Dipropus ferreus (LeConte)

Johnson, Paul J., 2016, Five new species of Dipropus Germar (Coleoptera: Elateridae) from west-central North America, and a lectotype designation for Elater soleatus Say, Insecta Mundi 2016 (523), pp. 1-27 : 17-18

Dipropus ferreus (LeConte)

Dicrepidius ferreus LeConte 1853: 462, 1858: 35 ; Lacordaire 1857: 172; Candèze 1859: 151

Tricrepidius triangulicollis Motschulsky, 1859: 367 ; Crotch 1873: 69; Horn 1883: v (synonymy); Henshaw 1885: 67; Candèze 1891: 61; Schwarz 1906: 77; Woodworth 1913: 199; Leng 1920: 174; Schenkling 1925: 90; Blackwelder 1944: 299

Ischiodontus ferreus of LeConte 1861: 168, 1863: 46, 1866: 46; Gemminger and Harold 1869: 1515; Crotch 1873: 70; Candèze 1891: 61; Cockerell 1898: 151; Townsend 1903: 67; Fall and Cockerell 1907: 177; Adams 1909: 168; Woodworth 1913: 198; Leng 1920: 174; Schenkling 1925: 90; Blackwelder 1944: 299.

Ischiodontus ferrus of Schwarz 1906: 77 (misspelling)

Dipropus ferreus of Arnett 1962: 505 (by indication)

Diagnosis. Length 12.6–15.2 mm, width 3.3–4.3 mm. Body ferruginotestaceous to piceocastaneous; legs concolorous to body. Pubescence aureoflavous. Ocular index 64. Antenna reaching to before metafemoral notch; antennomere 8 reaching apex of hind angle, antennomeres 2–11 length ratio 1.0:2.7, 4.6.

Pronotum subrectangular, 1.1 –1.2x wider than long. Metatarsomere length ratio 1.00:0.55:0.32:0.32:0.1.00.

Aedeagus with basal piece 0.60 of total length, paramere 0.40 of total length, paramere apex 0.34 of paramere length.

Female as for male, except body form slightly more robust; antenna shorter, antennomere 9 reaching apex of hind angle.

Specimens Examined. Holotype, female, “[red disc] / Ischiodontus ferreus Lec. / Type 2425” ( MCZ). TEXAS, Blanco Co., Pedernales Falls State Park, 21.vi.00, N30 20 11.9, W98 15 00.4, 204 m, J.C. Abbott #704 & field class (1, UTIC). [Brazoria Co.], W. Columbia, 4 mi. S., 11-15.vii.76 (1, UTIC); Brooks Co. , 6 mi. S. Falfurrias, 10.x.1970 / G.C. Gaumer and R.R. Murray, leg. (1, TAMU). Hardin Co. , Village Ck. St. Pk. (site 1), 30.25534°N, - 94.17091°W, 14.viii.2010, E. Riley, UV (1, TAMU). Live Oak Co. , 6 mi. south of George West , 20.ix.2014, at light, Kyle E. Schnepp (7, KESC). Reeves Co. , near Balmorhea, 20.vii.2013, at light, Kyle E. Schnepp (1, KESC). Sn [San] Patricio Co ., Welder Wdlf.

Refuge , 12.x.1988, coll. E.G. Riley, BL & MV light (1♀, TAMU). Travis Co., Austin , Brackenridge Field Lab., 550 ft., 3.xi.1984, Joshua Hayes (1, UTIC) ; 22.ix.2000, J.E. Gillaspy collector (1, UTIC) ; 3.x.2000, BL trap, J.E. Gillaspy, coll. (3, UTIC) ; 30°17’03”N, 97°46’42”W, 21.ix.1999, BL trap, J.E. Gillaspy collector (1, UTIC) ; 11.x.1999 (1, UTIC) .

Notes. Candèze (1859) was unfamiliar with LeConte’s Dicrepidius ferreus , treating it as incertae sedis, until later ( Candèze 1891). Dipropus ferreus was described from southern Texas and appears restricted to regions east of the Sierra Madre Occidental, including southeastern New Mexico and Tamaulipas ( Townsend 1903, Fall and Cockerell 1907). The type was examined at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. Horn (1883) provided the synonymy of Tricrepidius triangulicollis with Ischiodontus ferreus when he determined that the specimen seen by Motschulsky was collected in Texas by Enea Silvio Vincenzo Piccolomini. Schwarz (1906), Schenkling (1925) and Blackwelder (1944) followed this synonymy. In a geographical study Adams (1909) included “I.” ferreus as a species from New Mexico that was considered a characteristic species for the fauna of the lower Rio Grande River valley.

Dipropus ferreus is immediately distinguished from sympatric congeners by a comparatively broader frontal margin, shining golden pubescence, and aedeagal morphology. This species is distinctly sexually dimorphic: females with a longer and broader body, and proportionately shorter antennae. Both sexes resemble their counterparts of D. sus (Candèze) from the Sierra Madre Occidental.

Dipropus ferreus was reported ( Horn 1894) from from El Taste, Baja California, just north of Cabo San Lucas. Michelbacher and Ross (1942) reported that Horn’s specimens from El Taste were collected by Gustave Eisen in September and October 1893. Eisen’s trip was the fifth of the California Academy of Sciences biological expeditions to Baja California ( Eisen 1895, Michelbacher and Ross 1942). The latter authors reported that the materials “were largely destroyed by the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906.” These early identifications of D. ferreus were likely specimens now attributable to D. pericu n. sp., and a specimen in the Horn collection determined to this new species is considered a duplicate from Eisen’s collection.

Dipropus ferreus continued to be cataloged ( Woodworth 1913, Leng 1920, Schenkling 1925) from the State of California due to the T. triangulicollis attribution and a persistent overlooking of Horn’s (1883) note on its Texas origin. Of the Dipropus examined for this study none from California or elsewhere in the region were attributable to this species, suggesting that the sole basis for the listing was the misattributed T. triangulicollis record. Dipropus ferreus should be removed from lists of insects inhabiting the study region.