Apalochrus femoralis pallipes Motschulsky, 1860

Tshernyshev, Sergei E., 2015, A review of species of the genus Apalochrus Erichson (Coleoptera, Malachiidae), Zootaxa 3941 (3), pp. 358-374 : 363-365

Apalochrus femoralis pallipes Motschulsky, 1860 stat. n.

( Fig. 3–4 , 15–18, 19 (circle))

Apalochrus pallipes Motschulsky, 1860: 118 . Type locality: “Dans les steppes des Kirguises”—steppes of Central Kazakhstan. Paratinus pallipes: Abeille de Perrin, 1891: 214, 222.

Apalochrus pallipes: Mayor, 2003: 90 ; 2007: 416—as a synonym of A. notatus notatus (Zubkov, 1833) . = Apalochrus flavicornis Abeille de Perrin, 1890: 50; Mayor, 2003: 90; 2007: 416. syn. n. = Paratinus flavicornis : Abeille de Perrin, 1891: 214, 222.

Notes. Apalochrus pallipes Mots., 1860 was briefly described from beetles collected in the Asian part of the Russian Empire: "Dans les steppes des Kirguises, il se trouve encore une espèce ressemblant au femoralis , mais qui a les pattes entièrement testacées; clic est aussi un peu plus courte, et je l'ai nommée Apal. pallipes . " ( Motschulsky, 1860). Such a short description implies a completely dark pronotum, as in A. femoralis ; the only character which allows recognition of the new species from the closely related one is the pale colour of antenna and tarsi. The type locality is uncertain, given the wide territory implied by the term “Kirguises”: «Kirgizian steppes is vast space from Ural river to Tien-Shan foothills to the East, Aral Sea to the South, and Tobolsk Gubernia th the North, and covers Uralskaya, Turgayskaya, Akmolinskaya, Semipalatinskaya, Semirechenskaya, part of Syrdarinskaya and Astrakhanskaya Oblast» ( Silvergeim, 1852). Today this territory can be described as part of the Eurasian steppe belt extending from the Caspian Sea to Altai foothills, covering parts of Russian and Kazakhstan regions, extending from parallel 45º to 54º N. Five Apalochrus Er. species live in this wide area but four of them have partly or completely reddish-yellowish pronotum (these are A. flavicollis Schaufuss, 1870 , A. fulvicollis ( Gebler, 1845) , A. notatithorax Pic, 1936 and A. notatus Zoubkoff, 1833 ); the fifth species, whose pronotum is completely dark is actually similar to A. femoralis femoralis Erichson, 1840 and differs from it only by a green metallic lustre of head and pronotum (lacking in A. femoralis femoralis ), light yellow colour of antennae and tarsi, sinuate pronotal base and rougher elytral sculpture.

Abeille de Perrin (1890) described his Paratinus flavicornis , from the eastern part of the Kirgizian steppe, namely Ust-Kamenogorsk environs (49°57′N; 82°37′E), as a species close to P. femoralis : "J'ai vu dans la collection de Mniszech, appartenant à M. Oberthür, un seul sujet de cette espèce en déplorable état, sans pattes, ni antennes. Pourtant, malgré l'indication du catalogue Gemminger, qui la donne comme synonyme de P. femoralis , elle en diffère par les caractères que voici: les élytres sont un peu moins rugueux, les yeux sont plus saillants, enfin le corselet est plus cordiforme et les côtés de ce segment, bien que les angles postérieurs soient émoussés, retombent très perpendiculairement sur la base, au lieu d'être coupés obliquement à cet endroit.Patrie: Outskamenogorsk". He also speculated that A. pallipes Mots. could probably be a variation of A. femoralis Er. , however without studying Motschulsky’s type specimen(s).

As above reported, the study of abundant materials from different parts of Central Asia steppes shows that only one Apalochrus species with dark coloured pronotum lives in this area and it has been identified as A. pallipes Mots., 1860 . As a consequence, Apalochrus pallipes is proposed as a senior synonym of A. flavicornis Abeille de Perrin, 1890.

