Anthaxia (Anthaxia) truncata Abeille, 1900

Baiocchi, Daniele, 2015, Taxonomic notes on the genus Anthaxia Eschscholtz, 1829 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Anthaxiini) 1., Zootaxa 3941 (3), pp. 339-357 : 350-354

Anthaxia (Anthaxia) truncata Abeille, 1900

( Figs. 21–28 )

Anthaxia truncata Abeille, 1900: 8 . Type locality: “Orient” [probably Iran].

Anthaxia truncata: Obenberger, 1913a: 26 (taxonomy); 1917a: 18, 34, 79, 115 (monograph); 1938: 214 (taxonomy, comments); Bílý, 1997: 37, 123, 152 (catalogue); Svoboda, 1994: 65, 67, Figs. 4 , 12 (taxonomy); Borumand, 2002: 47 ( truncata chorasanica [sic!]: incorrect subsequent spelling for turana chorasanica, faunistics).

Anthaxia (Cryptanthaxia) truncata: Richter, 1949: 5 , 51, 83–84, 251 (monograph).

Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) truncata: Bílý, 1983: 71 , 88 (faunistics, comments); Bílý, 2006: 378 (catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1486 (catalogue).

Anthaxia (s. str.) truncata: Svoboda, 1994: 67 (taxonomy).

Anthaxia lgockii Obenberger, 1917b: 38 –39, syn. nov. Type locality: [ Azerbaijan] “Caucasus: Elisabethpol“.

Anthaxia lgockii: Obenberger, 1926: 646 (catalogue); 1930: 498 (catalogue); Soldatova, 1970: 61, 63, 67, Fig. 2 (immatures).

Anthaxia (Cryptanthaxia) lgockii: Richter, 1945a: 117 (faunistics, taxonomy); 1949: 5, 51, 78, 82, 84, 248 (monograph).

Anthaxia (s. str.) lgockii: Bílý, 1991: 122 , 124, Fig. 4 (taxonomy, comments); Svoboda, 1994: 67 (taxonomy); Bílý, 1997: 27, 87, 160 (catalogue).

Anthaxia (Anthaxia) lgockii: Bílý, 2006: 371 (catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1417 (catalogue).

Anthaxia (s. str.) lgockii talyshensis Bílý, 1991: 121 –124, Fig. 5 (ssp. of lgockii ), syn. nov. Type locality: “USSR, Azerbadzhan, okr. Kosmaljana, Lerik raj., Talysh“.

Anthaxia (s. str.) lgockii talyshensis: Svoboda, 1994: 67 (taxonomy); Bílý, 1997: 27, 120, 168 (catalogue).

Anthaxia (Anthaxia) lgockii talyshensis: Bílý, 2006: 372 (catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1417, 1482 (catalogue).

Anthaxia (s. str.) a diyamana Svoboda, 1994: 65 –67, Figs. 5 , 13 , syn. nov. Type locality: “ Turkey, Adiyaman”.

Anthaxia (s. str.) a diyamana: Bílý, 1997: 13, 41, 166 (catalogue); Karaman & Tezcan, 1998: 20, 22, Fig. 1 (faunistics).

Anthaxia adiyamana: Halperin & Argaman, 2000: 106 (faunistics).

Anthaxia (Anthaxia) adiyamana: Volkovitsh, 2004: 138 (faunistics, comments); Bílý, 2006: 369 (catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1343 (catalogue).

Unavailable name. Anthaxia obsoleta Reitter (nom. nud.): Obenberger, 1917b: 38; 1930: 498 (catalogue).

Type specimens studied. Anthaxia (A.) truncata : lectotype by present designation (♂, MNHN - Fig. 21 , original labelling: Fig. 22 ); A. (A.) lgockii : holotype by monotypy (♂, NMPC inv. 22207 - Fig. 25 , original labelling: Fig. 26 ); A. (A.) lgockii ssp. talyshensis: holotype by original designation (♂, ZIN - Fig. 23 , original labelling: Fig. 24 ); A. (A.) adiyamana : holotype by original designation (♂, NMPC - Fig. 27 , original labelling: Fig. 28 ).

Remarks. Abeille (1900) described Anthaxia (A.) truncata from two specimens, both males, generically labelled from "orient", being probably from Iran. The two specimens, in a relatively good state of preservation, are currently conserved in the general Buprestidae collection of MNHN, and only one of them bears a folded label, probably handwritten by Abeille, stating " truncata Ab. ", together with a printed red " type " label which has certainly been added in more recent times. In order to establish a single name-bearing type for this species, I designate this latter specimen as lectotype ( Figs. 21–22 ), and the other specimen as paralectotype.

Anthaxia (A.) lgockii Obenberger, 1917 was described from "Elisabethpol", at that time a Governorate in the lower Caucasus that included the highlands area roughly corresponding to the current Nagorno-Karabakh region. The holotype of this species ( Fig. 25 ) shows an inconsistency of sclerotisation and a colouration typical of slightly immature individuals.

Anthaxia (A.) lgockii ssp. talyshensis Bílý, 1991 ( Figs. 23–24 ) was also described from Azerbaijan, but from the southeastern area of Lerik, near the Caspian Sea.

Anthaxia (A.) adiyamana Svoboda, 1994 ( Figs. 27–28 ) was described from the area of Adiyaman, in southcentral Turkey, but I have also found similar specimens on the Amanus massif, which seems to be the westernmost limit of distribution of the whole species-group.

