Ropica dorsalis Schwarzer, 1925

Lin, Mei-Ying, Perissinotto, Renzo & Clennell, Lynette, 2021, Census of the longhorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae and Vesperidae) of the Macau SAR, China, ZooKeys 1049, pp. 79-161 : 79

Ropica dorsalis Schwarzer, 1925

Fig. 29

Ropica formosana var. dorsalis Schwarzer, 1925b: 145. TL: China (Taiwan); TD: SFNF

Distribution.

Palaearctic Region: China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Taiwan, Zhejiang); Japan, Nepal ( Hayashi 1972, 1982; Lazarev and Murzin 2019; Lin and Yang 2019). Oriental Region: India; Laos; Vietnam ( Lazarev 2019; Lin and Yang 2019).

Macau records.

1♀, Cotai Ecological Zone, 1st zone, 14 Oct 2015, leg. Feng-Long Jia (SYSU); 1♂, ibidem 7 Apr 2018, leg. Wei-Cai Xie (SYSU); Great Taipa, 7 May 2019, on wall in ablution block, R Perissinotto & L Clennell (IZCAS); ibidem 12 May 2021, Lynette Clennell (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/78523371); St. Francis Xavier’s Parish [Coloane], 30 Apr 2021, Lynette Clennell (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76108157).

Remarks.

Macau specimens exhibit a total length of 6.0-6.5 mm and a maximum width of 2.0-2.5 mm. The species is nocturnal and attracted to artificial lights. In the past, it has been misidentified and confused with R. honesta ( Hua 2002; Chou 2004, 2008; Yiu 2009), with consequent mix up of their respective distribution records ( Hua 2002; Lin and Yang 2019). According to Gressitt (1951), Cucumis sativus is among its host plants and in Hong Kong larvae have been found boring into stems of Cucumis melo ( Yiu 2009).

Figures

Figure 29. Ropica dorsalis Schwarzer, 1925: dorsal (A) and lateral (B) views of specimens observed on Great Taipa Hill on 7 May 2019 and at Coloane Village on 30 Apr 2021, respectively (photographs: LC).