Blaps parvicollis quadricollis Ballion, 1878

Chigray, Ivan & Ivanov, Alexander, 2020, A Review Of The Genus Blaps (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) Of Central And South Kazakhstan With Description Of Two New Species, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 66 (2), pp. 111-162 : 135-138

Blaps parvicollis quadricollis Ballion, 1878

( Fig. 24 )

Ballion, 1878: 304; Skopin, 1973: 868 ( B. parvicollis , subsp.).

= subcordata Seidlitz, 1893: 306 ; Semenov Tian-Shansky & Bogatchev 1936: 567; Skopin, 1960: 54 (larva); Skopin, 1961: 190 ( B. parvicollis , subsp.); Skopin, 1968: 85 ( B. parvicollis , subsp.).

Type material examined ( NHM). LECTOTYPE of Blaps subcordata (designated by Skopin ): m, ‘Haberhauer / Turkestan / 89 // Lectotypus / Blaps subcordata Soll. / N. Skopin design. / 1978 // Blaps parvicollis quadricollis Ball. / N. Skopin det. / 1978’. PARALECTOTYPES: 1 m, 1 f, ‘Haberhauer / Turkestan / 89’.

Material examined. ZIN. 1 m, 2 ff, ‘ Southeast Kazakhstan / Alma-Ata Region / Anrahai Mountains / canyon of Kopaly River / 16–19.v.1909 / leg. Nedovpuk [ov]’ [in Cyrillics] [44° 1’11.62”N, 75° 5’54.61”E]; 2 mm, 2 ff, ‘Southeast Kazakhstan / Alma-Ata Region / canyon of Kopaly River / 19.v.1909 / leg. Nedovpuk [ov]’ [in Cyrillics] [44° 1’11.62”N, 75° 5’54.61”E]; 2 ff, ‘Southeast Kazakhstan / Jambyl region / Akyr-Tyube village / 25.v.1931 / leg. Veltishchev’ [in Cyrillics] [42°59’31.57”N, 72°6’5.64”E]; 2 mm, ‘Southeast Kazakhstan / Alma-Ata Region / Ili-Karatal along Turkestan-Siberian Railway / 05.vi.1930 / leg. V. Kizeritskiy’ [in Cyrillics]; 1 m, 1 f, ‘ Southeast Kazakhstan / Semirechye Region / Kunkuzskaya Upland (Altyn-Emel Range) to north of Aladan / iv.1879 / leg. E. Regel’; 1 m, 1 f, ‘ Southeast Kazakhstan / Semirechie / upper reaches of River Bota-Boruly / 20.v.1909 / leg. Nedovpuk [ov]’ [in Cyrillics]; 1 f, ‘ Southeast Kazakhstan / Alma-Ata Region / Alma-Ata city suburbs / 03.v.1908 / leg. Nedzvetszkiy’ [in Cyrillics] [43°12’12.60”N, 76°50’37.26”E]; 1 m, 2 ff, ‘ Southeast Kazakhstan / env. of Jambyl / Merke village / iv.1910 / leg. E. Fischer’ [42°52’5.52”N, 73°11’46.21”E]; 1 m, ‘ Southeast Kazakhstan / Alma-Ata Region / Uzun- Kargaly River / 15.iv.1909 / leg. Nedzvetszkiy’ [in Cyrillics] [43°6’51.03”N, 76°21’34.08”E] .

Comments. SKOPIN (1960) suggested that Blaps parvicollis subcordata Seidlitz, 1893 could be the eastern subspecies of B. parvicollis , and indicated that the larvae of both subspecies are very similar in a structure. Later, SKOPIN (1973) synonymized B. parvicollis subcordata with B. parvicollis quadricollis Ballion, 1878 and pointed to the error of SEMENOV TIAN­SHANSKY and BOGATCHEV (1936), who noted that B. quadricollis is indistinguishable from B. pterosticha Fischer von Waldheim, 1844 . LÖBL et al. (2008) erroneously listed Blaps parvicollis subcordata as a separate species and B. parvicollis quadricollis as a junior synonym of B. pterosticha .

Blaps parvicollis quadricollis differs from B. pterosticha in smaller body size, coarser pronotal bead, male metatibia with thickening in apical half and subglobular reservoirs of spermatheca. Based on the more elongated pronotum and elytra, coarser and thicker pronotal bead and male metatibia with thickening in the apical half ( Figs 25A, B ), structures of male and female genitalia and also presence of populations with intermediate characters in intergradation zones, it is thought that B. p. quadricollis is a subspecies of B. parvicollis . Separation of females is difficult, as the body shape (in particular structure of pronotum and elytra) and the structure of spermatheca are rather variable.

Some authors ( MEDVEDEV 2001, CHIGRAY et al. 2016) illustrated female genital ducts of B. p. parvicollis . Recent studies revealed that the genital ducts of each of both subspecies of B. parvicollis in Southern Kazakhstan are represented by three types: 1) bases of both reservoirs of the spermatheca are joined in a common duct at a distance from the basal duct ( Fig. 25C ); 2) bases of reservoirs of the spermatheca are joined and do not form a common tube before the basal duct ( Fig. 25D ); 3) bases of reservoirs of the spermatheca are separately joined with the basal duct ( Fig. 25E ).

Distribution. The subspecies is widely distributed in the southern zone of Kazakhstan ( SKOPIN 1968 ).

Figures

Fig. 24. B. parvicollis quadricollis, habitus. A, B = m; C = f; A, C = dorsal view; B = ventral view

Fig. 25. Subspecies B. parvicollis, details of structure. A – B. parvicollis parvicollis, B – B. parvicollis quadricollis; A, B – male metatibia; C–E – the variability of genital ducts of females. (ov – oviduct; v – vagina, s – basal duct of spermatheca, r – reservoirs, g – accessory gland of spermatheca). Scale bars = 1 mm