Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918)

Ruan, Yongying, Douglas, Hume B., Qiu, Lu, Chen, Xiaoqin & Jiang, Shihong, 2020, Revision of Chinese Phorocardius species (Coleoptera, Elateridae, Cardiophorinae), ZooKeys 993, pp. 47-120 : 47

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.993.53805
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C40989DB-8063-4C9F-A481-E7AA82CA924B
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scientific name	Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918)
status

Treatment

8. Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) Figs 16 View Figure 16 , 23H View Figure 23 , 24H View Figure 24 , 25H View Figure 25 , 26G View Figure 26

Cardiophorus unguicularis Fleutiaux, 1918: 222. Type locality: "Tonkin: Région de Lao-Kay et de Ho-Khéou, frontière de Chine", interpreted as Vietnam: the area near frontier of Lao-Cai city (Vietnam) and He-Kou city (China).

Phorocardius unguicularis : Fleutiaux 1913: 311.

Distribution.

China: Yunnan ( Fleutiaux 1931, 1947), Hainan (new record), Sichuan ("Se-Tchouen, Aubert" - Fleutiaux (1931)); Vietnam ( Fleutiaux 1918).

Differential diagnosis.

Body length greater than 7.0 mm; integument brown to dark brown. Prothorax: procoxal cavities open; prosternal process gradually and only slightly narrowed posterad to ventral apex in ventral view, with apex almost truncate. Pterothorax: scutellar shield with posterior apex pointed. Tarsal claw with ventral apex not smaller than dorsal apex. Male genitalia: paramere without preapical lateral expansion or apical mesal callus in any view. Female: apex of last abdominal ventrite (ventrite V) simple, not emarginate at apex.

This species is unique among Chinese Phorocardius species by having extremely dense pronotal punctation (interspaces between pronotal punctures 0.3-1 × average puncture diameter).

Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) resembles P. magnus Fleutiaux, 1931 in body color and size. They can be separated by the following combination of characters: in P. unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918), aedeagus slender in lateral view (paramere maximum thickness 1/5 paramere length), in ventral view paramere widened from base to mid-length, narrowed from mid-length to apex, apex pointed and without preapical lateral expansion; pronotum with deep punctures, interspaces between punctures 0.3-1 × average puncture diameter; and head with frontal carina convex at middle in frontal view; while in P. magnus Fleutiaux, 1931, aedeagus robust in lateral view (paramere maximum thickness 1/3 paramere length); in ventral view, paramere slightly widened from base to apical fourth, apical fourth abruptly narrowed, with hook-like preapical lateral expansion; pronotum with interspaces between punctures 1-2.5 × average puncture diameter; and head with frontal carina straight in frontal view.

Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) resembles P. yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927) in body color. They can be separated by the following combination of characters. In P. unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918), in ventral view, aedeagus with paramere gradually narrowed from mid-length to apex, apex pointed and without preapical lateral expansion; pronotum with deep punctures, interspaces between punctures 0.3-1 × average puncture diameter; and head with frontal carina convex in frontal view; while in P. yanagiharae (Miwa, 1927), in ventral view, aedeagus with paramere, abruptly narrowed from apical third to apex, apex with hook-like preapical lateral expansion; pronotum with shallow punctures, interspaces between punctures 1-2 × average puncture diameter; and head with frontal carina straight in frontal view.

Phorocardius unguicularis is also similar to P. astutus ( Candèze, 1888), it differs from the latter based on the following characters: body brown to dark-brown with yellow-brown appendages; legs yellow-brown throughout; proximal sclerites of copulatrix kidney-shaped with slight basal concavity; and parameres of aedeagus without pre-apical lateral expansions. In P. astutus : body brown-black with dark appendages; legs with red-brown joints; proximal sclerites of copulatrix oval, not kidney-shaped, without basal concavity; and parameres wedge-like with pre-apical lateral expansions. Additionally, P. unguicularis has narrower pronotum and body, and larger body length. Further study of these two species would be important to verify their status.

Description.

(Based on photographs of the holotype and all examined specimens) Body brown to dark brown (brown-black in a few); legs and antennae brown; pronotum slightly darker than rest (Fig. 16A, B View Figure 16 ). Integument matt, with yellow pubescence.

Measurements.

(based on the type and non-type specimens) Male body length 8.6-11.2 mm, width 2.2-3.2 mm. Female body length 9.6-12.8 mm, width 3.0-4.0 mm. Body length to width ratio 2.9-3.1. Pronotal width to length ratio 1.1-1.2. Pronotal width to body width ratio 0.76-0.81. Elytral length to pronotal length ratio 2.7-3.1; elytron length to width ratio 4.4-4.7.

Head. Frons and vertex with interspaces between punctures 0.5-1.5 × average puncture diameter. Frontal carina in frontal view convex, not straight. Antenna with apex slightly extending over base of elytron, slightly varied long in different individuals. Distance between eyes to width of eye ratio 3.6-3.8. Antenna length to body length ratio, in male 0.39-0.42, in female 0.37-0.39. Proportions of antennomere lengths (male): 100 (scape); 60-65; 80-85; 95-99; 95-99; 91-95; 94-104; 92-95; 86-90; 73-83; 100-105.

