary glands and subtle sclerotizations (Fig. 2). The colleterial glands may be incorporated into the uterus, but are not distinct. The type species of the genus was examined through photographs only, so no genus description is provided.

Discussion. Species in this genus recall characteristics of Limonius and Athous Eschscholtz, 1829 , but are clearly distinct. However, the identification of this genus is impossible using the current North American generic key ( Johnson 2002), which probably led to misidentification of species in this genus by Al Dhafer (2009). In order to get to the correct couplet for this genus in Johnson (2002, couplet 29), one needs to choose that the specimen has lobed tarsomeres ( Johnson 2002, couplet 23), despite the lack of lobed tarsomeres in these species, leading inevitably to misidentification.

Two species, E. huguenini and E. nebulosus , treated by Al Dhafer (2009) as Limonius are better placed in this genus based on male genitalia and other morphological characteristics. In fact, Lane (1971) placed L. nebulosus in Elathous . It appears that Al Dhafer (2009) was unaware of this, despite citing that work. Lane also moved the single L. huguenini specimen in the BMNH to Elathous when he visited in 1965, but this transfer was never published (C. M. F. von Hayek, unpublished BMNH collection notes).

The types of L. kondratieffi were not located in the FSCA, where they were reportedly deposited ( Al Dhafer 2009). It is unclear at this time where these specimens are actually located, even after contact with the describer. The description and depicted male genitalia of L. kondratieffi is identical to that of Elathous bicolor , a species common in the type locality of the former, so I consider L. kondratieffi a synonym of Elathous bicolor (LeConte) .

In the Palearctic region there are 37 recognized species, two from Japan, and the rest from the Mediterranean region ( Cate 2007, Kabalak et al. 2013). There are currently seven species in North America, mostly in the eastern regions. The last Nearctic key to this group is Van Dyke (1932). Glen (1950) described the larvae of E. bicolor , the only Nearctic species with associated larvae. Elathous needs a revision to determine the relationships of the approximately 40 species. Based on male genitalia, there appear to be two groups of species. During this review it was discovered that the species Elathous bicolor Platia, 2010 is a secondary junior homonym of Elathous bicolor ( LeConte, 1853) , so I propose Elathous malatyanus as a replacement name, after the type locality of the Turkish Province Malatya.