Nephus (Nephus) peyerimhoffi ( Sicard, 1923 )

Canepari, Claudio, 2009, New data on some Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) from the Mediterranean Region, Zootaxa 2318, pp. 394-399 : 395-396

Nephus (Nephus) peyerimhoffi ( Sicard, 1923)

( Figs 1–6)

Scymnus (Nephus) peyerimhoffi Sicard, 1923: 79

Material examined. Italy: Sardinia: Nuoro prov., road Fonni-Desulo, Rio Aratu , 950 m, 8.V.1995, F. Angelini leg., 1 ex ( CCC) ; Sassari prov. , Buddusò, Foresta comunale, no date, no collector, 1 ex ( IEASS) ; Cagliari prov., Giara di Gesturi , V. 2007, M. Tedeschi leg., 1 ex ( MTC) .

Remarks. Nephus (Nephus) peyerimhoffi was described by Sicard (1923) based on specimens from Algeria (Biskra, Edough, Kerrata) and Tunisia (Gabès). Smirnoff (1973) examined the types in Sicard’s collection and designated a lectotype for N. peyerimhoffi , also providing a figure of the apex of the sipho. Fürsch (1987b) considered Scymnus incisus H. Lindberg, 1951 from the Canary Islands, of which he examined the holotype and 14 paratypes, as a synonym of N. peyerimhoffi . He gave the illustration of the male genital apparatus of the types but the sipho is different from those figured by Smirnoff (1973). The specimens from Sardinia are identical in elytral pattern and in the male genitalia to the N. peyerimhoffi figured by Smirnoff (1973). Moreover, the specimens examined by me ( Figs 1–6) fit well with Sicard’s original description. I have never examined specimens of Scymnus incisus , but by its description ( Lindberg 1951: 7) it seems to be a different species (see further on). Nephus (Nephus) peyerimhoffi belongs to the same group as N. (N.) quadrimaculatus ( Herbst, 1783) , but the subapical part of the sipho lacks the thorn-like processes present in N. (N.) quadrimaculatus and N. (N.) schatzmayri Canepari & Tedeschi, 1977 (cf. Canepari & Tedeschi 1977; Fürsch & Uygun 1980).

Fürsch (1987a) and Kovář (2007) put N. peyerimhoffi in subgenus Bipunctatus Fürsch , while according to Canepari (2004) it belongs to subgenus Nephus ; this opinion is here adopted.