Eulasia (Rudeulasia) daccordii Uliana & Sabatinelli

Uliana, Marco & Sabatinelli, Guido, 2013, Eulasia (Rudeulasia) daccordii, a new species from southern Levant, with notes on E. pietschmanni Breit and E. baumanni Mitter (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Glaphyridae), Zootaxa 3702 (2), pp. 124-134 : 125-130

Eulasia (Rudeulasia) daccordii Uliana & Sabatinelli , new species ( Figs 1, 3 , 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 )

Diagnosis. Pronotum with surface finely granulate (hence the placement in the subgenus Rudeulasia ). Regular lateral margin of mandibles, not protruding externally as a lobe. Protibiae of males without apical spur, slightly enlarged towards the apex. Pronotum covered with erect setae of mixed length; setae completely or mostly black, neither adpressed nor spiniform. Each side of the pronotum with a glabrous area near the base, which may be absent or indistinct, at most barely reaching the middle of the pronotum. Elytra dehiscent, uniformly light brown in males, purple metallic in females, sometimes with cyan sheen. Sutural angle of the elytra rounded in both sexes. Elytral epipleura with a few spiniform setae scattered all along their length. Tergites of males black at the base and metallic coloured on the rest of the surface, except for the last one, which is testaceous on a more or less wide extension.

Type locality: Jordan, Jordan Valley, Al Arida, 207 m below sea level, 32°09’N 35°37’E

Material examined (type series). 150♂, 102♀.

Holotype: Jordan, Jordan Valley, Al Arida, - 207 m, 32°09’N 35°37’E, 7.III.2008, in Anemone coronaria , leg G. Sabatinelli (male, MHNG).

Paratypes: Jordan: Jordan Valley, Al Arida, - 207 m, 32°09’N 35°37’E, 29.II.2008 leg G. Sabatinelli (4♂) (GS). Same data as the holotype (33♂, 32♀) (GS, MU, OR). Jordan Valley, Al Arida, - 207 m, 32°09’N 35°37’E, 26.II.2010 leg G. Sabatinelli (5♂, 1♀) (GS). Jordan, Salt-Al Arida, 435- 200 m, 32°08’N 35°40’E, 7.III.2008, on Anemone coronaria , leg G. Sabatinelli (1♂) (GS). West Bank: West Bank, 25 KM S Bet Shean, Nahal Bitronot [Nahal Bitronot], 18.III.2008 leg. G. Sabatinelli (1♀) (GS). West Bank, Jordan Valley, 60 Km N Jericho, 32°17’N, 35°33’E, - 240 m, 6.III.2008, leg. G. Sabatinelli (1♂) (GS). West Bank, Jordan Valley, 40 Km N Jericho, 32°15’N, 35°33’E, - 250 m, 6.III.2008, leg. G. Sabatinelli (1♀) (GS). West Bank, Jordan Valley, 20 Km N Jericho, 31°55’N, 35°28’E, - 209 m, 6.III.2008, leg. G. Sabatinelli (1♂, 1♀) (GS). Israel [ West Bank], Jordan Valley, 28/40 Km N Jeriho, 21.III.1995 leg. G. Sama (1♂) (MU). Israel [ West Bank], Yitav, 11.III.1981, leg. E. Shney-Dor (1♂) ( TAU). Israel [ West Bank], Jericho, 22.III.1992 leg. Dr. T. Pavlicèk (3♂, 1♀) ( TAU). Israel [ West Bank], Jericho WQ [possibly, Wadi Qelt], 5.II.1971 leg. Bytinski-Salz (1♂) E. pietschmanni det. Petrovitz 1974 ( TAU). West Bank, 50 KM W Amman, Ma’ale Mikhmas [Ma’ale Mikhmash], 200 m, 31°49’N 35°21’E, 3.IV.2007 leg. G. Sabatinelli (1♂, 3♀) (GS). West Bank, Ma’ale Adumim [Ma’ale 'Adumim], 225 m, 31°49’N 35°21’E, 18.III.2010 leg. G. Sabatinelli (2♂) (GS). [ West Bank] Israel, Judean Desert, Mishor 'Adumim, 260 m, 2.IV.2012, leg. O. Rittner (34♂, 5♀) (MU, OR). [ West Bank] Israel, Ein Fara, 23.III.2011, leg. S. Rothman (2♂) (OR). Israel: Israel, Tel Arad [Tel 'Arad], 29.III-26.IV.1987, leg. Richter (1♂) (JM). Israel, Beer Sheva, 11-18.III.2013, leg. M. Tedeschi (26♂, 20♀) (MT, MU). Israel, Hatzerim, 11-18.III.2013, leg. M. Tedeschi (22♂, 33♀) (MT, MU). Israel, Nahal Yaelim [Nahal Ya'elim], 17.IV.1997, leg. A. Maklakov (2♂) ( TAU). Israel, Nahal Yaelim [Nahal Ya'elim], 17.IV.1997, leg. E. Elron (1♀) ( TAU). Israel, Ma’ale ‘Yair, 8.IV.1998, leg. N. Melzer (1♂) ( TAU). Israel, Central Negev, Dimona, 20.III.1995, leg. G. Sama (1♂, 1♀) (GS). Israel, N Peres, W Sedom, 27.II.1995, leg. R. Kasher, “at Papaver sp., Papaveraceae ” (1♂) ( TAU). Israel, W. Chadira [Nahal Hatseva], leg. L. Fishelsoh, 26.IV.1957 (1♂) ( TAU). Israel, Negev, Sde Boqer [Sede Boqer], 30°53’N, 34°47’E, 477 m, 21.III.2008, leg. G. Sabatinelli (1♂, 1♀) (GS). Israel, Sede Boqer, 2.IV.2010, leg. A. Weinstein (1♂) ( TAU). Israel, Negev, S Beer Sheeva, S Sde Boqer [S Be'er Sheva, S Sede Boqer], Ben Gurion mem., 450 m, 22.III.1995, leg. K. Staven (1♂) (GM). Israel, Central Negev, 6 Km S Sede Boqer, 21.III.1995, leg. G. Sama (1♀) (GS). [ Israel] Palestine, Negev, Wadi Nafkh, 30.III.1945, leg. G.Wahrman, Com. Inst. Ent. Coll. No 11757 (or 11959) (1 ♂) ( TAU).

