Leptinopterus gracilis Boileau, 1899

Grossi, Paschoal Coelho, 2009, Description of two new species of Leptinopterus Hope (Coleoptera: Lucanidae: Lucaninae) with notes on the taxonomy and natural history of the genus, Zootaxa 2172, pp. 32-44 : 37

Leptinopterus gracilis Boileau, 1899

( Figs. 9–14 )

Leptinopterus gracilis Boileau 1899: 196 ; Lüderwaldt 1930: 126; Lüderwaldt 1935: 484; Blackwelder 1944: 196; Didier & Séguy 1953: 130 (472); Benesh 1960: 52; Maes 1992: 63; Mizunuma & Nagai 1994: 278, plate 116, (Fig. 467), misidentified illustration of Leptinopterus elegans ); Krajcik 2001: 28; Krajcik 2003: 94; Baba 2003: 26 ( Figs. 8–9 ), misidentified illustration of Leptinopterus elegans , ( Figs. 10–11 ), misidentified illustration of Leptinopterus erythrocnemus ), ( Fig. 22 ), (Fig. 36), misidentified illustration of Leptinopterus suturalis .

nomen nudum: Leptinopterus elegans ab. catharinensis Lüderwaldt 1935: 490 .

L. elegans Jakowleff and “ L. elegans ab. catharinensis Lüderwaldt” are misidentified in all the Brazilian collections I studied. After examining a picture of the holotype of L. gracilis Boileau and the label data from MNHN, I conclude that the true L. gracilis is the species from southern Brazil that has been called L. elegans . Specimens labeled L. gracilis probably belong to new species or other species that are not identified in Brazilian collections, and only after studying the remaining types of the genus will be possible to identify this species, or the true L. elegans . After reading the original description of L. elegans by Jakowleff (1900) it is difficult to know which species is being discussed. The type locality is São Paulo State without more precise data, and it is possible that L. elegans is a junior synonym of L. gracilis . “ Leptinopterus catharinensis Lüderwaldt ” was named as an aberrant form of L. elegans , but is actually a specimen of L. gracilis . It appears to be a mandibular variant of the more typical form of L. gracilis and is from the same orographic region. Both forms are collected together, and except for the form of the male mandibles, all other characters, including those of the aedeagus, are exactly the same.

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 14. Dorsal habitus of Leptinopterus gracilis: 9 – 13) Variation in mandibular shape; 14) Female.

FIGURES 5 – 8. Left mandible of male majors of four species of Leptinopterus: 5) L. assimilis; 6) L. femoratus; 7) L. tibialis; 8) L. nitidus.

FIGURES 21 – 24. Leptinopterus species feeding at sap flow on Asteraceae species: 21) L. tibialis; 22) L. nitidus; 23) L. gracilis; 24) L. fryi.