Atholus mundulus ( Lewis, 1902 )

Cruz, Ian Niel dela, Hartini, Sri, Dwibadra, Dhian & Ôhara, Masahiro, 2024, Contribution to the Knowledge of the Genus Atholus (Coleoptera: Histeridae: Histerinae: Histerini) from the Indonesian Archipelago, Species Diversity 29 (1), pp. 119-139 : 127

Atholus mundulus ( Lewis, 1902)

( Fig. 12 )

Hister mundulus Lewis, 1902: 238 (type locality: Sumatra).

Hister (Hister) mundulus : Bickhardt 1910: 46 (catalogued).

Hister (Atholus) mundulus : Bickhardt 1917: 194 (catalogued); Desbordes 1919: 399 (listed with remarks).

Atholus mundulus : Mazur 1984: 218; Mazur 1997: 135; Mazur 2011: 106 [synonymized with A. torquatus based from Desbordes (1919)].

Specimens examined. No specimen available for this study.

Diagnosis. Atholus mundulus bears a complete and semi-circular frontal stria. The lateral stria of its pronotum is hamate on the apical end and ceasing in the anterolateral angle. The outer subhumeral stria is short medially, and dorsal striae 1–4 of elytra is complete. Dorsal elytral stria 5 on the apical half, a little beyond the middle, and the sutural stria abbreviated beyond the base. Both propygidium and pygidium are faintly punctulate. The marginal stria of prosternum is complete, while the protibia has three simple teeth.

Distribution. Indonesia: endemic to Sumatra Island ( Fig. 12 ).

Notes. This species has been regarded as a synonym of A. torquatus on the basis of the Mazur’s (1984) catalogue, who reports this synonymy as stated by Desbordes (1919). However, upon carefully verifying and interpreting Desbordes’ remark, he reported A. mundulus as a valid species, even though he affirms: “ … Par contre, je ne vois guère, dans les descriptions, de caractère bien net pour le distinguer de H. (Atholus) genuae Lew. ; [now synonym of Atholus torquatus ]; mais, ne connaissant pas l’espèce de Sumatra, je ne pui rien affirmer ” [= … On the other hand, I hardly see, in the descriptions, any very clear character to distinguish it from H. (Atholus) genuae Lew. ; but, not knowing the species of Sumatra, I could not affirm anything]. In other words, Desbordes has not synonymized A. mundulus with A. genuae , much less with A. torquatus . Consequently, A. mundulus should be considered valid until the study of type specimen proves otherwise.

Figures

Fig. 12. Map showing the occurrence of some species of Atholus from the Indonesian archipelago and its extra-limital distribution in the Oriental Region.