Prothorax. Pronotum in dorsal view: sides evenly convex, widest near mid-length (Fig. 16C View Figure 16 ); posterior angles with lateral sides almost straight, slightly convex and bulged at basal half in some cases; surface with interspaces between punctures 0.3-1 × average puncture diameter. In ventral view, ventral surface of prosternal process with sides not carinate and gradually narrowed from anterior to near posterior end, apex almost truncate. In lateral view, prosternal process with ventral surface curved slightly dorsad, posterior end with ventral 2/3 almost straight, dorsal 1/3 produced posteriorly (Fig. 24H View Figure 24 , upper arrow). Procoxal cavities open.

Pterothorax (Figs 24H View Figure 24 , 25H View Figure 25 ). Mesepisternum in ventral view with antero-mesal angle right-angled (Fig. 25H View Figure 25 , upper (green) arrow). Projections on posterior edge of mesosternum: almost absent in ventral view (Fig. 25H View Figure 25 , lower (red) arrow), and lateral view (Fig. 24H View Figure 24 , lower (red) arrow). Scutellar shield: width to length ratio 0.94-0.95; anterolateral edges slightly sinuate; posterior apex pointed. Elytra: upper edge of epipleura with minute serrations.

Legs. Length ratio of metatarsomeres I-V (excluding claws): 100; 78-85; 70-78; 50-57; 125-134. Claw with ventral apex almost as large as dorsal apex.

Abdomen. Lateral edges of visible abdominal ventrites I-V with minute serrations.

Male genitalia. Robust from ventral and dorsal views, slender in lateral view. Median lobe in ventral view gradually narrowing from base to near mid-length, apical half elongate with sides parallel-sided to slightly convex, apex narrowly rounded. Median lobe in lateral view almost straight, apex narrowly rounded. Paramere in ventral view: robust, width 3-4 × median lobe width (measured at mid-length of paramere and median lobe respectively), widest near mid-length; gradually narrowing from mid-length to apex, apex elongate and needle-like, without preapical lateral expansion or apical mesal callus (Fig. 16E View Figure 16 ). Paramere in lateral view: slender, gradually narrowing and curved ventrad from base to near apex; preapical ventral expansion absent, without hook-shaped structure.

Female. Body color like male. Apex of abdominal ventrite V slightly sinuate (Fig. 26G View Figure 26 ). Proximal sclerites of bursa copulatrix elongate-kidney shaped, apex acute (Fig. 16H View Figure 16 ), base with slight concavity: each with 13-15 large spines mainly on the convex mesal edge, 10-12 smaller spines on disc.

Type material.

Holotype (sex unknown, in MNHN, photographs of holotype provided by Dr Antoine Mantilleri), labels: 1) Museum Paris, Frontière Chine-Tonkin, Region De Lao-Kay, Et Ho-Kheou, Ch. Dupont; 2) Cardiophorus unguicularis Fleut., type, Fleutiaux det.; 3) Collection E. Fleutiaux; 4) Holotype [red label]; 5) Holotype, Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918); 6) MNHN EC9217.

Additional material.

1♀ (TARI), without information of locality, with only one label: Phorocardius unguicularis Fleut., Coll. E. Fleutiaux. 1♂16♀ (IZCAS), labels: 1) Yunnan, Li-jiang, Yu-long-shan (玉龙山), 2700 m, Chinese Academy of Sciences [in Chinese]; 2) 1984.VII.27, leg. Shuyong Wang [in Chinese]; 3) Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) Det. Ruan, 2018. • 4♂4♀ (IZCAS), labels: 1) Yunnan, Li-jiang, Yu-hu (玉湖), 2750 m, Chinese Academy of Sciences [in Chinese]; 2) 1984.VII.21-23, leg. Jiangguo Fang / Changfang Li [in Chinese]; 3) Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) Det. Ruan, 2018. • 1♀ (IZCAS), labels: 1) Cardiophorus , Yunnan, Collection Fleutiaux, Li-jiang, Yu-long-shan (玉龙山), 2700 m, Chinese Academy of Sciences [in Chinese]; 2) 1984.VII.27, leg. Shuyong Wang [in Chinese]; 3) Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) Det. Ruan, 2018. • 2♂7♀ (IZCAS), labels: 1) Yunnan, Yong-sheng, Liu-de (六德), 2250-2750 m, Chinese Academy of Sciences [in Chinese]; 2) 1984.VII, leg. Shuyong Wang et al. [in Chinese]; 3) Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) Det. Ruan, 2018. • 1♂ (IZCAS), labels: 1) Hainan Prov., Chang-jiang County, Ba-wang-ling, 145 m, 2007.V.7N, Chinese Academy of Sciences [in Chinese]; 2) 19.1104N 109.08168E, leg. Hongbin Liang, Chinese Academy of Sciences [in Chinese]; 3) Phorocardius unguicularis (Fleutiaux, 1918) Det. Ruan, 2018.

Remarks.

Based on specimen information, this species inhabits low to high elevations in south China and north Vietnam. The highest elevation record for this species is around 2750 m. Some specimens were collected at the foot of Yu-long-shan Mountain (also known as Yu-long Snow Mountain), whose main peak is 5596 m, and with snowfall all the year-round above 3500 m. South China and north Vietnam are rainy, with subtropical to tropical climates, with subtropical evergreen broad-leaf forest or tropical rain forest. This species is known only from the Oriental Region.