Meligethes (Meligethes) cinereoargenteus Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015

Liu, Meike, Huang, Min, Cline, Andrew Richard & Audisio, Paolo, 2018, New and poorly known Meligethes Stephens from China, with bionomical data on some species (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Meligethinae), Zootaxa 4392 (3), pp. 546-566 : 549-550

Meligethes (Meligethes) cinereoargenteus Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015

Examined material. China, SICHUAN, LUDINg COUNTY, MOXI TOWN, MT . GONggA, HAILUOgOU, 2780 m A.S.L., CA. 29.566667° 102°, 5.v.2017, X. CHEN LgT, 3 ♂, 4 ♀ (NWAU, CAR-MZUR, NMPC).

Distribution. SW CHINA (SICHUAN); KNOWN THUS fAR ONLY fROm SICHUAN, ON THE bASIS Of TWO SERIOUSLY DAmAgED mALE SpECImENS COLLECTED NEAR LUDINg (AUDISIO et al. 2015) ( FIg. 5b ).

Host-plants. UNKNOWN; HOWEvER, THE HOST IS LIKELY Rosa Sp. OR A RELATED ROSACEAE gENUS . THIS SpECIES OCCURS IN bUSHY/SHRUbbY AREAS AT HIgH ALTITUDES (2500–2800 m).

Taxonomic remarks. DUE TO THE pOOR STATE Of pRESERvATION Of THE TYpE mATERIAL fROm LUDINg, THIS SpECIES, ALTHOUgH bEINg ONLY SUpERfICIALLY SImILAR TO Meligethes (M.) nepalensis EASTON, 1968, fROm NEpAL (IN THE Meligethes nepalensis SpECIES gROUp), WAS mISINTERpRETED bY AUDISIO et al. (2015) AS bELONgINg TO THIS CLADE. BASED ON THE fRESH mATERIAL REpORTED AbOvE ( FIg. 1C ), THIS TAXON IS DEfINITIvELY A mEmbER Of THE Meligethes auripilis SpECIES gROUp, AND CAN bE NOW TRANSfERRED TO THIS CLADE, AND AppARENTLY RELATED TO M. aurifer (fROm E SHAANXI AND W SHANXI) AND M. aureolineatus (fROm N SICHUAN). THESE THREE TAXA fORm THE HERE ESTAbLISHED M. aurifer SpECIES COmpLEX. Meligethes cinereoargenteus IS WELL-CHARACTERIZED bY ITS DISTINCTIvE mALE gENITALIA, SpECIfICALLY A pECULIARLY SHApED AEDEAgAL ApEX (FIgS. 7I, J IN AUDISIO et al. 2015). THE STRONgLY EXpANDED mALE pROTARSI ALSO DIffERENTIATE THIS SpECIES ( FIg. 1C ). THE pREvIOUSLY UNKNOWN OvIpOSITOR Of THIS SpECIES IS NOT CONSIDERAbLY DIffERENT IN ITS gENERAL SHApE fROm THAT Of M. aurifer , bUT DOES EXHIbIT A SHALLOWER ApICAL EXCISION Of THE COmbINED gONOCOXAL ApICES ( FIg. 2L ); RATIO OVPL/GONL = 2.25. FEmALES DIffER fROm mALES mAINLY bY THE mUCH NARROWER pROTARSAL pLATES (RATIO WFTA/LFTA = 0.33 IN fEmALES AND = 0.45 IN mALES), AND bY THE mUCH SHALLOWER ImpRESSION ON THE pOSTERIOR pORTION Of THE mETAvENTRITE.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus (a, c, d, e, f, g) or female elytral apex (b) of Meligethes species: a (♂), b (♀) M. (Meligethes) elytralis Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015 from Sichuan; c, M. (M.) cinereoargenteus Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015, ♂ from Sichuan; d, M. (M.) auropilosus Liu, Yang, Huang, Jelínek & Audisio, 2016, ♂ from Hubei; e, M. (Odonthogethes) trapezithorax sp. n., ♂ paratype from Hubei; f, M.(O.) tricuspidatus sp. n., ♀ holotype from Hubei; g, M.(O.) luteomaculatus sp. n., ♂ paratype from Hubei.Scale bar:2 mm.

FIGURE 2. Male (a–f) and female (g–l) genitalia of Meligethes species (a, c, e, tegmen, dorsal view; b, d, f, median lobe of aedeagus, dorsal view); a, b, M. (Meligethes) elytralis Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015, ♂ from Sichuan; c, d, M. (Odonthogethes) trapezithoraxsp.n., ♂ paratype from Hubei;e, f, M.(O.)luteomaculatus sp.n., ♂ paratype from Hubei;g, M. (M.) auropilosus Liu, Yang, Huang, Jelínek & Audisio, 2016, ♀ from Hubei; h, M. (O.) trapezithorax sp. n., ♀ paratype from Hubei; i, M. (O.) tricuspidatus sp. n., ♀ holotype from Hubei; j, M. (O.) luteomaculatus sp. n., ♀ paratype from Hubei; k, M. (O.) pallidoelytrorum Chen & Kirejtshuk, 2013, ♀ from Sichuan; l, M. (M.) cinereoargenteus Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015, ♀ from Sichuan.Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 5. Distribution maps of Meligethes (Meligethes) species; a (M. tryznai, M. elytralis, M. macrofemoratus, M. auropilosus); b (M. aurifer, M.aureolineatus, M.cinereoargenteus).