Histeromorphus plicatipennis Waterhouse, 1881

Purchart, Luboš, 2014, Revision of the genus Histeromorphus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from the Socotra Archipelago with descriptions of three new species *, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 54, pp. 211-230 : 221-222

Histeromorphus plicatipennis Waterhouse, 1881 , stat. rest.

( Figs 4 , 10, 16, 22 , 40–43, 56, 57)

Histeromorphus plicatipennis Waterhouse, 1881: 473 (original description); GAHAN (1903): 273 (redescription);

LESNE (1915): 228 (key to species); GEBIEN (1937): 547 (catalogue); KOCH (1970): 91 (synonymisation with H.

plicatus); LÖBL et al. (2008): 148 (catalogue, as synonym).

Type locality. Yemen, Socotra Archipelago, Socotra Island.

Type material examined. LECTOTYPE (here designated): unsexed spec.( BMNH): SYNTYPE [round, white with blue borders, printed] // Type [round, white with red borders, printed] // Socotra, 81-51 [white, handwritten] // Histeromorphus plicatipennis Waterh. ,Type [white, handritten] // LECTOTYPE, Histeromorphus plicatipennis Waterhouse, 1881 , desig. L. Purchart 2014 [red, printed]. PARALECTOTYPE: 1 unsexed spec.( BMNH): SYNTYPE [round, white with blue borders, printed] // Socotra, 81-51 [white, handwritten] // PARALECTOTYPE, Histeromorphus plicatipennis Waterhouse, 1881 , desig. L. Purchart 2014 [red, printed].

Additional material examined. (16 spec.). YEMEN: SOCOTRA ISLAND: 2 ♀♀, 3 spec. ( NMPC): Qalansiyah env., Ditwah (lagoon), N 12°41ʹ42ʺ E 53°30ʹ08ʺ, 23 m, 9.xii.2003, D. Král leg. ; 1 J ( NMPC): Gubbah vill. env., N 12°36ʹ35ʺ E 53°46ʹ56ʺ, 7 m, 23.xi.2003, D. Král leg. ; 2 JJ ( CULS), 1 ♀ ( LPCB): Qaariah vill. env., N 12°38ʹ05ʺ E 54°12ʹ39ʺ, 11 m, 28.xi.2003, J. Farkač leg. ; 1 J ( LPCB): Di Hamri , N 12°37ʹ59ʺ E 54°15ʹ40ʺ, 20 m, 27.ii.2010, L. Purchart leg. ; 1 spec. ( LPCB): Hoq cave , N 12°35ʹ10ʺ E 54°21ʹ31ʺ, 340 m, 7.vi.2012, V. Hula & J. Niedobová leg. ; 1 J ( MCSC): Qalansia , N 12°41ʹ49.15ʺ E 53°29ʹ58.55ʺ, 4.xi.2007, F. Pella leg. ; 1 spec. ( MCSC): Qalansia , N 12°41ʹ43.00ʺ E 53°31ʹ00.11ʺ, 8.xi.2007, F. Pella leg. ; 1 spec. ( MNHN): same locality, xi.1997, C. Jean-Guy leg. ; 1 spec. ( SBCP): same locality, 6.–24.ix.1999, V. Bejček & K. Šťastný leg. ; 1 spec. ( SMNS): Dexam , Scant, 6.-24.ix.1999, V. Bejček & K. Šťastný leg.

Redescription. Body length 8.3–12.0 mm (lectotype: 10.0 mm), body width 4.8–7.3 mm (lectotype: 6.5 mm). Black, dull, glabrous. Body broad, oval ( Fig. 4 ).

Head smooth, very sparsely punctate anteriorly ( Fig. 10 ). Anterior margin of clypeus strongly sinuate and therefore bidentate. Clypeus sparsely punctate, frontoclypeal suture slightly indicated laterally.

Pronotum broadest before middle, smooth, glabrous. Sides of pronotum rounded. Anterior corners acute. Posterior corners obtuse-angled.

