Didrepanephorus birmanicus (Arrow, 1907) Zhao & Liu, 2022

Zhao, Ming-Zhi & Liu, Wei-Xin, 2022, A contribution to the genus Didrepanephorus Wood-Mason, 1878 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae), ZooKeys 1092, pp. 31-45 : 31

Didrepanephorus birmanicus (Arrow, 1907) comb. nov.

Figs 8 , 11-15

Fruhstorferia birmanica Arrow, 1907: 354 [original description]; Arrow 1917: 49 [partim], fig. 15; Ohaus 1918: 43 [catalogued]; Ohaus 1934b: 121 [catalogued]; Machatschke 1972: 53 [catalogued]; Muramoto and Araya 2000: 12, figs 3-4 [syntype male figured]; Krajčík 2007: 70 [catalogued]; Krajčík 2012: 110 [catalogued, subgeneric placement unnoted].

Fruhstorferia (Kibakoganea) birmanica Arrow, 1907: Nagai 1984: 29 [catalogued].

Type locality.

"Burma, Ruby Mines", in currently Mogok City of Mandalay, Myanmar.

Type material

(1 specimen). Lectotype of Fruhstorferia birmanica Arrow, 1907 (hereby designated). ♂ (BMNH), "Birmah [R]uby Mes // Doherty // 64607 // Fry Coll. 1905-100. // Fruhstorferia birmanica , Arrow type ♂ A. a M., 1907. // Type // HOLOTYPE Fruhstorferia birmanica A. M. SOULA det 1994 // NHMUK014379787". It will be provided with an additional red label: LECTOTYPE Fruhstorferia birmanica Arrow, 1907 des. Zhao Ming-Zhi 2021.

Remarks.

The taxon Fruhstorferia birmanica was originally described based on a pair of specimens from Ruby Mines, Burma ( Arrow 1907). The lectotype has not yet been designated and the male illustrated by Muramoto and Araya (2000) has been erroneously fixed as holotype. According to Art. 74.7.1 (ICZN 1999), both specimens should be regarded as syntypes. The examination of both syntypes reveals that the female is conspecific with D. mizunumai Nagai & Hirasawa, 1991. Therefore, a lectotype designation is necessary.

The male genitalia of the lectotype (Figs 8 , 11-15 ) is partly damaged, which greatly complicates the comparison to its related Didrepanephorus species. However, the similarity of this Didrepanephorus species to small-sized male of D. yunnanus (Ohaus, 1911) is still apparent in many external features, especially in the allied shape of terminal segment of maxillary palp, which is more expanded and compressed than other Didrepanephorus Didrepanephorus species. There is a strong concavity at the base of lower margin of mandible. The protrusion at lower margin is partly hidden under the labrum. These characters match the above definitions for Didrepanephorus . Thus, this Didrepanephorus species is transferred to the genus Didrepanephorus herein. Among the five subspecies of D. yunnanus , i.e., D. y. yunnanus (Ohaus, 1911), D. y. clermonti Benderitter, 1929, D. y. piaoacensis Nagai, 2004, D. y. wakaharai Nagai, 2004, and D. y. kachinensis Muramoto, 2005, recognized by Muramoto (2005), D. y. kachinensis appears to be most similar to D. birmanicus due to the generally reddish brown body in combination to the closest geographical distance. To fully understand the relation between the two Didrepanephorus species, examination of topotypical specimens of D. birmanicus with undamaged male genitalia is needed.

This Didrepanephorus species was partly misinterpreted and the name was previously applied to two different Didrepanephorus species (see below). This Didrepanephorus species is so far only known from the lectotype.

Distribution.

Myanmar (Mandalay Region: Mogok).

Figures

Figures 7 - 10. Morphological details of Didrepanephorus Didrepanephorus species 7 head of holotype of D. tangzhaoyangi Zhao & Liu, sp. nov., oblique lateral view 8 head of D. birmanicus (Arrow, 1907) (Lectotype of Fruhstorferia birmanica Arrow, 1907), oblique lateral view, photo © Keita Matsumoto (NHMUK) 9 - 10 male genitalia of holotype of D. tangzhaoyangi 9 dorsal view 10 ventral view. Scale bar for genitalia only.

Figures 11 - 18. Type material of Didrepanephorus species. 11 - 15 male of D. birmanicus (Arrow, 1907) (Lectotype of Fruhstorferia birmanica Arrow, 1907) 16 - 18 female of D. mizunumai Nagai & Hirasawa, 1991 (paralectotype of F. birmanica), habitus in dorsal view 11, 16 habitus in dorsal view 12, 17 habitus in lateral view 13 aedeagus showing parameres in dorsal view 14 aedeagus in dorsal view 15, 18 attached labels. All photos © Keita Matsumoto (NHMUK).