The type of A. pallipes Mots. has not been found. To the best knowledge of the writer, it has been lost. All reasonable efforts have been done to retrieve it: investigations have been carried out both in Moscow and in Saint- Petersburg to find Motschulsky’s types with particular attention paid to A. pallipes . Although several Malachiidae specimens from the Kirgizian steppes are present in the Motschulsky collection at the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University (as for example A. maculicollis from Guriev) unfortunately the desired type of A. pallipes Mots. was not found. The lack of this type is seen by the writer as a problem both because of the strong similarity between A. femoralis and A. pallipes , so requiring a clearly cut definition, and because the typical locality reported by Motschulsky is too broad ( ICZN 1999: 75.3.). On this ground, a neotype of A. pallipes has been designated from material collected in the central part of the species distribution, namely Kokshetau area (54°N; 45°E).

In the Löbl & Smetana Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera , vol. 4 ( Mayor,2007), A. pallipes Mots. is reported as a synonym of A. notatus notatus (Zubkov) ; the reasons are unclear to the writer: it might be an editing mistake, because the pronotum of A. notatus is completely, or at least in part, red-orange, clearly different from both A. pallipes and A. femoralis (which Motschulsky compared with his new species).

Description. Male. Head and pronotum black without metallic lustre, clypeus, mandibles, genae, anterior side of labrum, underside of mouthparts, antennae, tibiae, tarsi and trochanters yellow. Elytra black with green-blue metallic lustre. Scutellum and femora dark brown, lacking metallic lustre. Ventral side of thorax, coxae and abdomen brown; borders of sternites and vesicles yellow, thoracic mesepimera brown.

Head narrower than pronotum, very slightly impressed just before clypeus, sparsely covered with thin, short, semi-erect and dark pubescence, with several long black erect bristles on the temple behind the eyes; surface coarsely punctate, with indistinct microsculpture, labrum short, transverse, bearing long semi-erect white hairs; genae short, straight; eyes protruding, round. Maxillary palpi short, 1st segment large, club-like, 1.5 times shorter and 2.5 times narrower than 3rd, 2nd segment very small, transverse; apical segment securiform, twice as long as 1st and 3.5 times longer than 2nd, truncate at apex; surface with short, pale, semi-erect setae. Antennae not long, reaching the elytral base; 2nd segment very small, rounded, almost completely hidden by the basal one, 1st and 3nd segments cylindrical, not swollen, 1st slightly wider and longer than 3rd, 4th rectangular, slightly shorter than the previous one, 5th–10th almost square to trapezium shaped, sinuate at base, wider than 1st, apical segment almost completely rectangular with sinuate and pointed tip. All segments covered with thin, pale, very short, sparse and semi-erect pubescence.

Pronotum almost completely square shaped, in some specimens distinctly sinuate at base, anterior margin slightly arched, posterior straight, all angles rounded, strongly depressed at basal fifth; disc sparsely punctate in middle, roughly and densely punctate on sides and near hind angles; microsculpture indistinct; covered with double pubescence: uniform, pale, short and depressed, and two groups of several sparse, long, black, erect setae close to anterior angles.

Scutellum transverse-rectangular, small, almost completely hidden by pronotum, with straight anterior margin; its surface bright, densely punctate and pubescent with very thin, pale, barely visible pubescence.

Elytra parallel, narrow, slightly expanded posteriorly, slightly impressed between scutellum and shoulders; humeri distinct; apices evenly rounded, simple, lacking impressions or appendages; surface dull, densely punctured at base and shagreened in other parts, with distinct microsculpture, evenly covered with fine, short, light and semierect pubescence, sparsely fitted with long, erect and dark setae.

