Apalochrus notatithorax Pic, 1936

Tshernyshev, Sergei E., 2015, A review of species of the genus Apalochrus Erichson (Coleoptera, Malachiidae), Zootaxa 3941 (3), pp. 358-374 : 368-369

Apalochrus notatithorax Pic, 1936

( Fig. 7 , 29–33, 38 (circle))

Apalochrus notatithorax Pic, 1936: 2 –3 (E), type locality: Astrakhan'skaya Oblast’, Russia. Paratinus notatithorax: Evers, 1987: 13 , 59, 61.

Apalochrus notatithorax: Mayor, 2003: 90 ; 2007: 416.

Description. Male. Head black with red-yellow longitudinal spot in the middle and around the antennae bases, without metallic lustre; clypeus, genae, sides of labrum, base of mandibles, palpi, mouthparts underside, 1st–3rd and basal half of 4th antennomeres, tibiae, tarsi, all trochanters, pygidium and sides of sternites yellow. Pronotum entirely yellow or with small black x-shaped spot im a middle. Elytra dark brown with green metallic lustre. Scutellum red-yellow lacking metallic lustre, anterior femora light-brown at base and yellow in apical fourth, intermediate and posterior ones dark brown, lacking metallic lustre. Ventral side of thorax (except yellow prosternum), coxae and median parts of abdominal tergites brown, thoracic mesepimera pale brown, vesicles yellow.

Head large, same length and width as pronotum, with distinctly raised lateral margins near eyes and antennae and with a thin, longitudinal groove behind the middle of disc; evenly covered with thin, short, light and semi-erect pubescence and dense, long, black and erect setae on temples behind the eyes; surface densely punctate and microsculptured, moderately bright; labrum short, transverse, bearing long, semi-erect, white hairs; genae short, straight; eyes slightly protruding, round. Maxillary palpi short, 1st segment large, triangular, 1.5 times shorter and narrower than 3rd, 2nd one small, transverse; apical one securiform, 1.5 times longer than 1st and 3.5 than 2nd, truncate at apex; surface bright with short, semi-erect pubescence and several long pale setae. Antennae long, reaching elytral base; 2nd segment very small, rounded, almost completely hidden by scape, 1st and 3nd segments cylindrical, not swollen, 1st somewhat wider, 4th trapezoid, somewhat wider and shorter than the previous, 5th–10th subrectangular, slightly wider than 1st–4th, each one just shorter than the previous and moderately sinuate at base, apical segment almost conical with sinuate and rounded tip, as long as the 10th. All segments covered with thin, pale, erect, very short, sparse and semi-erect pubescence.

Pronotum transverse, strongly sinuate at base before the middle, anterior margin slightly convex, posterior straight, all angles rounded, anterior ones almost right, pronotum strongly depressed on disc behind the middle; surface smooth, bright, sparsely and finely punctate, microsculpture indistinct; covered with double pubescence: even short depressed one and a row of sparse, long and erect hairs located along distal margin.

Scutellum sub-rectangular, transverse, small, almost completely hidden by pronotum, with straight distal side; surface dull, distinctly microsculptured, sparsely pubescent with short light depressed setae.

Elytra parallel, narrow, slightly widened posteriorly; shoulders distinct; apices evenly rounded, simple, lacking impressions or appendages; surface moderately bright, shagreened, densely punctured and microsculptured, covered with even, very fine, short, pale and depressed pubescence and with sparse, erect, black and long setae.

Legs not long, thin, posterior femora reaching the elytral apical fifth, covered with pale, short, semi-erect, sparse, long and black setae. Tibiae thin, very slightly expanded anteriorly, not compressed. Tarsi narrow, compressed laterally (except the claw segment slightly depressed dorsally), apical tarsomere larger than the other ones, somewhat shorter than 1st and 2nd taken together, longer than 3rd and 4th. Anterior tarsomeres simple, lacking comb. Claws narrow, sharp, very feebly curved, with a small rectangular tooth at base.

Apical sternite ( Fig. 31 ) transverse, rather wide, 1.6 times wider than long, appearing undivided due to the lateral lobes closeness (the transparent membrane between them being indiscernible); each lobe slightly feebly emarginated on anterior side, protruding lateral anterior corners, bearing sparse, long, strong, dark setae plus a bunch of shorter setae on posterior edge; apical tergite ( Fig. 30 ) more or less semicircle shaped, slightly longer than wide (1.1 times), feebly notched (and slightly emarginated) apically, covered with sparse black setae clustering on corners of posterior margin. Median lobe ( Figs. 33 ) simple, slightly curved ventrally, with long thin strongly stretched and curved ventrally lamella; interal sac showing small denticles all along, and one strong tooth curved laterally in the middle. Tegmen elongate, 1.5 times longer than wide, not deeply emarginated apically, fitted with short, wide and sharply edged appendages ( Fig. 32 ). Median lobe yellow, tergite and sternite yellow with dark stripes on external sides, tegmen dark brown.

Length (male) 6.0– 6.3 mm, width (at elytral base) 1.6–1.7 mm.

Female. Similar to male but antennae narrower and shorter; elytra more strongly widened in posterior half; abdomen expanding over elytra; claw segment shorter.

Length (female) 6.3–6.5 mm, width (at elytral base) 1.8–2.0 mm.

Material. Turkmenistan: near Lolatan, 37°17N, 62°21’E, 5.V.1926, Kizeritzky leg.— 1 ♂ (SCH); near Bairam-Ali, 37°36N, 62°10’E; 29.7.1938, Coll.-?— 1 ♂ (SCH); Russia: NW Caucasus, Adygea Republic: Kamennomostskaya Stanitsa, 44°17N, 40°11’E; 3.7.1989, W. Wittmer leg.— 1 ♂ (SCH).

Distribution. S Russia: Caspian Sea: Astrakhan, Caucasus, Turkmenistan.

Notes. This form was described from the Astrakhan' region in the South-Asian part of Russia, where other Apalochrus species are also found. Although the characters reported by Pic (1936), (mostly wide and massive head and larger size) might allow definition of a good species, examination of the Pic type was regarded as important because of the possible confusion with the earlier known Apalochrus notatus (Zoubkoff) (Walter Wittmer, private communication, 1996). The courtesy of Walter Wittmer, who supplied me with a specimen from the Caucasus region, and, the kind assistance of Robert Constantin, who found the type in Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris, did the dissection and photographed the specimen, are here gratefully acknowledged. The illustration of the type is given in Fig. 29 .

Figures

FIGURE 29. Apalochrus notatithorax (Pic, 1936), habitus of holotype, male. Photo by R. Constantin.

FIGURES 30 – 38. Apalochrus notatithorax (Pic, 1936), male, (30 – 33, 38 (circle )), and A. notatus (Zoubkoff, 1833), male (34 – 37, 38 (square )); apical tergite (30, 34); apical sternite (31, 35); median lobe, dorsal (33) and lateral (37); tegmen (32, 26); distribution map (38). Scale bar 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 1 – 10. Habiti of Apalochrus Er. species. A. femoralis femoralis (Erichson, 1840), male, dorsal (1), ventral (2); A. femoralis pallipes Motschulsky, 1860 stat. nov., male, dorsal (3), ventral (4); A. turkestanicus (Pic, 1907), female (5); A. flavicollis (Schaufuss, 1870), male (6); A. notatithorax (Pic, 1936), male (7); A. fulvicollis (Gebler, 1845), male (8); A. notatus (Zoubkoff, 1833), male (9, 10); A. notatus (pronotal colour as in morpha mongolicus), male (10). Scale bar 1.0 mm.