Cryptalaus sordidus (Westwood, 1848)

Alaus sordidus Westwood, 1848: 72 (original description; type locality: Ceylon = Sri Lanka).

Cryptalaus sordidus (Westwood, 1848): Cate, 2007: 107 (catalogue; distribution: “North India ”); Parekar & Patwardhan, 2021: 19996 (diagnostic characters; additional description; distributional note).

Chalcolepis pannus Vats & Kashyap, 1992: 194 (original description; type locality: Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, India); Cate, 2007: 208 (placed in Elateridae as species incertae sedis); syn. nov.

Distribution. INDIA: Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.

Remarks. Vats & Kashyap (1992: 194) described Chalcolepis pannus based on material from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The morphological characters stated in the original description do not correspond with the American genus Chalcolepis Candèze, 1857 (Casari 2008). It is clear from the description that the species described in their publication is Cryptalaus sordidus . Additionally, the dorsal habitus (Vats & Kashyap 1992: 198; Fig. 4) and the illustration of male genitalia of C. pannus (see Vats & Kashyap 1992: 197; Fig. 1) are in agreement with that of C. sordidus (see Parekar & Patwardhan 2021: 19992; Fig. 32 and Parekar & Patwardhan 2021: 19995; Figs 35, 45, 46). Paramere with sharp, pointed apex of apical lobe 3.3 times as long as wide are unique to C. sordidus . Therefore, here, we synonymize Chalcolepis pannus Vats & Kashyap, 1992 syn. nov. with Cryptalaus sordidus (Westwood, 1848) .