Meligethes (Meligethes) binotatus Grouvelle, 1894

Liu, Meike, Huang, Min, Cline, Andrew Richard & Audisio, Paolo, 2018, New and poorly known Meligethes Stephens from China, with bionomical data on some species (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Meligethinae), Zootaxa 4392 (3), pp. 546-566 : 548

Meligethes (Meligethes) binotatus Grouvelle, 1894

Examined material. China, SICHUAN, XIANgCHENg COUNTY, 2800–2900 m A.S. L., 28.946389° 99.806667°, 19.vI.2017, LIU & AUDISIO LgT, ON Rosa soulieana CRépIN, 14 ♂, 18 ♀, AND SEvERAL THIRD-INSTAR LARvAE ( NWAU, CAR-MZUR, NMPC, ARCC) .

Distribution. SW CHINA (YUNNAN, SICHUAN), NE INDIA, NEpAL, N MYANmAR, BHUTAN (AUDISIO et al. 2015).

Host-plants. THE HOST-pLANTS Of THIS COmmON AND WIDESpREAD SpECIES WERE pREvIOUSLY UNKNOWN. ALL THE AbOvE LISTED SpECImENS HAvE bEEN COLLECTED, WITH SEvERAL LARvAE, ON fLOWERINg SHRUbS Of Rosa soulieana CRépIN ( ROSACEAE ) ( FIg. 3C ), IN OpEN SpACES AT THE EDgE Of SEmI-fORESTED HAbITATS AND ALONg ROADSIDES. THIS SpECIES WAS KNOWN fROm LOCALITIES AT INTERmEDIATE AND HIgH ALTITUDES (1100–3600 m; LU et al. 2003). IN THE XIANgCHENg AREA, WHERE THE RELATED M. elytralis IS SYmpATRIC AND EvEN SYNTOpIC (SEE AbOvE), M. binotatus WAS mUCH mORE COmmON AT RELATIvELY LOWER ALTITUDES (2800–3000 m), ON R. soulieana , WHILE M. elytralis WAS pRESENT mOSTLY AT HIgHER ALTITUDES (3400–3900 m), ON R. sericea .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Actual and/or putative Rosaceae larval host plants of Meligethes (Meligethes) species: a, Rosa multiflora from Zhejiang (host plant of M. (M.) violaceus); b, Rosa sericea from Sichuan (host plant of M. (M.) elytralis and probably also of M. (M.) macrofemoratus); c, Rosa soulieana from Sichuan (host plant of M. (M.) binotatus); d, Rosa cymosa from Sichuan (likely host plant of M. (M.) transmissus); e, Rosa moyesii from Sichuan (likely host plant of M. (M.) semenovi); f, Rosa giraldii from Shaanxi (probably the host plant of M.(M.) aurifer).