Mylabris (Mylabris) variabilis ( Pallas, 1782 )

Pan, Zhao & Bologna, Marco A., 2014, Taxonomy, Bionomics and Faunistics of the Nominate Subgenus of Mylabris Fabricius, 1775, with the description of five new species (Coleoptera: Meloidae: Mylabrini), Zootaxa 3806 (1), pp. 1-78 : 44-45

Mylabris (Mylabris) variabilis ( Pallas, 1782)

Figs. 1 Y, 28A–G

Meloe variabilis Pallas, 1782: 81 .

Mylabris variabilis, Olivier, 1795: 10 ; 1811: 95; Billberg, 1813: 25; Mulsant, 1857: 120; Reiche, 1866: 635; Marseul, 1870: 67; 1872: 491; Gemminger & Harold, 1870: 2144; Baudi di Selve, 1878a: 363; 1878b: 1158; Gorriz y Muñoz, 1882: 88; Beauregard, 1890: 539; Sumakov, 1915: 21; 1930: 31; Borchmann, 1917: 56; Mader, 1927: 857; Reichardt, 1934: 215, 229; Porta, 1934: 39; Kaszab, 1981: 160; Mirzayans, 1970: 35; Geisthardt, 1989: 93; García-París & Ruiz, 2005: 234.

Mylabris lacera Fischer, 1827: 6 .

Mylabris mutans Guérin-Méneville, 1837: 554 .

Mylabris hypocrita Mulsant, 1857: 125 .

Mylabris similaris Mulsant, 1857: 125 .

Mylabris variabilis var. lacera, Marseul, 1870: 70 ; Gemminger & Harold, 1870: 2144; Baudi di Selve, 1878a: 364; 1878b: 1159; Beauregard, 1890: 539; Borchmann, 1917: 57.

Mylabris variabilis var. mutabilis, Marseul, 1870: 70 ; Gemminger & Harold, 1870: 2144; Baudi di Selve, 1878a: 364; 1878b: 1160; Beauregard, 1890: 539; Borchmann, 1917: 57.

Mylabris variabilis var. similaris, Gemminger & Harold, 1870: 2145 ; Beauregard, 1890: 539; Borchmann, 1917: 57.

Mylabris variabilis var. sturmi Baudi di Selve, 1878a: 364; Borchmann, 1917: 57.

Mylabris variabilis var. disrupta Baudi di Selve, 1878b: 1160; Beauregard, 1890: 539; Bochmann, 1917: 57.

Zonabris variabilis, Heyden, 1881a: 152 ; Bedel, 1892: 240; Schilsky, 1892: 203; Escherich, 1899: 92; Rodriguez López Neyra, 1914: 466; Pic, 1935c: 7; Sainte-Claire Deville, 1937: 209.

Zonabris variabilis var. mutabilis, Reitter, 1906: 448 .

Zonabris variabilis var. disrupta, Reitter, 1906: 448 .

Zonabris variabilis var. lacera, Reitter, 1906: 448 .

Zonabris erivanica Pic, 1901: 77 .

Zonabris variabilis var. sturmi, Reitter, 1906: 448 .

Mylabris variabilis ab. disrupta, Mader, 1927: 857.

Mylabris variabilis var. erivanica, Mader, 1927: 857 .

Mylabris variabilis ab. lacera, Mader, 1927: 857 .

Mylabris variabilis ab. mutabilis, Mader, 1927: 857.

Mylabris variabilis ab. similaris, Mader, 1927: 857 .

Mylabris variabilis ab. sturmi, Mader, 1927: 857.

Mylabris (Zonabris) variabilis, Kantardjièva, 1929: 37 .

Zonabris variabilis ab. mariei Pic, 1939: 22.

Mylabris variabilis ab. guerini Magistretti, 1943: 34 (nec Chevrolat, 1840).

Mylabris variabilis ab. leonii Magistretti, 1943: 35.