Elytra broad, with broadly rounded sides. Elytral surface longitudinally plicate with four zigzag elytral striae on each elytron. Space between first and second striae flattened, following three interstriae distinctly convex. Pseudopleura separated from elytra by pseudopleural margin, which is obliterated between anterior half and apex of elytra and running from humeral angles obliquely downwards towards elytral apex below rounded elytral margin (when viewed from behind) ( Fig. 22 ).

Ventral part. Prosternum glabrous, smooth, impunctate. Prosternal apophysis as broad as procoxae, widened apically. Mesoventrite glabrous, smooth, slightly longer (in ventral view) than coxae. Metaventrite glabrous, smooth, as long (in ventral view) as coxae. Abdominal ventrites glabrous, smooth. Meso- and metaventrite with abdominal ventrites I and II gibbous in both males and females.

Legs. Profemur distinctly claviform ( Fig. 16 ), its dorsal side sparsely covered with short erected yellowish setae.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus simple (Figs 40–43). Apical piece of tegmen narrowed at its base, gradually narrowing towards apex, rapidly narrowing at apex, with short opening on ventral side; base of apical piece straight and with distinct teeth. Basal piece subparallel. Median lobe very slightly S-like in lateral view.

Female genitalia. See Figs 56, 57.

Differential diagnosis. Histeromorphus plicatipennis differs from other species mainly in the longitudinally plicate and convex interstriae with four zigzag striae on each elytron (the elytral surface is smooth in H. carinatus sp. nov., H. plicatus , H. nogedensis sp. nov., with transverse wavy lines in H. undatus and with straight and strongly convex interstriae in H. convexicostatus sp. nov.), in the meso- and metaventrite with the abdominal ventrites I and II being distinctly gibbous, and finally in the different shape of aedeagus. From H. carinatus sp. nov., H. convexicostatus sp. nov. and H. undatus it differs also in the incomplete, obsolete pseudopleural margin (complete in the three previous species).

Distribution. Histeromorphus plicatipennis occurs only along the north coast of Socotra Island. Similarly as in H. nogedensis sp. nov., the only specimen with locality “Dexam, Scant” seems to be wrongly labelled.

Remarks. There is no doubt that KOCH (1970) did not examine the type specimens when he synonymised H. plicatipennis with H. plicatus , as both species are very different (see differential diagnosis). The latter species shows in some specimens a similar but distinct pattern of elytral surface: H. plicatipennis has longitudinally plicate elytra with four regularly zigzag-like elytral striae, while in some specimens of H. plicatus a somewhat plicate elytral surface can be observed but never with four regularly zigzag-like striae and the elytral surface is not strictly longitudinally plicate. In my opinion, Kochʼs taxonomical act was based on such specimens of H. plicatus .

Figures

Figs 1–6. Habitus of Histeromorphus in dorsal view. 1 – H. carinatus sp. nov., holotype; 2 – H. convexicostatus sp. nov., holotype; 3 – H. nogedensis sp. nov., holotype; 4 – H. plicatipennis Waterhouse, 1881; 5 – H. plicatus Kraatz, 1865; 6 – H. undatus Gahan, 1900. Scale bar = 5 mm.

Figs 7–27. 7–12 – head in dorsal view. 13–18 – profemur in ventral view; white arrows indicate keeled anterior margin. 19–24 – pseudopleural margin in lateral view; ee – edge of elytra; pem – pseudopleural margin. 25–27 – elytral surface variability. 7, 13, 19 – Histeromorphus carinatus sp. nov., holotype; 8, 14, 20 – H. convexicostatus sp. nov., holotype; 9, 15, 21 – H. nogedensis sp. nov., holotype; 10, 16, 22 – H. plicatipennis Waterhouse, 1881; 11, 17, 23, 25–27 – H. plicatus Kraatz, 1865; 12, 18, 24 – H. undatus Gahan, 1900.