Phorocardius yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927)

Ruan, Yongying, Douglas, Hume B., Qiu, Lu, Chen, Xiaoqin & Jiang, Shihong, 2020, Revision of Chinese Phorocardius species (Coleoptera, Elateridae, Cardiophorinae), ZooKeys 993, pp. 47-120 : 47

9. Phorocardius yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927) Figs 17 , 18

Cardiophorus yanagiharae Miwa, 1927: 109. Type locality: Taiwan, Tainan (China).

Phorocardius yanagiharae : Miwa 1934: 209.

Distribution.

China: Taiwan ( Miwa 1927, 1931).

Differential diagnosis.

Body length greater than 7.0 mm; integument red-brown to brown throughout. Prothorax: procoxal cavities open. Pterothorax: scutellar shield with posterior edge pointed. Tarsal claw with ventral apex not smaller than dorsal apex. Male genitalia: paramere with preapical lateral expansion present, without apical mesal callus. Female unknown.

Phorocardius yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927) resembles P. magnus Fleutiaux, 1931 in general body color and shape. They can be separated by the following combination of characters. In P. yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927), in lateral view, aedeagus with median lobe straight at apex, with paramere slender and ca. 1/2 as wide as median lobe (measured near middle part); pronotum narrower than in P. magnus , pronotal width to body width ratio 0.86; and in dorsal view, pronotum with sides of posterior angles strongly bulged and convex (Fig. 18C, D ); while in P. magnus Fleutiaux, 1931: in lateral view, aedeagus with median lobe recurved dorsally at apex, with paramere robust and as wide as median lobe (measured near middle part); pronotum wider than in P. yanagiharae , pronotal width to body width ratio 0.90-0.97; and in dorsal view, pronotum with sides of posterior angles not bulged, straight to slightly convex (Fig. 9A ).

Phorocardius yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927) also resembles P. unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) in body color. They can be separated by the following combination of characters. In P. yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927), in ventral view, aedeagus with paramere, abruptly narrowed from apical third to apex, apex with hook-like preapical lateral expansion; pronotum with shallow punctures, interspaces between punctures 1-2 × average puncture diameter; and head with frontal carina straight in frontal view; while in P. unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918), in ventral view, aedeagus with paramere gradually narrowed from mid-length to apex, apex pointed and without preapical lateral expansion; pronotum with deep punctures, interspaces between punctures 0.3-1 × average puncture diameter; and head with frontal carina convex in frontal view.

Description.

(based on holotype) Color entirely red-brown to brown throughout, with legs and antennae yellow-brown to brown; pronotum and venter slightly darker than elytra. Integument matt, with light yellow pubescence.

Measurements.

(based on holotype) Body length 9.4 mm. Body width 3.3 mm. Body length to width ratio 2.9. Pronotal width to length ratio 1.1. Pronotal width to body width ratio 0.86. Elytral length to pronotal length ratio 2.6; elytron length to width ratio 4.3.

Head. Frons and vertex with interspaces between punctures 1-3 × average puncture diameter. Frontal carina in frontal view transversely straight. Antenna with apex extending to posterior angle of pronotum. Distance between eyes to width of eye ratio 3.0. Antenna length to body length ratio 0.36.

Prothorax. Pronotum in dorsal view (Fig. 18A ): sides strongly convex from anterior edge to posterior fourth, slightly convex from posterior fourth to base of posterior angle, concave at base of posterior angle; widest near posterior third; posterior angles with lateral margin convex, strongly bulged laterally (Fig. 18C, D ); surface with interspaces between punctures 1-2 × average puncture diameter.

Pterothorax. Projections on posterior edge of mesosternum: in lateral view present, acute, (Fig. 17C ). Scutellar shield: width to length ratio 1.0; anterolateral edges slightly sinuate; posterior apex pointed. Elytra: upper edge of epipleura with minute serrations.

Legs. Length ratio of metatarsomeres I-V (excluding claws): 100; 66; 61; 47; 122. Claw with ventral apex almost as large as dorsal apex.

