Kuatunia, Evers, 1949

Tshernyshev, S. E. & Shcherbakov, M. V., 2021, A new species of soft-winged flower beetle of the genus Kuatunia Evers, 1949 (Coleoptera, Cleroidea, Malachiidae) from Nepal, Far Eastern Entomologist 426, pp. 1-9 : 3-4

Key to the species of the genus Kuatunia

1. Pronotum uniformly dark, the same colouration as elytra (black, dark-brown or with metallic luster) ................................................................................................................... 2

– Pronotum completely or in part yellow or orange …………….….......…...…………….. 9

2. Head completely dark, elytra black ………………………........…………….………….. 3

– Head completely or in part yellow or yellow-brown, elytra black, or partially yellow or pale-yellow ........................................................................................................................ 5

3. Legs dark except for lighter, brownish tarsi ...................................................................... 4

– Apices of femora, tarsi and tibiae yellow. Antennae yellow, dorsal part of 1st segment above, and segments 6-11 almost completely darkened. Male apical sternite with a narrow horn, elytral apices with dorsally curved fine flexure ( Tshernyshev 2012a : fig. 15) ............................................................................................. K. australis Wittmer, 1991 males, tarsal comb light-brownish. Apical tergite narrow, elongate and rounded, elytral apices with an oval lamella with a curved plate over it ( Tshernyshev 2012a : fig. 20) ....... .............................................................................................. K. nigroopaca Wittmer, 1995

– Only 1st to 3rd antennomeres red-yellow and slightly darkened dorsally, 4th segment brown, remaining segments dark; tarsi brownish, anterior reddish. In male, apical sternite cut, almost square-shaped, elytral apices shaped like tiny processes closed in half-circles ( Tshernyshev 2012 : fig. 19) .............................................................. K. klapperichi Evers, 1949

5. Elytra completely black, including elytral apices; antennae and legs completely yellow. In male, structure of elytral apices as incrassate flexure curved dorsally and anteriorly, with deep impression inside ( Tshernyshev 2012a : figs. 2, 3) ..... K. nordica Tshernyshev, 2012

– Elytra, at least to some extent, pale coloured laterally and/or apically ............................. 6

6. Legs and antennae monochromously yellow or with brownish tarsi, lateral sides of elytra and pronotum lightened, in male impressions in elytral apices yellow, upper margin of the impression pale-yellow, lower part of the impression black-brown, appendage black, apices of the elytra pointed ......................................... K. oblongula (Kiesenwetter, 1874)

– Tibiae and sides of femora in posterior legs black, antennae yellow or black-brown distally ................................................................................................................................... 7

7. Intermediate tibiae and dorsal sides of anterior tibiae black, apical third of elytra paleyellow, dorsal side of the 1st antennomere and 5th to 11th antennomeres dark brown, apices of elytra depressed, with semi-transparent vertical appendage as wide bottle-shape (see Asano et al., 2018: figs 6, 17) in middle, apical margin transverse and twice depressed, rounded .............................................................. K. chibaensis (Nakane, 1989)

– Anterior tibiae yellow or yellow-brown, intermediate tibiae completely yellow or yellowbrown, or with darkened apices, antennae monochromously yellow-brown or darkened distally ............................................................................................................................... 8

8. Antennae and anterior and intermediate legs monochromously yellow-brownish, tarsi sometimes darker; elytra black with v-shape yellow colouration of apices black near suture; elytral apices wide, depressed, with slightly stretched tips and black narrow bottle-shape appendages near suture, (see Tshernyshev, 2012a : fig. 21; Asano et al., 2018: figs 7, 18) ........................................................................... K. chujoi Wittmer, 1954

– Anterior and intermediate legs yellow-brownish, intermediate tibiae darkened distally, basal antennomeres yellow-brown, dorsal side of the 1st antennomere and completely 5th to 11th antennomeres dark brown, apical quarter of elytra with depressions and appendages yellow, apices strongly depressed and weakly impresses with triangular upper side above the impression, appendage as wide triangle (see Asano et al., 2018: figs 8, 19) .................................................................................... K. horaianus (Nakane, 1991)

9. Pronotum partially darkened ........................................................................................... 10

– Pronotum completely light, yellow or orange ................................................................. 11

10. Pronotum almost completely black except basal slope and posterior angles light yellow, head and scutellum black, antennomeres 1st to 3rd yellow on the inner side, remaining black, legs black with slightly lighter tarsi; elytra black with whitish apices and brownish suture. In male, transversal impression of elytral apices light, incrassate flexures black (see Tshernyshev 2012a : fig. 17) ............................................ K. emeiensis Wittmer, 1995

– Pronotum orange with a longitudinal black spot in the middle; scutellum yellow at base and darkened distally, head yellow with dark occiput, antennae yellow, slightly darkened from outer side, apical segments almost completely dark; legs completely yellow; elytra black with narrow yellow lateral stripes slightly widening towards middle, suture lightbrown. In male inner part of impression in elytral structures yellow (see Tshernyshev 2012a : fig. 22) ......................................................................... K. oloyensis Wittmer, 1998