Cnemargulus krulikovskyi Semenov, 1903

Ziani, Stefano, 2019, A revision of the Aphodiini genus Cnemargulus Semenov, 1903 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Scarabaeidae), Insecta Mundi 2019 (689), pp. 1-10 : 4-5

Cnemargulus krulikovskyi Semenov, 1903

( Fig. 7–13 )

Cnemargulus krulikovskii Semenov 1903: 354 ; Schmidt 1910a: 13 (as Cnemisus ); Schmidt 1910b: 4 (as Cnemisus ); Schmidt 1922: 344 (as Cnemisus krulikovskyii ); Winkler 1929: 1059 (as Cnemisus ); Balthasar 1964: 474 (as Cnemisus (Cnemargulus) krulikovskii ); Medvedev and Nikritin 1971: 1882 (as Cnemargulus krulikovskii ); Nikolajev 1979: 40 (as ( Aphodius ) Mendidius ) krulikovskii ); Pittino 1984: 307 (as Cnemargulus krulikovskii ); Nikolajev 1987: 121 (as Aphodius (Mendidius) krulikovskii ); Dellacasa 1988: 401; Dellacasa 1990: 22; Dellacasa et al. 2001: 119; Dellacasa and Dellacasa 2006: 140; Krajcik 2012: 75; Dellacasa et al. 2016: 121.

Cnemargulus pusio Semenov, 1903: 355 [type locality: “Prov. Transcaspica: Merv [ Turkmenistan, Mary region]; type material: 3 syntypes, 2 ♂♂ and 1 ♀, in ZIN (examined)] (new synonymy)]; Schmidt, 1910a: 13 (as Cnemisus ); Schmidt, 1910b: 4 (as Cnemisus ); Schmidt 1922: 344 (as Cnemisus ); Winkler 1929: 1059 (as Cnemisus ); Balthasar 1964: 474 (as Cnemisus ( Cnemargulus )); Medvedev and Nikritin 1971: 1882; Pittino 1984: 307; Nikolajev 1987: 121 (as Aphodius ( Mendidius )); Dellacasa 1988: 401; Dellacasa and Dellacasa 2006: 140; Krajcik 2012: 75; Dellacasa et al. 2016: 121.

Type locality. “Prov. Transcaspica: Imam-baba haud procul a Merv” [ Turkmenistan, Imam Baba, Mary province].

Type material. Lectotype ♂, designated by Dellacasa 1990, and 2 paralectotypes ♀♀, in ZIN (examined).

Type labelling. 1 st, recto, white with violet frame, printed in violet: “Transcaspien / C. O. Ahnger.” and handwritten in black: [in Cyrillic, transliterated] “Imam baba. / 3.XI.99.”, verso, white, handwritten in black: [in Cyrillic, transliterated] “peski, v kornjach”; 2 nd, white, handwritten and printed in black: “ Cnemargulus / Krulikovskii m. / ♂. Typ. X.03 / A. Semenow det.”; 3 rd, white, printed in black: “Zoological Institute / St. Petersburg / INS_COL_0001326”; 4 th, red, handwritten in black: “ Cnemargulus / krulikovskyi Sem. / Lectotypus ♂ / G. Dellacasa des. 1990”.

Diagnostic features. Length from 3.2 to 5.0 mm. Colour light testaceous, head, pronotum and elytral suture pale brown; pubescence pale yellow.

Head shiny, convex, epistome distinctly granulate, frontal suture distinct, with slightly raised coarse tubercle at middle and one elongate transverse tubercle each side, and with a fourth, more or less slightly raised tubercle, at middle between frontal suture and anterior edge of clypeus, sometimes closer to the latter; vertex coarsely punctate; genae strongly auriculate, and elongately ciliate, protruding from eyes; clypeus quadridentate anteriorly, inner teeth longer than outer ones, each tooth strongly curved upward, edge between outer teeth and genae more or less straight, never clearly dentate.

Pronotum glossy, transverse, strongly convex, round laterally, punctate, punctures separated by two to three diameters on disc, completely margined, even if anterior margin sometimes barely perceptible, lateral margin with sparse long hairs.

Scutellum triangular, distinctly punctate.

Elytra elongate-oval, convex, shiny, moderately dilate apically in females, barely more straight in males; striae fine, distinctly impressed, evidently punctate, punctures slightly crenating sides, interstriae nearly flat or only barely convex on disc, sparsely superficially punctate; sutural interstria strongly narrowed apically; humeral apex of epipleural carina visible from above.

Metasternum almost flat, smooth, shiny, finely sparsely punctate.

Foretibiae externally with three strong distal teeth, and with three very small but always distinct proximal teeth; meso- and metatibiae barely widened apically, apical setae quite long, almost unequal, mesotibiae with a single extremely long erected seta, about twice as long as other setae; upper spur of metatibiae strong, flattened, slightly curved, almost as long as the first two tarsal segments.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 10–12 ) elongate, with paramera round and moderately widened apically and, in lateral view, distinctly acuminate toward apex.

Epipharynx ( Fig. 13 ) transverse, round at sides; epitorma oval; corypha with two stout apical celtes as long as, or little more, acropariae.

Variability. Clypeal teeth can be more or less developed and more or less acuminate apically and more or less separated from each other.

Distribution. Turkmenistan ( Semenov 1903). Kyrgyzstan ( Balthasar 1964). Uzbekistan ( Nikolajev 1987).