Mylabris (Mylabris) variabilis, Pardo Alcaide, 1950: 76 ; Kuzin, 1953: 123; 1954: 354; Kaszab, 1973: 280; Bologna, 1991a: 218; 1991b: 53; 1994: 44; 2008: 398; Valladares & Salgado, 1983: 86; Nikolaev & Kolov, 2005: 60; García-París et al., 2006: 349; Serri et al., 2012: 85.

Mylabris variabilis ab. medioluteoabrupta Kaszab, 1956a: 151.

Mylabris variabilis ab. medioexterneconjuncta Kaszab, 1956a: 152.

Mylabris variabilis ab. apicenigroconjuncta Kaszab, 1956a: 152.

Mylabris variabilis ab. medioluteobipunctata Kaszab, 1956a: 152.

Mylabris variabilis ab. medioluteotripunctata Kaszab, 1956a: 153.

Mylabris variabilis ab. italiana Kaszab, 1958b: 190.

Mylabris variabilis lacera, Modarres Awal, 1997: 182 .

Type locality. “... australibus Russiae atque totius Sibiriae … rarius in Europa occidentaliore … ” ( Pallas, 1782).

Type material. The Pallas’ collection is probably missing and consequently we did not examine types.

Description. Body length: 8–20 mm; setae uniformly black, but mixed golden and black on legs; antennommeres black, rarely partially dark reddish, III ca. 1.5 times as long as IV, apical antennomeres clearly widened, XI less than twice as long as wide ( Fig. 28 A); pronotum without fore transverse depression; elytral black pattern very variable ( Fig. 28 B), if the basal series composed by a fascia, it always extends to the base along the suture, if it fragmented in spots, the external spot wider or subequal to the inner one, the apical fascia wide; mesosternal “scutum” sub-triangularly shaped ( Fig. 28 C); gonoforceps in lateral view only slightly curved before the apical lobe ( Fig. 28 E), fused ventrally in basal third ( Fig. 28 D); distal hook of aedeagus positioned almost at apex, proximal hook close to the distal one ( Fig. 28 F).

Taxonomic remarks. This species shows a great variability of elytral pattern ( Fig. 28 B), this including large variation of fore and middle black spots and fasciae. In particular, the Sicilian populations are phenetically well distinct because of the middle fascia narrower and clearly sinuous. The variation of elytral black pattern is represented in Fig. 28 B.

Distribution. Southern Europe (from the Iberian Peninsula to southern Russia), Caucaus and Transcaucasia, Near East and northern Levant, Middle East and Central Asia (from Iran and S Turkmenistan to central Kazakhstan and N Afghanistan), West and East Siberia. Recorded from W China erroneously (see Appendix for details).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of the Mylabris (Mylabris) spp., dorsal view: A. M. alpicola, ♂; B. M. amorii, ♀; C. M. apiceguttata, ♂; D. M. apicenigra, ♂; E. M. barezensis, ♂; F. M. batnensis, ♂; G. M. cernyi, ♂; H. M. ciliciensis, ♂; I. M. concolor, ♂; J. M. desertica, ♀; K. M. emiliae, ♂; L. M. guerini, ♂; M. M. kodymi, ♂; N. M. madani, ♂; O. M. madoni, ♂; P. M. mediorientalis, ♂; Q. M. olivieri, ♂; R. M. parumpicta, ♀; S. M. poggii, ♂; T. M. pseudoemiliae, ♂; U. M. quadripunctata, ♂; V. M. schreibersi, ♂; W. M. tauricola, ♂; X. M. tricincta, ♂; Y. M. variabilis, ♂. Scale bar = 5 mm.

FIGURE 28. Mylabris (M.) variabilis (Pallas): A. antenna; B. elytral pattern; C. mesosternum; D. tegmen, ventral view; E. tegmen, lateral view; F. aedeagus, lateral view; G. spiculum gastrale, dorsal view. Scale bar = 1 mm.