Synuchus hummeli (Jedlička, 1935), new combination

Pterostichus hummeli Jedlička, 1935: 17 (type locality: “ China: Prov. Kansu”) Habitus and pronotum: Fig. 26.

Type material. Pterostichus hummeli Jedlička, holotype ♀, “ Kina S. Kansu ” [black print on white label] / “Sven Hedins Exp. Ctr. Asien Dr. Hummel” [black print on white label] / “ Type ” [black print on red label] / “23/7” [black handwritten on white label] / “ Pterostichus Hummeli sp.n. mihi det. Ing. Jedlička” [black print & handwritten on pink label] / “5670 E91 +” [black print on light blue label] / “ Hummeli Jedlicka .” [black print on white label] / “NHRS-COLE 000008534” [black print on white label] [Fig. 26] (NHRS).

Other material examined. Synuchus cathaicus (Bates), 1 ♂, “ China Foochow 26°09′N 119°17′E 15. iv. 1935 Eigin Suenson leg.” (NMW); 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀, “ China Min Kiang, Foochow 26°00′N 119°30′E 16. iv. 1935 Eigin Suenson leg.” (NMW); Synuchus pseudomorphus (Semenov), 1 ♀, “China-Gansu Librang Umg VI 92 3000m Richter leg” (NMW). Besides the above two species, in NMW I was able to compared the holotype of Pterostichus hummeli with: Synuchus agonus (Tschitschérine), 6 exs.; S. angusticeps Tanaka, 1 ex.; S. arcuaticollis (Motschulsky), 10 exs.; S. callitheres towadensis Habu, 9 exs.; S. congruus (A. Morawitz), 5 exs.; S. coreanus Kirschenhofer, 2 exs. (incl. one paratype); S. crocatus (Bates), 4 exs.; S. cycloderus (Bates), 29 exs.; S. melantho (Bates), 4 exs.; S. montanus shikokuensis Habu, 5 exs.; S. nitidus nitidus (Motschulsky), 11 exs.; S. orbicollis (A. Moravitz), 12 exs.; S. sikkimensis (Andrewes), 2 exs.; S. suensoni Lindroth, 1 ex.; S. tanzawanus (Habu), 1 ex.; S. yasumatsui (Habu), 23 exs.

Remarks. Pterostichus hummeli was described by single female specimen from Gansu, China. Recently, this taxon was treated as Pterostichus ‘incertae sedis’ hummeli Jedlička, 1935 (Bousquet 2003) . According to Jedlička (1962), it is close to P. singularis Tschitschérine, another Pterostichus species with status ‘incertae sedis’.

However, the study of the type of Jedlička proved that it belongs to the tribe Sphodrini . Among the genera of this group, it is at best placed in Synuchus Gyllenhal, and according to Lindroth (1956), it is at best placed within the group of “ cathaicus ” (= Semenovia Jedlička). In my view, S. hummeli is probably the adelphotaxon to S. pseudomorphus (Semenov), as the two species are closer to each other than any of them to either S. cathaicus (Bates) and S. tokararum Lindroth. The following differences are established: 1/ sides of pronotum somewhat more concave in front of the hind angles in S. hummeli than in S. pseudomorphus; 2/ hind angles of the pronotum somewhat more pronounced in S. hummeli than in S. pseudomorphus; 3/ lateral beads (not margins) of the pronotum from apex to base more conspicuously rugose and punctured in S. hummeli than in S. pseudomorphus .