Material examined. TURKMENISTAN: “Imam baba”(lectotype, ZIN); “Jolatan” [ Ýolöten , Mary province], 24.iv.1899 and 26.iv.1899, C. Ahnger leg. 2 ♀♀ (paralectotypes, ZIN); “Merv” [Mary, Mary province], 18.iii.1900, C. Ahnger leg. 2 ♂♂ and 1 ♀ (syntypes of C. pusio , ZIN); “Jolatan” [ Ýolöten , Mary province], 15.iii.1927, V. Kiseritzky leg. 2 exx. ( ZIN).

Literature records. Kyrgyzstan, Sussamyr , 1 ex. ( Balthasar 1964). Uzbekistan, Central Kyzylkum , 1 ex. ( Nikolajev 1987). Turkmenistan, Jolatan , 1 ex. ( Dellacasa 1990).

Discussion. Cnemargulus krulikovskyi and C. pusio , described by Semenov (1903) in the same paper, have as their type localities Imam Baba for the former and Mary for the latter. Imam Baba, if understood as the archaeological site of the Mausoleum of Imam Baba, near Sandykachi, is 78 km south of Ýolöten (the locality of the two paralectotypes of C. krulikovskyi ), and some 120 km southeast of Mary. Semenov (1903) supplied some characters for distinguishing the two taxa. He wrote that C. pusio is smaller than C. krulikovskyi , paler, has granules more spaced on the head, clypeal apical teeth more produced and less separated from each other, the distal ones more lateral, the space between the apical tooth and genal suture not crenulate, the frontal carina slightly trituberculate, the pronotum wider, anterior angles broader and elytral interstriae almost convex and shiny. In his dichotomous key, Schmidt (1922) reported only one character to distinguish the two taxa, namely the space between the clypeal apical tooth and the genal suture, which is crenulate in C. krulikovskyi and uncrenulate in C. pusio . Balthasar (1964) reported this character as well, and also added the distinct frontal carina in C. krulikovskyi (weak in C. pusio ), the less-shiny pronotum, and the elytral interstriae almost flat and impunctuate (pronotum shinier and elytral interstriae convex and clearly punctate). In my opinion, these characters fall within infraspecific variability, and can be observed, more or less evident, in all the specimens I have examined. For these reasons, and for paramera that present a remarkable uniformity ( Fig. 10–11 ), I herein propose the synonymy Cnemargulus krulikovskyi = C. pusio .

Nomenclatural remarks. Articles 24.2.1 and 24.2.2 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ( ICZN 1999), from now on called the Code, stated that when the precedence between names or nomenclatural acts cannot be objectively determined, the precedence is fixed by the action of the first author – termed “First Reviser” - citing in a published work those names or acts and selecting from them. The “First Reviser” fixes the precedence of a name or an act if those names or acts are published on the same date in the same work. As “First Reviser”, I herein fix the precedence of Cnemargulus krulikovskyi Semenov, 1903 upon Cnemargulus pusio Semenov, 1903 , which is therefore considered its junior synonym.

Semenov (1903) described the species as Cnemargulus krulikovskii , and in a footnote declared that it was dedicated to L. C. Krulikovsky [Leonid Konstantinovitsch Krulikowski (1864-1920), a Russian lepidopterologist ( Schmitt et al. 1998)]. Therefore, krulikovskii is the correct original spelling, and it is not possible to apply article 32.5 of the Code ( ICZN 1999). The first author who used krulikovskyi was Schmidt (1910a, b), but he did not demonstrate an intentional change in the original spelling of the name. Without an explicit statement of intention, the name should be considered as a subsequent incorrect spelling, and it should not enter into homonymy and cannot be used as a substitute name. Nevertheless, according to article 33.3.1 of the Code ( ICZN 1999), if the incorrect subsequent spelling is in prevailing usage and attributed to the publication of the original spelling, it is preserved and deemed to be the correct original spelling. In the glossary of the Code ( ICZN 1999), it is explained that a name is to be considered of prevailing usage when its usage is adopted by at least a substantial majority of the most recent authors concerned with the relevant taxon. In our case, the name krulikovskyi Semenov, 1903 has been used nine times ( Schmidt 1910a, b; Winkler 1929; Dellacasa 1988, 1990; Dellacasa et al. 2001, 2016; Dellacasa and Dellacasa 2006; Krajcik 2012), the name krulikovskii Semenov, 1903 has been used five times ( Balthasar 1964; Medvedev and Nikritin 1971; Nikolajev 1979, 1987; Pittino 1984) and the name krulikovskyii Semenov, 1903 only once ( Schmidt 1922). In addition, the more recent authors that dealt with the subject have used the spelling krulikovskyi . For that reasons, under article 33.3.1 of the Code ( ICZN 1999), the spelling krulikovskyi is deemed to be the correct original spelling and is preserved.

Figures

Figures 7–13. Cnemargulus krulikoƲskyi Semenov, 1903. 7) Habitus of male [lectotype]. 8) Habitus of female [paralectotype, Turkmenistan, Mary prov., Ýolöten]. 9) Habitus of male [syntype of C. pusio Semenov, 1903: Turkmenistan, Mary prov., Ýolöten]. 10) Aedeagus, dorsal view [lectotype]. 11) Aedeagus, dorsal view [syntype of C. pusio Semenov, 1903: Turkmenistan, Mary prov., Ýolöten]. 12) Aedeagus, lateral view [syntype of C. pusio Semenov, 1903: Turkmenistan, Mary prov., Ýolöten]. 13) Epipharynx [lectotype]. Photos by Augusto Degiovanni, drawings by Ivo Gudenzi.