Lycocerus wenchuani, Hsiao & Okushima, 2016

Hsiao, Yun & Okushima, Yûichi, 2016, A new species of the genus Lycocerus from Taiwan (Coleoptera: Cantharidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (1), pp. 255-264 : 261-263

Lycocerus wenchuani sp. nov.

( Figs 1F–G , 2D–F , 3C–D , 4 )

Type locality. Taiwan, Pingtung County, Chunri Township, Jinshuiying Historic Trail .

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♂, ‘ TAIWAN / Jinshuiying / Pingtung / 27.iv.2014 / W.-C.Liao leg.’ ( NMNS) . PARATYPES: 3 ♀♀, same data as for the holotype ( NMNS) ; 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, ‘ TAIWAN / Dawu Working Circle 36 Land / 1030m / Ping Tung Co. / S. Taiwan / 6. v. 2002 / C.-L. Li leg.’ (3 ♂♂ 1 ♀ in KURA; 1 ♂ 1 ♀ in YHC) ; 2 ♀♀, ‘ TAIWAN / Tu Ling / 1600m / I Lan Co. / N. E. Taiwan / 27–28. v. 2002 / C.-L. Li leg.’ ( KURA) ; 2 ♀♀, ‘ TAIWAN / Lijia forest-road / Taitung Co. / 30. v.–1. vi. 2010 / N. Ohbayashi leg.’ ( KURA) .

Description. Coloration. Eyes black. Head black. Antennae blackish brown. Pronotum yellowish brown, with large black marking in middle. Elytra black, with large and thick yellowish brown longitudinal stripe on each elytron. Legs black, with basal parts and apices of tibiae yellowish brown or with basal parts of femora and tibiae yellowish brown. Prosternum yellowish brown, meso-, metaventrites and abdomen black. Body closely covered with fine pale pubescence; anterior margin of clypeus fringed with pale bristles; antennae, elytra and legs with some yellowish bristles intermingled with primary pubescence.

Male ( Fig. 1F ). Head nearly as long as wide; vertex faintly hollowed, depressed along apical margin of clypeus and in lateral areas before eyes; surface densely and finely punctate and semilustrous; anterior margin of clypeus arcuate and faintly indented in middle; eyes not so large, globular and slightly prominent, ratio of eye diameter to interocular space 1: 4.0; terminal labial palpomeres rounded axe-shaped; terminal maxillary palpomeres rounded axe-shaped; antennae filiform, extending to apical third of elytra, antennomere I clavate, II short and a little expanded apicad, III to XI subcylindrical, all antennomeres without groove, ratio of lengths of antennomeres as follows: 160: 100: 165: 200: 200: 200: 190: 185: 185: 165: 200.

Pronotum subquadrate, about 0.85 times as wide as head, nearly as long as wide; anterior and posterior margins moderately arcuate; lateral margins subparallel, feebly sinuate; anterior angles rounded; posterior angles obtuse; dorsum convex in postero-lateral and hollowed in antero-lateral areas; medio-longitudinal groove distinct in posterior half; surface smooth and semilustrous. Scutellum triangular with rounded apex.

Elytra conjointly about 1.5 times as wide as pronotum, about 3.0 times as long as wide, sides subparallel; surface densely and finely punctate and semilustrous.

Legs moderately slender; femora mostly straight; tibiae mostly straight, with basal part feebly arcuate; claws simple.

Aedeagus ( Figs 2D–F ). Ventral process expanded apically, apex curved inwards, basal part broad and extending inwards onto ventral side; dorsal plate of each paramere shorter than ventral process, apical margin sinuate, with some hairs on it, concave on inner margin. Laterophyse thick with obtuse apex. Inner sac swollen apically, and somewhat shorter than tegmen.

Body length: 4.50–5.00 mm (holotype: 4.50 mm); width: 0.75–0.80 mm (0.75).

Female ( Fig. 1G ). Similar to male. Body wider than in male. Eyes somewhat smaller than in male, ratio of eye diameter to interocular space 1: 5.0. Antennae distinctly shorter than in male, extending to elytral midlength, ratio of lengths of antennomeres as follows: 175: 100: 115: 150: 150: 155: 140: 140: 135: 130: 160. Pronotum nearly as wide as head, about 0.90 times as long as wide. Elytra conjointly about 1.7 times as wide as pronotum, about 2.8 times as long as wide. Claws simple. Abdominal ventrite VII widely emarginate on each side of terminal margin, forming subtriangular lateral lobes, median lobe not well developed or indistinct ( Fig. 3C ).

Female genitalia ( Fig. 3D ). Vagina stout and rounded, and abruptly extended apically as long and thick duct; diverticulum and spermathecal duct arising from apex of long duct of vagina; diverticulum moderately thin and spiral; spermathecal duct shorter than diverticulum; spermatheca provided with thin spiral tube, which is longer than diverticulum; accessory gland thin, shorter than spermathecal.

Length: 5.00–6.00 mm; width: 0.80–1.25 mm.

Differential diagnosis. This species resembles the multi-color form of L. rhagonychiformis , L. hanatanii , L. ueharaensis and L. maculiceps in appearance, but it can be distinguished by the combination of the following characters: completely black head, black legs, with basal parts and apices of tibiae yellowish brown or with basal parts of femora and tibiae yellowish brown, abdominal ventrite VII of females with median lobe not well developed or indistinct, aedeagus: ventral process expanded apically, the apex curved inwards; dorsal plate shorter than ventral process, with sinuate apical margin; thick laterophyse, with an obtuse apex, visible in lateral view.

Etymology. The specific name is dedicated to the collector of the holotype, Mr. Wen-Chuan Liao (Tainan, Taiwan), who is one of the citizen scientists assisting many Taiwanese insect taxonomists to collect materials.

Distribution ( Fig. 4 ). Taiwan (endemic).

Remarks. This species is distributed in the southern to southeastern area of Taiwan about 1000–1600 m a.s.l. altitude. It appears mainly from late spring to early summer according to the label data.

Figures

Fig 1. Habitus, dorsal view.A–E – Lycocerus rhagonychiformis (Wittmer, 1983); F–G – L. wenchuani sp. nov.A–C, F – males; D–E, G – females. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

Fig 2. Aedeagus.A–C – Lycocerus rhagonychiformis (Wittmer, 1983); D–F – L. wenchuani sp. nov. A, D – ventral view; B, E – lateral view; C, F – dorsal view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig 3. A, C – abdominal ventrite VII of female; B, D – female genitalia, lateral view. A–B – Lycocerus rhagonychiformis (Wittmer, 1983); C–D – L. wenchuani sp. nov. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.Abbreviations: ag – accessory gland; di – diverticulum; sd – spermathecal duct; sp – spermatheca; va – vagina.

Fig 4. Distribution map of Lycocerus in Taiwan.