Description of males. Data of the holotype are in square brackets.

Body length: 10.4–12.2 mm [11.6 mm] from the anterior margin of the clypeus to the apex of elytra; 12.8–15.5 mm [15.2 mm] including the apex of the abdomen.

Colour of integuments: Head, pronotum, and scutellum going from magenta/light purple to dark or greyish purple; copper shades may be observed in lighter specimens, while shades of cyan or dark green are observed in darker ones [magenta]. Elytra uniformly light brown, without any darkened area (including basal area, suture, and margins). Metallic sheen generally absent, sometimes present but faint and hardly noticeable in the apical area. Visible tergites, except the last one, mostly metallic, with colour shifting from dark green near the base to copper or purple near the apex; a basal stripe and lateral margins black, without metallic sheen. Last tergite orange or brown, with more or less extended dark areas, rarely with metallic coloured areas [orange]. Labial palps black, maxillary palps with palpomere 1 and 4 black, palpomere 2–3 brown, with palpomere 3 darker than 2. Antennomeres 1–4 black, with metallic sheen; antennomeres 7–10 orange or brown; intermediate antennomeres darkened in variable measure. Femora and tibia metallic, with the same colour of the forebody; tarsi plain black, with more or less noticeable green metallic sheen.

Setae. Distal half of the clypeus glabrous or with fine adpressed setae [as in the holotype], proximal half and the rest of the head with long, erect setae. Colour of setae variable, yellowish-white setae usually present at least on the vertex [as in the holotype]. Setae near the eyes and on the edge of the canthus always black. Pronotum covered with erect setae of mixed length; short setae are present among long setae, all of them raised; no adpressed pilosity is present. Thicker and longer setae are present along the lateral margins. Setae black, white setae absent or reduced to a small number of erect setae, grouped in two lateral spots close to the mid length of the pronotum [as in the holotype]. At each side of the pronotum a basal glabrous area is usually present, at most reaching the middle of the pronotum, usually less extended, sometimes absent [present]. Scutellum with few dark setae. Elytra with erect pubescence along a narrow basal stripe, the rest of the surface covered with a uniform, short, adpressed black pubescence. Humeral area, suture, epipleura, and apical perimeter with stout, spiniform black setae of mixed length. Abdominal tergites covered with yellow adpressed setae. Setae of the palps black; antennomeres 1 and 2 with long, black setae, antennomeres 3 and 4 with short, light pubescence. Pubescence of legs mixed and variable in colour, with black setae strongly prevailing. Tarsi with few strong, spiniform, black setae along the inferior margin and around the apex.