Abdomen. Lateral edges of visible abdominal ventrites I-V with minute serrations.

Male genitalia (only apical third observed in current study, see Fig. 17E-G ). Apical third robust in ventral and lateral views. Apical third of median lobe in ventral view (Fig. 17E ) narrowing from base to apex, apex rounded. Apical third of median lobe in lateral view bent ventrad (Fig. 17G ). Apical third of paramere in ventral view: extremely wide, 2-3 × wider than median lobe (measured at base of apical third), sides convex and narrowed to near apex, preapical lateral expansion triangular, facing laterally (Fig. 17F ); apex acute beyond preapical lateral expansion, apical mesal callus absent. Apical third of paramere in lateral view: bent ventrad and gradually narrowed towards apex, preapical ventral expansion absent, without hook-shaped structure near apex.

Female. Unknown.

Type material.

Holotype. male (TARI), labels: 1) Formosa, Y. Miwa; 車路墘, 27/IV, 1926; 2) Cardiophorus yanagiharae n. sp., det. Y. Miwa; 3) Type; 4) 1072; 5) Not type?, det. W. Suzuki, 1989; 6) Holotype of Cardiophorus yanagiharae Miwa, 1927, Identified by Ruan & Douglas, 2020.

Remarks.

Miwa (1927) stated that only one specimen was used for description of Cardiophorus yanagiharae Miwa, 1927 in the original publication. Therefore, according to ICZN (Art. 73.1.2.), the single specimen he described was fixed as holotype.

We have investigated the TARI Elateridae collection. Only one single specimen labeled as " Cardiophorus yanagiharae sp. nov." was discovered, which we have identified as the holotype for the following reasons: 1) it is preserved in the type collection with a circular type label and a rectangular TARI type number label; 2) it has a label indicating " Phorocardius yanagiharae n. sp." in Miwa’s handwriting; and 3) it has a label that indicates the specimen locality “車路墘”, which is a location in the city “Tainan”, which matches the type locality Miwa (1927) provided.

We believe Miwa had incorrectly reported the sex of the type as female. Moreover, Miwa implied the collecting date is "21/IV, 1926". However, according to our examination, the date on the label is "27/IV, 1926".

The previous record of Phorocardius yanagiharae from Sichuan province ( Jiang 1993; Jiang and Wang 1999) are erroneous. We investigated those specimens the authors used, and they turned out to be a new species (i.e., Phorocardius yunnanensis Ruan & Douglas, sp. nov., see following text).

Based on specimen information, this species inhabits low elevations (below 100 m) in south Taiwan island. The area is rainy, with subtropical to tropical climate. This species is currently considered endemic to Taiwan.

Figures

Figure 9. Phorocardius magnus Fleutiaux, 1931. A pronotum of lectotype, dorsal view (photograph: Dr Antoine Mantilleri, MNHN) B head of paralectotype, frontal view (photograph: Dr Antoine Mantilleri, MNHN) C head, frontal view, hand drawing, arrow indicating straight frontal carina D, E apex of last visible abdominal ventrite (ventrite V) of female, ventral view, paralectotype (photograph: Dr Antoine Mantilleri, MNHN) F apex of last visible abdominal ventrite (ventrite V) of female, dorsal view, non-type specimen G a model of last visible abdominal ventrite (ventrite V) of female, ventral view, hand drawing, arrow indicating tri-lobed apex H apex of last visible abdominal tergite (tergite VII) of female, dorsal view, non-type specimen I a model of last visible abdominal tergite (tergite VII) of female, dorsal view, hand drawing, arrow indicating concave apex.

Figure 17. Phorocardius yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927). A holotype, habitus, dorsal view B holotype, habitus, ventral view C holotype, habitus, lateral view with specimen labels D claw of holotype E apical part of aedeagus of holotype, ventral view F apical part of aedeagus of holotype, dorsal view G apical part of aedeagus of holotype, lateral view.

Figure 18. Phorocardius yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927). A holotype, pronotum, dorsal view B holotype, head, frontal view C right posterior angle of pronotum, dorsal view D left posterior angle of pronotum, dorsal view.