I have examined a large number of specimens of A. (A.) truncata , both collected in the field and reared from samples of Astragalus sp. ( Fabaceae ), from many localities in Turkey, Syria, Israel, Caucasus and Iran.

A considerable variability has been found to occur in all studied populations. The shape of lateral pronotal borders turned out to be particularly variable, while the form of pronotal sculpture ranges from largely areolaterugose ( Fig. 21 ) to completely rugose ( Fig. 27 ), often with only hints of polygonal cells ( Fig. 23 ). An extreme variability in the size of the aedeagus has also been verified in males, regardless of locality, and even in specimens obtained from single host-plant samples (teste Bílý and Kubáň). These morphological characters are those used by the various authors in the differentiation of the above-mentioned species. With regard to the dorsal colouration, there is great variability even among specimens obtained from the same wood sample.

The great distance between the places from where these taxa were described should not mislead us. In my opinion there are a large number of populations of a strongly variable species that follows the distribution of its host-plants, namely thorny species of Astragalus of the subgenus Tragacanthus, characterized by the woody form of their stems. In fact, Anthaxia (A.) truncata seems to be a rather polymorphic species, the most variable species of its group. The other species of the same group, also strictly associated to the same host-plant group, exhibit a more constant habitus, probably due to a more restricted distribution, and to a less rich genetic inheritance.

On the basis of these studies, having compared the male lectotype of A. (A.) truncata with the male holotype of A. (A.) adiyamana , the male holotype of A. (A.) lgockii , and the male holotype of A. (A.) lgocki ssp. talyshensis, and having also evaluated the various characters indicated by the different authors in their respective descriptions, in my opinion the differences are encompassed in the wide range of phenotypic variability of what clearly seems to be a single polymorphic species. I thus consider A. (A.) adiyamana Svoboda, 1994 , A. (A.) lgockii Obenberger, 1914 and A. (A.) lgockii ssp. talyshensis Bílý, 1991 to be conspecific and synonyms of A. (A.) truncata Abeille, 1900 .

Over the years, the various above-mentioned taxa have been placed in different subgenera, until being indicated in the most recent catalogues ( Bílý 2006; Bellamy 2008) as belonging to the subgenus Haplanthaxia .

According to the current subdivision of Anthaxia s. lat. into subgenera ( Bílý 1982: 46; Nelson 1985: 134–135), A. (A.) truncata exhibits characteristic of different subgenera, but in its particular pattern of pronotal sculpture, it is in my opinion correctly placed in Anthaxia s. str.

Anthaxia (A.) truncata belongs to the A. (A.) spinosa Abeille, 1900 species-group that, as a result of this study, is currently comprised of A. (A.) spinosa Abeille, 1900 , A. (A.) truncata Abeille, 1900 , A. (A.) stateira Bílý, 1983 and A. (A.) badghyzica Bílý, 1991 .

Figures

FIGURES 21 – 24. Fig. 21, Anthaxia (Anthaxia) truncata Abeille de Perrin, 1900, ♂, lectotype (MNHN), dorsal aspect, 4.0 mm.; Fig. 22, the same, original labelling; Fig. 23, A. (A.) lgockii ssp. talyshensis Bílý, 1991, ♂, holotype, (ZIN), dorsal aspect, 3.9 mm.; Fig. 24, the same, original labelling.

FIGURES 25 – 28. Fig. 25, Anthaxia (Anthaxia) lgockii Obenberger, 1917, ♂, holotype (NMPC), dorsal aspect, 5.0 mm.; Fig. 26, the same, original labelling; Fig. 27, A. (A.) adiyamana Svoboda, 1994, ♂, holotype (NMPC), dorsal aspect, 5.1 mm.; Fig. 28, the same, original labelling.

FIGURES 1 – 4. Fig. 1, Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) bosdaghensis Obenberger, 1917, ♀, holotype (NMPC), dorsal aspect, 5.3 mm.; Fig. 2, the same, original labelling; Fig. 3, A. (H.) cavazzutii Bílý, 1979, ♀, paratype (MCCI), dorsal aspect, 4.8 mm.; Fig. 4, the same, original labelling.

FIGURES 9 – 12. Fig. 9, Anthaxia (Anthaxia) ephippiata Redtenbacher, 1850, ♀, holotype (NHMW), dorsal aspect, 5.0 mm.; Fig. 10, the same, original labelling; Fig. 11, A. (A.) kreuzbergi Richter, 1944, ♂, lectotype (ZIN), dorsal aspect, 4.1 mm.; Fig. 12, the same, original labelling.

FIGURES 5 – 8. Fig. 5, Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) cavazzutii Bílý, 1979, ♂, holotype (MCCI), dorsal aspect, 4.3 mm.; Fig. 6, the same, original labelling; Fig. 7, A. (H.) cavazzutii Bílý, 1979, ♀, allotype (MCCI), dorsal aspect, 3.9 mm.; Fig. 8, the same, original labelling.

FIGURES 13 – 16. Fig. 13, Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) parapleuralis Obenberger, 1929, ♂, lectotype (NMPC), dorsal aspect, 4.1 mm.; Fig. 14, the same, original labelling; Fig. 15, A. (H.) pleuralis Faimaire, 1883, ♂ specimen, Algeria, E of Ouarsenis, Teniet el Haad Nat. Park (DBCR), dorsal aspect, 5.1 mm.; Fig. 16, A. (H.) protractipennis Obenberger, 1914, ♂ specimen, Turkey, “ Ak Chehir ” (patria falsa) (DBCR, ex coll. Obenberger), dorsal aspect, 4.4 mm.