Prateini tribe nov., 1894

Aalbu, Rolf L., Kanda, Kojun, Merkl, Otto, Ivie, Michael A. & Johnston, M. Andrew, 2023, Reconstitution of some tribes and genera of Lagriinae (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae), ZooKeys 1172, pp. 155-202 : 155

Prateini tribe nov.

Figs 6-14 , 15-18 , 19-20

Type genus.

Prateus LeConte, 1862.

Description.

Body length: 1.5-6.0 mm, stout to elongate, glabrous or setose. Most species are unicolored, fuscous to piceous, but a few species are patterned.

Head: Eyes round to ovoid, at most feebly notched anteriorly by epistomal canthus. Antennae usually reaching the middle of the pronotum, sometimes extending just past the base of the pronotum; antennomeres obconical to moniliform with last three to five forming a weak to strong club.

Thorax: Pronotum shape variable, usually quadrate to rectangular. Lateral margin complete, smooth to dentate. Procoxae clearly separated by prosternal process. Mesocoxal cavity laterally closed by meeting of lateral arms of meso- and metaventrite (Fig. 2 ). Elytra usually confusedly punctured, rarely with well-defined striae. Metathoracic wings usually well developed, but reduced or absent in some species. Legs slender, not fossorial. Penultimate tarsomeres lobed or cupuliform.

Abdomen: Intersegmental membranes visible between sternites V-VII, abdominal hinging tenebrionoid. Defensive glands absent. Ovipositor slender, with three to four clearly separated coxite lobes, terminal coxite digitate, gonostyli apical or subapical.

Diagnosis.

Prateini is distinguished from Goniaderini and Lupropini by having the mesocoxal cavity closed (i.e., laterally closed by meeting of meso- and metaventrite) and absence of abdominal defensive glands.

In Lagriinae , this character combination is only shared with Cossyphini Latreille, 1802. These two tribes can easily be distinguished from each other by the general habitus; all species of Cossyphini have prominent pronotal and elytral flanges, and the pronotal flange covers the head. In Prateini , the pronotum never covers the head. Cossyphini also has medial hinging between abdominal sternites V-VII (i.e., tentyrioid hinging) and intersegmental membranes are not visible, while Prateini has lateral hinging between abdominal sternite V-VII (i.e., tenebrionoid hinging) and intersegmental membranes are visible.

Genera included.

Antennoluprops Schawaller, 2007a, Ardoiniellus * Schawaller, 2013, Bolitrium Gebien, 1914, Enicmosoma Gebien, 1922, Indenicmosoma Ardoin, 1964, Iscanus Fauvel, 1904, Kuschelus * Kaszab, 1982a, Lorelopsis Champion, 1896, Mesotretis Bates, 1872, Microcalcar Pic, 1925, Micropedinus Lewis, 1894, Paratenetus Spinola, 1845, Prateus LeConte, 1862, Terametus * Motschulsky, 1869 and Tithassa Pascoe, 1860.

Figures

Figures 6 - 14. Dorsal habitus of representatives of Prateini genera. 6 Bolitrium chinensis (Kaszab, 1940), holotype 7 Enicmosoma sp. 8 Indenicmosoma punctator Kaszab, 1979 9 Iscanus trukensis (Kulzer, 1957), paratype 10 Mesotretis ferruginea Bates, 1872, syntype 11 Microcalcar instriatum (Pic, 1925) 12 Micropedinus sp. 13 Paratenetus punctatus Spinola, 1844 14 Tithassa corynomelas Pascoe, 1860. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (7, 8); 1 mm (9, 12, 13); images lacking scale bars were produced by Otto Merkl and sizes of specimens were not recorded before he passed.

Figures 15 - 18. Dorsal habitus of species of Prateus LeConte, 1862 and Lorelopsis Champion, 1896. 15 Prateus fusculus LeConte, 1862, type species of Prateus 16 P. priscus (Sharp, 1876), type species of Lorelus Sharp, 1876 17 Lorelopsis exilis (Champion, 1913) 18 L. trapeziderus (Champion, 1913). Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figures 19 - 20. Head of two Lorelopsis species. 19 Lorelopsis sp. with clearly discernible supraorbital setae (SupS) 20 L. trapeziderus (Champion, 1913), a densely setose species in which the supraorbital setae are not discernible.

Figures 2 - 5. Mesocoxal closure in Lagriinae. 2 Closed state, Prateus fusculus LeConte, 1862 (Prateini) 3 Open state, Phymatestes sp. (Goniaderini) 4 Open state, Capeluprops laenoides Schawaller, 2011 (Laenini) 5 Closed state distorted during preservation, Micropedinus sp. (Prateini). Abbreviation: msv (yellow polygon) = mesoventrite, msa (red polygon) = mesanepisternum, mse (green polygon) = mesepisternum, mtv (blue polygon) = metaventrite.