Drilus bleusei ( Olivier, 1913 ) Olivier, 1913

Trllova, Sarka & Kundrata, Robin, 2015, A review of the genus Selasia (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Palaearctic Region, Zootaxa 3920 (4), pp. 563-571 : 569-570

Drilus bleusei ( Olivier, 1913) , comb. nov.

( Figs 15–21 )

Selasia bleusei Olivier, 1913: 92 .

Type material. Holotype, 1 male, Rhodes ( Turquie d'Asie), L. Bleuse, ct. coll. Bleuse, type [printed red label], type [handwritten] ( MHNP).

Diagnosis. Drilus bleusei differs from its congeners occuring in the Aegean region (including D. attenuatus Pic, 1914b , hitherto only Drilus species known from Rhodes) by having the following unique combination of characters: robust general habitus, reddish to light brown body coloration with only apical part of elytra black ( Fig. 15 ), pectinate antennae ( Fig. 18 ), pronotum considerably constricted anteriorly, widest in the first 1/3 ( Fig. 17 ), and short, wide male genitalia ( Fig. 21 ).

Redescription. Male. Body medium-sized, 2.6 times longer than width at humeri, dorsally convex ( Fig. 15 ). Body coloration reddish to light brown, only apical 2/5 of elytra black; body covered with yellow pubescence.

Head including eyes slightly narrower than anterior margin of pronotum. Head punctured, with wide, shallow depression between antennal sockets, lateral margins above eyes elevated, covered with long, sparse, erected pubescence; clypeal margin widely concave. Eyes medium-sized, hemispherically prominent, their frontal distance 2.4 times eye diameter. Labrum sclerotized, transverse. Mandibles robust, long, considerably curved, shiny, incisor margin with conspicuous tooth in middle part ( Fig. 16 ). Maxillary palpi slender, apical palpomeres obliquely cut; labial palpi tiny, apical palpomeres of the same shape as maxillary ones. Antennae 11-segmented, reaching one third of elytral length, scapus robust, pedicel short, small, antennomere 3 rectangular, about 2 times longer than pedicel, antennomeres 4–10 pectinate, subequal in length, lamellae flattened, apical antennomere simple, longest, about 2 times longer than stem of penultimate antennomere ( Fig. 18 ).

Pronotum transverse, widest at 1/3, at hind angles 1.2 times wider than anteriorly, and 1.6 times wider posteriorly than length at midline. Anterior margin bisinuate, lateral margins constricted in anterior part, convex, posterior margin slightly convex, posterior angles almost rectangular ( Fig. 17 ); surface of disc sparsely covered with shallow punctures, with sparse semierect setae, pubescence denser at margins. Scutellum flat, triangle-shaped. Prosternum transverse, with frontal margin slightly convex, prosternal process short, wide, slightly elevated in middle part. Mesoventrite v-shaped, with frontal margin widely emarginate. Metaventrite large, trapezoidal, shallowly punctured. Elytra subparallel-sided, 1.8 times longer than width at humeri, tapered apically, with longitudinal keels running from humeri towards apex ( Fig. 15 ). Each elytron covered with semierect pubescence, sparse basally and dense at lateral and posterior margins. Abdomen slender, ventrites with shallow punctures, with sparse, long hairs, denser at margins; penultimate ventrite slightly concave apically. Legs slender, slightly compressed, with sparse, long, semierect setae, coxae long, robust, trochanters slender, obliquely attached to femora, five tarsomeres, tarsomere 4 shortest, apical tarsomere long, claws simple, slender, slightly curved.

Male genitalia stout, with phallus strong, considerably curved, with hook subapically on dorsal side, parameres with inner apical parts membranous; phallobase robust, widely U-shaped ( Fig. 21 ).

Measurements. BL 8.6 mm, EL 6.0 mm, WHe 2.1 mm, WHum 3.4 mm, PL 1.6 mm, PWA 2.2 mm, PWP 2.6 mm, Edist 1.4 mm, Ediam 0.6 mm.

Distribution. Greece: Rhodes. Only the type specimen is known to authors, but Wittmer (1935) mentioned additional single specimen from Rhodes, Neocoria.

Remarks. Selasia bleusei is transferred to Drilus based on the presence of the V-shaped mesoventrite and the shape of lateral pronotal margins ( Figs 17, 19 ). This species has pectinate antennae ( Fig. 18 ). Although the pectinate antennae can be found in several Selasia species in Africa (e.g., Wittmer 1989), they are more typical for the Mediterranean Drilus species ( Kundrata et al. 2014), whilst the vast majority of Selasia spp. have flabellate antennae with long lamellae ( Figs 1–14 ).

Figures

FIGURES 15 – 22. Structures of Drilus bleusei (Olivier, 1913). 15, habitus; 16, mandible; 17, pronotum (setae removed); 18, antenna; 19, mesoventrite; 20, last abdominal segments; 21, aedeagus; 22, Selasia arabica Geisthardt, 2003 (holotype), aedeagus. Scale bars = 2.0 mm (Fig. 15), 1.0 mm (Fig. 17 – 18), 0.5 mm (Figs 16, 19 – 22).

FIGURES 1 – 6. Habitus images of Selasia species. 1, Selasia arabica Geisthardt, 2003 (holotype); 2, S. atriventris Pic, 1914 a (holotype); 3, S. boruckae Kundrata, 2012 a (paratype); 4, S. homhilia Geisthardt, 2003 (holotype); 5, S. merkli Kundrata, 2012 a (holotype); 6, S. socotrana Kundrata, 2012 b (holotype). Scale bars = 2.0 mm.

FIGURES 7 – 14. Habitus comparison of Selasia arabica Geisthardt, 2003 specimens from different governorates. Yemen, 7, Al Hudaydah; 8, Al Hudaydah; 9, Ma'rib; 10, Al Mahwit; 11, Sana'a; 12, Dhamar; 13, Abyan. Oman, 14, Dhofar. Scale bars = 2.0 mm.