Timarcha (T.) piochardi, 2018

Petitpierre, Eduard & Anichtchenko, Alexander, 2018, Endophallus structure: a promising tool for cryptic species identification in Timarcha Samouelle, 1819 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Chrysomelinae), Zootaxa 4446 (3), pp. 361-383 : 374

T. (T.) piochardi Fairmaire, 1873 stat. nov.

Material: 8 ♂: Alió , Tarragona, 26.11.1967, leg. E. Petitpierre (EPC) ; 1 ♂: Garraf, Barcelona, 0 4.1972, leg. E. Petitpierre (EPC); 9 ♂: Tibidabo Mt. , Barcelona, around 300 m alt., 10.1966, leg. E. Petitpierre (EPC).

Description: MALES ANd fEMALES Of dULL BLACK OR BRONZE COLOUR. FAIRMAIRE (1884) WROTE THAT THIS SpECIES HAS A CURVEd pRONOTUM WITH pOSTERIOR ANGLES SLIGHTLY SINUATE, ANd A dENSELY ANd fINELY pUNCTUREd SURfACE, WITH ELYTRA ALSO dENSELY BUT COARSELY pUNCTUREd, WITH INTERSTICES VERY fINELY pUNCTUATE. BECHYNÉ (1948A) CLASSIfIEd THIS TAXON AS A SUBSpECIES Of T. fallax BASEd ON THE pRONOTUM SLIGHTLY MORE SHINING THAN ELYTRA IN BOTH SEXES, ANd BOTH WITH dENSE SMALL pUNCTURES. THE STUdY Of THE ENdOpHALLUS ( fIGS 25A, B ), REVEALEd THAT IT IS CLEARLY dIffERENT fROM THAT Of T. fallax ( fIGS 26A, B, C ) OWING TO STOUT OVIfORM SHApE WITH TWO SMALL DA pROTUBERANCES ANd A NARROWEd BASAL pART; fILIfORM- MANUBRIUM, dIVIdEd; ANd fLAGELLUM WEAKLY SCLEROTIZEd. A NEW STATUS fOR T. piochardi IS pROpOSEd HERE, ANd THE SpECIES WOULd BE TENTATIVELY pLACEd IN THE “ T. goettingensis ”—GROUp.

Figures

FIGURES 22–25. Endophallus of “T. goettingensis” group: 22a, b—T. sinuatocollis (Campelles); 23a, b—T. monserratensis (Montseny); 24a, b—T. interstitialis (Canet); 25a, b—T. piochardi (Alió). Scale = 1 mm.

FIGURES 26–28. Endophallus structure of “T. fallax” group: 26—T. fallax (Paterna); 27—T. tortosensis (Aldea); 28—T. aurichalcea (Tragacete)