Morphology. Clypeus subtrapezoidal, narrowed at the base, with lateral margins gently curved outwards and the anterior margin slightly bisinuate, protruding in the middle like a blunt tooth. Margins gently raised from the bottom. Medial carina present in few specimens, most commonly absent [absent]. Punctation of head fine, dense, irregular, more dense on the vertex; integument smooth on clypeus, irregularly microsculptured on the rest of the head. Pronotum with sides rounded and anteriorly convergent, anterior angles slightly obtuse, posterior angles broadly rounded. Surface covered with sparse, piliferous punctures except for two glabrous and unpunctured basal areas, which are extended at most up to pronotum mid length, but may be occasionally indistinct or absent. The entire surface densely and finely covered with microsculpture, mostly organized in polygonal cells or transversal fingerprint-like thin wrinkles, giving the integument a matt appearance. Scutellum wider than long, with rounded apex and sculpturing similar to that of pronotum. Elytra dehiscent from the base, widely parted at the apex. Sutural angle indistinct, the apex of each elytron being equally rounded on both sides; elytral surface evenly convex. Protibiae with three strong, triangular outer teeth, the middle one clearly closer to the basal one; apical spur absent; internal margin sinuous, slightly swollen from the base to the apex; dorsal surface evenly convex.

Male genitalia. Parameres and endophallus as in Fig. 11 .

Description of females. Similar to males except for the characters indicated below.

Body length: 10.3–12.4 mm from the anterior margin of clypeus to the apex of elytra; 11.3–15.6 mm including the apex of the abdomen (measured on collapsed dried specimens).

Colour: anterior half of the clypeus black. Colour of forebody commonly dark or greyish purple, generally darker and less bright than in males. Elytra with a strong coloured metallic sheen, either purple or bluish green. All visible tergites metallic, copper to purple in colour, darkening or fading to black along the margins and along a longitudinal stripe on the midline, broadening from the penultimate tergite to the apical one.

Setae: pronotum with very scarce, long, erected setae, limited to the margins and a stripe on the anterior third. The rest of the setae short and adpressed. White setae not observed. Basal glabrous areas much broader than in males, extended along 2/3 of the length.

Morphology: clypeus with a longitudinal medial keel, usually fading towards the anterior margin but always recognizable in the middle of the clypeus. Punctation more rough than males. Pronotum with sides less rounded, sculpture more rough, granular on the sides but organizing in thin fingerprint-like wrinkles towards the medial area. Protibiae with a concave internal margin; apical spur present, external teeth wider and more rounded than in males.

Genital sclerites: Fig. 13

Etymology. We dedicate this species to our friend Mauro Daccordi (Verona), specialist of Chrysomelinae , who shared with us a successful collecting trip in Syria aiming to sample E. pietschmanni .

Diagnostic remarks and observations. Eulasia daccordii , to date, has been confused with E. pietschmanni , to which it is very similar (see habitus compared in Figs. 1–4 ). Males can be reliably identified based on the structure of the protibia and of the pronotal setae, both characters being obviously different in the two species. Conversely, females are very difficult to discriminate, the only difference we observed being on the presence/absence of spiniform setae along the medial part of the elytral epipleura. However, this difference is not absolute, hence this character fails to discriminate a small number of specimens of each species. Details of external diagnostic characters are given in Table 1 and illustrated in Figs. 5–10 .

Genitalia are of no help for routine identification. The parameres do not show appreciable intraspecific differences in shape. Everted endophalli of the two species are compared in Figs. 11–12 . Only a moderate difference was observed, in the shape of the proximal diverticulum of the dorsal side. In female genital sclerites intraspecific and interspecific variation overlap.

It is interesting to note that two of the characters allowing distinction between E. pietschmanni and E. daccordii , namely the distribution of the pronotal setae and the extension of orange/testaceous parts on the last tergites of males, apply as well to the distinction between the two sister species E. genei Truqui and E. rittneri Uliana & Sabatinelli. Both these pairs of sister species, in fact, comprise one widely distributed taxon ( E. pietschmanni , E. genei ) having larger glabrous areas on pronotum and more extended testaceous parts on abdomen, and the second taxon with a limited southern distribution, centered in Israel ( E. daccordii , E. rittneri ), having more setose pronotum and less extended testaceous areas on abdomen. Although characters do not overlap completely (difference in pronotal setae do not apply to females of E. pietschmanni / E. daccordii , the difference in the extension of the abdominal orange is more remarkable between E. genei and E. rittneri ), we think that these similarities between morphological variation and spatial distribution may be suggestive of a common evolutionary path, where SW populations of both clades differentiated in similar ways possibly because experiencing similar selective pressures.

