Meligethes (Meligethes) aurifer Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015

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 : 549

Meligethes (Meligethes) aurifer Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015

Examined material. China, SHAANXI, MT . HUA, 1250 m A.S.L., 34.495833° 110.079722°, 12.vI.2017, P. AUDISIO & M. LIU LgT, 2 ♂, 5 ♀ (NWAU, CAR-MZUR).

Distribution. CENTRAL CHINA (SHAANXI, SHANXI). THIS SpECIES WAS pREvIOUSLY KNOWN fROm A SmALL SERIES Of SpECImENS COLLECTED IN SHAANXI AND SHANXI, mOSTLY IN THE AREA Of THE MT. HUA (AUDISIO et al. 2015) ( FIg. 5b ).

Host-plants. THE AbOvE SEvEN SpECImENS fROm MT. HUA, SHAANXI , WERE COLLECTED ON fLOWERINg SHRUbS Of Rosa Sp. (SpECIfIC IDENTIfICATION pENDINg) , LIKELY Rosa giraldii CRépIN, 1897 ( ROSACEAE ) . THIS CHARACTERISTIC Rosa SpECIES pOSSESSES SmALL pINK fLOWERS ( FIg. 3f ) , AND OCCURS ON THE WHITISH gRANITIC CLIffS AS TYpICAL Of MT . HUA. LARvAL HOSTpLANTS RELATIONSHIpS CANNOT bE ESTAbLISHED WITH CERTAINTY, bUT IT IS LIKELY THAT THIS SpECIES, DISTRIbUTED fROm SICHUAN TO SHANXI, REpRESENTS THE TRUE HOST Of M. aurifer . THE SpECImENS ARE pRESENT ON THIS LIKELY HOST-pLANT IN NARROW vALLEYS AND gRANITE CLIffS AT INTERmEDIATE ALTITUDES (CA. 1200–1500 m).

Taxonomic remarks. THE NEWLY COLLECTED fRESH mATERIAL ENAbLED US TO vISUALIZE THAT THE DORSAL pUbESCENCE Of M. aurifer EXHIbITS A DEgREE Of vARIAbILITY , WITH SOmE SpECImENS CHARACTERIZED bY UNIfORm DARK gOLDEN TO bROWNISH pUbESCENCE ON THE pRONOTUm AND ELYTRA ( AS IN THE TYpE SpECImENS) , AND OTHER SpECImENS pOSSESS mORE OR LESS pALER (CREAmY) LONgITUDINAL STRIpES ON THE ELYTRA, SImILAR TO THOSE KNOWN IN THE CLOSELY RELATED Meligethes (M.) aureolineatus AUDISIO, SAbATELLI & JELÍNEK, 2015 fROm SICHUAN ( FIg. 5b ) . THE mALE gENITALIA Of THESE TWO SpECIES ARE SImILAR bUT AppARENTLY EASY TO DISTINgUISH (SEE FIgS. 9–12 IN LIU et al. 2016); HOWEvER, THE fEmALE OvIpOSITORS mAY ALSO DISTINgUISH THESE TWO AppARENTLY gEOgRApHICALLY vICARIANT TAXA, bUT UNfORTUNATELY THE OvIpOSITOR Of M. aureolineatus REmAINS THUS fAR UNKNOWN.

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).

FIGURE 5. Distribution maps of Meligethes (Meligethes) species; a (M. tryznai, M. elytralis, M. macrofemoratus, M. auropilosus); b (M. aurifer, M.aureolineatus, M.cinereoargenteus).