Athemus (Athemellus) bimaculicollis, Švihla, 2005

Švihla, Vladimír, 2005, New taxa of the subfamily Cantharinae (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) from south-eastern Asia with notes on other species II, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 45, pp. 71-110 : 90

Athemus (Athemellus) bimaculicollis sp. nov.

( Figs 38-41 )

Type locality. China, Shaanxi Province, Lueyang.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‘ China – Shaanxi, Lueyang , 23.-26.vi.2004, leg. E. Kučera’ ( NMPC) . PARATYPE: same data, 1 ♀ ( NMPC).

Description. Coloration. Head black, mouthparts sienna to sooty, antennae sooty, antennomeres 1-5 honey yellow on their ventral sides. Prothorax yellow, pronotum with narrow, transverse black spot on its anterior margin and with larger, approximately trapezoid, not sharply delimited, chestnut brown to black spot on its posterior half but not reaching posterior margin of pronotum, the latter very narrowly infuscate. Meso- and metasternum black, epimera of mesosternum yellow, ventral part of abdomen black, sternites narrowly yellow bordered. Legs and scutellum black, elytra glaucous bluish green.

Male. Eyes small, moderately protruding, head across eyes as wide as pronotum, temples straight and convergent posteriorly. Antennae exceeding two thirds of elytral length, antennomeres 3-11 flattened but not enlarged, antennomeres 4-11 with narrow, longitudinal to round- ed semilustrous impression. Surface of head shallowly and very finely rugulose-lacunose, finely and sparsely yellow pubescent, semilustrous. Pronotum as long as wide, its anterior margin nearly straight, anterior corners slightly rounded, lateral margins only very slightly diverging posteriorly, slightly rounded, posterior corners almost rectangular, slightly round- ed, posterior margin widely rounded. Surface of pronotum very finely and sparsely punctate and yellow pubescent, lustrous. Elytra very slightly narrowing posteriorly, elytral nervation slightly indicated, surface of elytra rugulose-lacunose, finely yellow pubescent, semilustrous. Aedeagus as in Figs. 38, 39 and 41 .

Female. Antennae shorter than in male, slightly exceeding elytral midlength, pronotum wider, almost 1.25 times as wide as long, head across eyes moderately narrower than pronotum. Elytra parallel-sided, apical portion of last sternite as in Fig. 40 , its lateral apical corners elevated.

Length J ♀: 13.0- 14.3 mm.

Differential diagnosis. Athemus (Athemellus) bimaculicollis sp. nov., in spite of the absence of appendices of claws in females, is similar and related to A. (s. str.) nigripes Wittmer, 1995, from which it further differs in wider parameres in lateral view, two spots on the pronotum, very sparsely punctate head, and very slightly protruding projections of central emargination of the last sternite in female (cf. Wittmer 1995a). Nevertheless, the currently valid classification places both species in different subgenera.

Etymology. Derived from Latin bi- = two, macula = spot and collum = neck, figuratively the pronotum. Named in reference to the coloration of the pronotum.

Distribution. China: Shaanxi.

Figures

Figs. 35-40. 35-37 – Cantharis (s. str.) dedicata sp. nov. 35 – aedeagus, ventral view; 36 – left laterophyse, oblique ventral view; 37 – last abdominal sternite of female. 38-40 – Athemus (Athemellus) bimaculicollis sp. nov. 38 – aedeagus, ventral view; 39 – ditto, lateral view; 40 – last abdominal sternite of female. Scales a – Figs. 35, 37-40; b – Fig. 36.

Figs. 1-5. 1-3 – Rhagonycha bimucronata sp. nov. 1 – aedeagus, ventral view; 2 – dorsal part of aedeagus; 3 – aedeagus, lateral view. 4 – Micropodabrus semifumatoides sp. nov., dorsal part of aedeagus. 5 – M. fissiformis sp. nov., dorsal part of aedeagus.