Legs not long, thin, posterior femora reaching the apical fifth of elytra, covered with pale, short, depressed pubescence and longer, sparse, black and erect setae; tarsi with claw segments same colour as all the previous ones. Tibiae thin, very slightly expanded anteriorly, rounded. Tarsi narrow; claw segment larger than the previous ones, slightly depressed dorsally, somewhat shorter than 1st and 2nd taken together, more or less same length of 3rd and 4th. Claws narrow, sharp, almost completely straight, basally with small tooth.

Apical sternite ( Fig. 16 ) narrow, transverse, 2.3 times wider than long, distinctly divided in two lobes coupled with transparent membrane, each lobe with long strong and dark setae; apical tergite ( Fig. 15 ) approximately semicircular, 1.3 times longer than wide, evenly rounded, not emarginated on anterior side, covered with sparse black setae. Median lobe ( Figs. 17 ) simple, very slightly curved ventrally, with short, stretched and slightly widened lamella; groups of small denticles noticeable in inner sac near apical part of aedeagus, a strong tooth curved laterally and located closer to basal half of the aedeagus. Tegmen elongate, narrow, 1.7 times longer than wide, not deeply emarginate in the middle, with short, thread-like appendages ( Fig. 18 ).

Length (neotype) 4.1 mm, width (at elytral base) 1.1 mm.

Female. Similar to male, except as follows. Antennae narrower. Elytra strongly widened behind the middle. Pronotum smooth, almost completely lacking punctures in middle, shining. Claw segment shorter in comparison with male claws.

Length (female) 5.2 mm, width (at elytral base) 1.4 mm.

Material studied. Neotype, male: Kazakhstan: Kokchetavskaya Oblast’: env. of Ruzaevka vill., 54°04N, 44°52’E, sweeping in a field of wheat, 28.VI.1982, G. Sukacheva leg. (SCH); idem— 14 ♂, 15 ♀ (SCH); Akmolinskaya Oblast’: env. of Karazhar, Korgaldzhinskii State Reserve, 51°45’N, 71°28’E, 28.VI.2005, V.L. Kazenas leg.— 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (SCH); Semipalatinskaya Oblast’: 20 km N of Tarbagatai, 47°10’N, 82°10’E, 6.VI.1962, G.S. Medvedev leg.— 1 ♂ ( ZIN). Russia: Kalmykia: near Sadovoe vill., 47°46’N, 44°30’E, 6.VI.1989, E.A. Khachikov leg.— 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (SCH); Altaiskii Krai, env. of Topchikha vill., sweeping on field, agricultural station, 52°49N, 83°07’E, 7.VI.1932, Coll.-?— 19 ♂, 26 ♀ (SCH); Tyumenskaya Oblast’: Sladkovskii Raion, Island in Tavolzhan Lake, 56°55N, 65°56’E, 19.VII.2004, R.Yu. Dudko leg.—1 ♀ (SCH); Novosibirskaya Oblast’: Karasukskii Raion, ~ 20 km W of Karasuk, ~3 rv W of Troitskoe vill., 53°43N, 77°49’E, 2.VI.2007, S.E. Tshernyshev leg.— 1♂, 2 ♀ (SCH).

Distribution. Asia: Kazakhstan—Transcapian steppes, Kokchetavskaya, Ust-Kamenogorskaya Oblast, Russia: South Urals—Orenburgskaya Oblast’, West Siberia—Tyumenskaya, Omskaya, Novosibirskaya Oblast’, Altaiskii Krai.

Figures

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.

FIGURES 11 – 19. Apalochrus femoralis femoralis (Erichson, 1840), male, (11 – 14, 19 (triangle )), A. femoralis pallipes Motschulsky, 1860 stat. nov., male (15 – 18, 19 (circle )) and A. turkestanicus (Pic, 1907) (19 (square )); apical tergite (11, 15); apical sternite (12, 15); median lobe, lateral (13, 17); tegmen (14, 18); distribution map (19). Scale bar 1.0 mm.