Ecological remarks. E. daccordii is a very precocious species, its earliest documented appearance being February 5th ( Jordan Valley, 240 m below the sea level). Latest known occurrence is April 26th and interestingly this observation was made towards the southern part of its distribution area (Wadi Chadira [=Nahal Hatseva]). It should be noted, however, that its early activity is obviously related to the warm climate found in the bottom of the Jordan Valley: blossoming is quite precocious and so the appearance of insects associated to flowers, including other species of flower-visiting Scarabaeoidea.

Based on field observation by GS, in the lowest part of the Jordan Valley (240 m below sea level) this species is mainly found on Anemone coronaria (Ranunculaceae) associated with E. cf. baumanni (see further on for taxonomic discussion), Pygopleurus israelitus (Muche) and P. katbehi Sabatinelli ( Coleoptera : Glaphyridae ); in the eastern (Jordanian) flank of the valley (200–435 m) the species was found on Anemone coronaria associated with Eulasi genei Truqui, E. hyrax Truqui, E. jordanica (Mitter) / E. nitidicollis (Reiche) , Pygopleurus israelitus , and P. katbehi . In the Judean desert ( West Bank), it was recently collected by Oz Rittner together with Eulasia saccai (Petrovitz) , Pygopleurus besucheti Baraud , and P. israelitus . In the North Negev (Sede Boqer) the species was found by GS on Papaver syriacus (Papaveraceae) while Pygopleurus besucheti was feeding on Anemone sp.

The area where Eulasia daccordii is distributed ( Fig. 14 ) is extremely arid, receiving about 250–300 mm of rain annually, and characterized by impervious soil known as loess. Loess soil allows minimum water absorption, causing soil erosion and water runoff. The vegetation is Mediterranean with penetration of arid and Irano-Turanian plants. Typical landscapes inhabited by E. daccordii are shown in Figs. 15–16 .

Figures

FIGURE 14. Species distribution according to examined specimens: E. pietschmanni (yellow circles) and E. daccordii (red circles). Inset showing detailed distribution of the latter. Urban areas in grey.

FIGURES 1 – 4. Habitus of the investigated species: Eulasia daccordii male (1) and female (3) (Jordan, Al Arida, paratypes); Eulasia pietschmanni male (2) and female (4) (Syria, Khirbat Duwayzin, about 100 km NW of Palmyra).

FIGURES 5 – 13. Anatomic details of Eulasia daccordii (5, 7, 9, 11, 13) and Eulasia pietschmanni (6, 8, 10, 12). 5 – 8: detail of male pronotum. 9 – 10: male left proleg. 11 - 12: apex of aedeagus with left paramere and everted endophallus. 13: female left genital sclerites. Same localities as in Figs. 1 – 4.

FIGURES 15 – 16. Landscapes inhabited by E. daccordii in the Jordan Valley (250 m below the sea level) and adjacent canyons on 15 February and 16 April 2010.

Tables

TABLE 1. Diagnostic characters to separate Eulasia pietschmanni from E. daccordii.

	Eulasia pietschmanni	Eulasia daccordii
males
Shape of protibia	With parallel sides, not enlarged at the apex.	Internal side divergent, enlarged at the apex.
Setae of pronotum (distribution)	Lateral glabrous areas extending for at least 3/4 of the pronotum. Occasionally, few setae present in their middle, but these areas are clearly extended beyond them.	Lateral glabrous area smaller, reaching at most half of the pronotum, sometimes absent.
Setae of pronotum (structure)	Surface covered with sparse, thin, adpressed setae almost always very short. (Longer coricated setae observed in two specimens only). Pilosity of the lateral margins strongly different, with stiff, erected setae much longer and thicker than the discal setae.	Discal area covered with a mix of long, erect setae and shorter, thinner setae. No adpressed pilosity is present. Pilosity of the lateral margins similar to that of the discal area, although comprising thicker setae.
Setae of pronotum (colour)	Short, coricated, white setae abundant and distributed all over the surface.	White setae absent or reduced to a small number (10–15) of erect setae, grouped at the middle of the lateral sides.
Colour of penultimate tergite	Base black in the middle and testaceous at sides; testaceous areas more or less extended on the distal half; surface with a dim metallic sheen. Stigma usually embedded in the testaceous area.	Base completely black. The rest of the surface strongly metallic. Stigma embedded in the dark or metallic area.
females
Distribution of spiniform setae along the elytral epipleura	Present on only in the humeral and in the apical region in approximately 93% of the specimens. Approximately 7% of specimens with 1–2 setae at mid-length.	Regular along its whole length in 95.5% of the specimens. 4.5% of specimens with 0–1 setae at mid-length.