Amamiclytus hirtipes (Matsushita, 1940) Matsushita, 1940

Niisato, Tatsuya & Han, Chang-do, 2011, A revision of the genus Amamiclytus Ohbayashi from Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae), ZooKeys 118, pp. 19-52 : 44-46

Amamiclytus hirtipes (Matsushita, 1940) comb. n. Figs 422 –2324–254077– 82

Rhaphuma hirtipes Matsushita, 1940: 52; type locality: Formosa (Hori).

Description.

Male and Female. Body length (from vertex to apices of elytra) 4.0-5.8 mm in ♂, 4.4-6.0 mm in ♀. Large and slender species with more or less matted body, long antennae and legs. Colour black, relatively matted especially on elytra, more or less brownish on meso- and metathoraces, antennae and legs, yellowish brown on mouthparts except for black mandibles and anal ventrite. Body densely clothed with fine pale pubescence, sparsely with erect, long, pale hairs on undersides of fore femur, apical 2/5 of mid and hind femora, and all tibiae especially on hind pair; head thinly pubescent, scattered with a few erect, long, pale hairs, densely with pale gray pubescence on frons in ♂ and sparsely so in ♀; antennae with relatively long pale brown hairs along undersides of segments 3-5; pronotum thinly pubescent, largely exposing disc, without erect, pale hairs, rather sparsely with white pubescence at sides of basal margin, not formed conspicuous Pb; scutellum with a few pale pubescence; elytra rather densely with pale brown pubescence, without erect, pale hairs, B around scutellum relatively sparse, S on basal eighth small and longitudinally oblong, La on basal 3/10 semicircular, slightly oblique, Lp on apical 3/10 almost complete, narrow, weakly arcuate, A very narrow; prosternum sparsely with white pubescence near middle, Msl and Mss distinct, Mta rather sparse along posterior margin of metasternum, dense and entire on apical 2/3 of metepisternum; V1 and V2 at sides dense though narrowed to middle.

Head across eyes slightly narrower than pronotum, HW/PW 0.89-0.95 (M 0.93) in ♂, 0.85-0.95 (M 0.90) in ♀; frons as long as wide, arcuately dilated apicad, with a fine smooth median line, closely coarsely punctured; clypeus almost flattened; vertex raised towards antennal cavities which are separated from each other by 2/5 the width of occiput; occiput distinctly convex, closely reticulate. Antennae thin and long, not thickened apicad, attaining apical third in ♂ or half in ♀ of elytra, with scape almost cylindrical, 3rd segment 1.4-2.0 times as long as 4th segment, middle segments weakly thickened at apices, terminal segment distinctly elongate in ♂.

Pronotum usually distinctly longer than wide, rather weakly arcuate at sides; PL/PW 1.05-1.38 (M 1.23) in ♂, 1.00-1.40 (M 1.16) in ♀, PB/PA 0.92-0.94 (M 0.93) in ♂, 0.93-0.94 (M 0.93) in ♀, EL/PL 2.85-3.60 (M 3.18) in ♂, 2.77-3.73 (M 3.21) in ♀, PW/EW 0.71-0.90 (M 0.80) in ♂, 0.63-0.88 (M 0.76) in ♀; disc distinctly convex though depressed above, densely provided with uniform large shallow punctures. Scutellum regularly triangular, acute at apex.

Elytra long, slender, nearly or more than three times as long as wide, EL/EW 2.83-3.60 (M 3.10) in ♂, 2.50-3.05 (M 2.80) in ♀; sides with completely rounded humeri, gently arcuate at a level between basal fourth and apical 2/5 then arcuately narrowed to apices which are obliquely arcuate with blunt teeth at external angles; disc almost evenly convex, closely provided with fine shallow punctures.

Ventral surface almost smooth, provided with a few coarse punctures on prosternum, minute ones on meso- and metathoraces, and abdomen; ♂ anal ventrite 7/10 the length of basal width, weakly arcuate at apical margin.

Legs long and slender; hind legs 1.6-2.0 times as long as elytra, with femur gradually swollen apicad, slightly compressed, exceeding elytral apex at apical fifth, 1st tarsal segment 1.5-2.2 times as long as the following two segments combined.

