Coleolissus Bates, 1892

Kataev, B. M., 2021, Description of a remarkable new species of the genus Coleolissus from the Western Ghats (India), with notes on this and related genera (Coleoptera: Carabidae), Russian Entomological Journal 30 (4), pp. 448-454 : 452

Coleolissus Bates, 1892

Coleolissus Bates, 1892: 338 . Type species: Hypolithus perlucens Bates, 1878 , designated by Andrewes [1939].

Tenuistilus Habu, 1978: 51 . Type species: Tenuistilus teradai Habu, 1978 , by original designation, syn.n.

Coleolissus was erected as a subgenus of Hypolithus Dejean, 1829 (= Hyparpalus Alluaud, 1930 ) for four species from Burma and one species (designated later as type species) from Kashmir [ Bates, 1892], distinguished all from other congeners mainly by glabrous body and elytra with row of setigerous pores only on interval 3. More recently, Andrewes [1924] treated Coleolissus as a separate genus but he did not provide any additional characteristics of this taxon. Most of the subsequent authors also only described new species in this genus.According to Darlington [1968], the genus Coleolissus differs from Hyphaereon in having last abdominal sternite with two pairs of marginal setae in both sexes and elytra with sutural angle denticulate, however he noted that these characteristics are based on New Guinean species only. Habu [1973], based on one species from southern Japan, three species from Indonesia and one from northern Australia, also considered Coleolissus as a separate genus having: elytra spinous at apex; scutellar striole developed; interval 3 with series of several small setigerous pores adjoining stria 2 (subgenus Coleolissus s. str.) or without pores (subgenus Neolissus Landin, 1955 ), and intervals 5 and 7 without series of pores. In addition, some later Habu [1978: 52] erected the genus Tenuistilus for one species from Taiwan as “allied to Coleolissus but it is distinguishable from it by the elytra never spinous at the apex and the unusually slenderer apical segment of the styluses, with the foramen close to the apex instead of being at the subapical area ....”. Ito [1987: 21] mostly followed Habu’s [1973, 1978] treatment but considered Tenuistilus as a subgenus of Coleolissus additionally to Neolissus and Coleolissus s. str. since styluses in Tenuistilus are “structurally similar to those of Coleolissus ”. The mentioned authors apparently never saw the type species of Neolissus and Coleolissus . Their examination revealed that the former taxon is conspecific with the genus Loxoncus Schmidt-Göbel, 1846 (subtribe Stenolophina ) [Kataev, 2003] and the latter one corresponds to Tenuistilus sensu Ito, 1987 . The examined holotype of C. perlucens at MNHN (female labeled “Jhelum Vall., Cashmere”, “ Hypolithus perlucens Bates ” [Bates’ handwriting] and “Ex Musaeo H.W. Bates, 1892 ”) has elytra blunted at apex, not denticulate or spinous, and the gonocoxite (apical stylomere) curved and with seta on inner side situated preapically.According to the available data, the denticulate apex of elytron is a characteristic of most species of Coleolissus distributed in the Indo-Malay Archipelago, New Guinean region to northern Australia, and also in the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Philippines, and does not occur in species from mainland Asia.In other characters, the species with denticulate elytral apex (= Coleolissus sensu Darlington, 1968 , Habu, 1973 and Ito, 1987) are very similar to the species with elytra not denticulate at apex although may represent one or more natural groups [ Ito, 2017] warranting separate subgeneric status. It is worth noting, however, that gonocoxites of many species with denticulate elytral apex are elongate,weakly curved, with narrow base and with seta on inner side in apical position as described by Habu [1978] for Tenuistilus . Thus, Tenuistilus should be treated as synonym of Coleolissus .