Male genitalia. Median lobe almost 1/3 the length of elytra, in lateral view almost straight though distinctly bent ventrad in apical 2/5 of apical lobe; dorsal plate almost equal in width to or a little longer than ventral plate, gently narrowed to apex which is bluntly pointed; ventral plate almost parallel-sided in basal 3/4 then gently narrowed to apex which is more or less sharply pointed at the extremity; median struts slender, almost half the length of median lobe. Endophallus sparsely provided with minute spinous spicules behind crescent-like sclerites from basal 1/3 to 7/10, densely covered with minute serrate sclerites in apical fifth. Tegmen elongate, slightly shorter than median lobe; parameres elongate, nearly 2/5 the length of tegmen, divided in apical fifth, with lobe almost parallel-sided, moderately convergent apicad, slightly oblique at inner margins, almost rounded at apices which are provided with numerous short and a few long setae; basal ridge slightly raised; ring part parallel in apical third. Eighth tergite quadrate, arcuate at sides of apical margin which is slightly emarginate, provided with numerous short and long setae. Eighth sternite strongly transverse, rather weakly emarginate at apical margin.

Female genitalia. Coxite lobe ovoid, scattered with a few long and short setae. Stylus almost half in length to coxite lobe, elongate, moderately dilated apicad. Bursa copulatrix more or less large, weakly narrowed in basal half. Spermatheca narrow and strongly arcuate in apical half; gland oblong, attached at apical half; duct thin, short, slightly sinuate, not coiled.

Specimens examined.

1♂ (holotype), Hori, Formosa, 20 –II– 1939, (HUM). [Taoyuan County, N. Taiwan] 1♂, 1♀, Syuanyuan, Fuxing Township, alt. 800m, 18 –IX– 2005, Y.-L. Lin leg.; 6♂♂, 8♀♀, same locality and collector, alt. 700m, 17 –X– 2009. [Hsinchu County, N. Taiwan] 1♂, Dalu Forest Road, Wufeng Township, alt. 1,100~1,400m, 13 –VII– 2003, Y.-L. Lin leg. [Nantou County, C. Taiwan] 2♂♂, Mt. Lushan, Ren’ai Township, 23 –VIII– 1987, J.-J. Luo leg.; 10♂♂, 6♀♀, Gaofeng, Ren’ai Township, 19 –IX– 2006, native collector leg.; 3♂♂, Mt. Hewang, Ren’ai Township, alt. 1,650m, 9 –IX– 2009, C.-C. Chen leg. [Kaohsiung County, S. Taiwan] 8♂♂, 9♀♀, near Liouguei Township, 5 –X– 1983, W.-L. Chen leg.; 2♂♂, same locality, 5 –X– 1984, B.-R. Chin leg.; 15♂♂, 16♀♀, Douna, Maolin Township, 8 –IX– 2007, W.-S. Lin leg. [Pingtung County, S. Taiwan] 5♂♂, 4♀♀, Mt. Dahan Shan, Chunri Township, alt. 1,200m, 12 –X– 2003, Y.-L. Lin leg. 1♂, Mt. Dahan Shan, alt. 1,300m, 25 –X– 2007, W.-S. Lin leg.

Geographical distribution.

Taiwan.

Comments.

This clytine beetle is formally treated here as a member of the genus Amamiclytus Ohbayashi. As was written in "Historical review" on the earlier page, this species was first described under the genus Rhaphuma Pascoe ( Matsushita 1940), and later was transferred to Amamiclytus by misidentification ( Kojima et al. 1965). The previous authors, such as Kojima et al. (1965), had never examined the holotype of Rhaphuma hirtipes , and confused it as the senior synonym of Amamiclytus nobuoi Ohbayashi. We carefully examined the holotype specimen of Rhaphuma hirtipes deposited in the Hokkaido University Museum, Sapporo, and recognized it as actually a member of the genus Amamiclytus .

Amamiclytus hirtipes (Matsushita, 1940), comb. n. is easily distinguished in external appearance from the other Taiwanese members of the genus. This species has a more elongate body on average, with the elytra nearly or more than three times as long as wide, and the very long slender antennae attaining the apical third of elytra in male or apical half in female, with less thickened middle segments and a distinctly elongate terminal segment, especially in male. From the sparse arrangement of white pubescence near base of pronotum, this species is easily separable from several similar species which has the distinct white pubescent maculation so called “Pb”. Concerning the morphology of male genitalia, this species is basically similar to those of Amamiclytus nobuoi Ohbayashi, Amamiclytus subnitidus Holzschuh and Amamiclytus setiger sp. n. in spite of its unique external morphology.

It is very interesting that the adults of Amamiclytus hirtipes mainly appear in the autumn season in September and October, and have never been found in springtime as is the case with all of the other members of the genus. The species is not so rare in this season, and usually found on tree blossoms. However two exceptional records are known; one male collected in mid July from Dalu Forest Road in northern Taiwan; the holotype male collected in February in central Taiwan.