Copelatus japonicus Sharp, 1884

Jiang, Zhuo-Yin, Zhao, Shuang, Yang, Zhen-Yu, Jia, Feng-Long & Hájek, Jiří, 2022, A review of Copelatus Erichson, 1832 of Mainland China, with description of ten new species from the japonicus complex (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Copelatinae), Zootaxa 5124 (3), pp. 251-295 : 260

Copelatus japonicus Sharp, 1884

( Figs 8 , 39–40 )

Copelatus japonicus Sharp, 1884: 445 .

Type locality. “Kiishiu” [ Japan, Honshu Island , Wakayama Prefecture] .

Type material. Syntype ♂ ( BMNH), labelled: “ Copelatus / japonicus. / Type D.S. / Japan. Lewis [hw] // Type [round label with red frame, p] // Sharp Coll / 1905-313.” ; Syntype ♀ ( BMNH), labelled: “Kii, 1879 / Wada [hw] // Japan. / G. Lewis. / 1910–320. [p] // Copelatus / japonicus. [hw] // Copelatus / japonicus, / ♀ Sharp. / teste. D.Sharp. [hw]” .

Additional material examined. CHINA: Shanghai: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Jiading District, Jiading new town, 10.ix.2021, D. Zhou leg. ( SYSU) .

Diagnosis. Larger (TL: 5.3–5.7 mm), oblong-oval species. Head brown, with reddish clypeus and two oval spots on vertex; pronotum brown, laterally broadly orange, anterior and posterior margin orange translucent; elytra pale brown on disc, base and lateral sides yellowish brown. Pronotum with only several short longitudinal strioles laterally. Each elytron with six complete discal striae and one submarginal stria: all striae beginning at base; stria 1 longest, ending close to apex, odd striae somewhat longer than even ones; stria 6 shortest, ending at apical fourth; submarginal stria long, beginning before elytral mid-length and ending at apical fourth ( Fig. 8 ). Median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view simple, sickle shaped, strongly curved; broad in basal half and slender in apical half; apex pointed ( Fig. 39 ). Parameres slender, ‘C’-shaped; apex short and broad; apical lobes moderately long, club-shaped ( Fig. 40 ). Female similar to male; strioles on pronotum more numerous, microreticulation of pronotum and elytra slightly more impressed.

Comments on the classification. This Japanese species was recorded from several Chinese provinces by various authors (see Nilsson 1995 for summary), also under the names C. chinensis and C. collocallosus which were synonymized with C. japonicus by Guignot (1952) and Satô (1985) respectively. However, the study of the type material of C. chinensis proved that it is a valid species separate from C. japonicus , while the extensive material collected recently in various localities in southern China belongs to numerous taxa new to science. At present, we are aware of only a single reliable record of C. japonicus from China – Shanghai, presented above.

Distribution. A species occurring in Japan, South Korea and eastern China (Shanghai) ( Fig. 81 ).

Figures

FIGURE 81. Map of distribution of Copelatus in China Mainland.

FIGURES 5–8. Habitus of Copelatus in China. 5. C. diversistriatus sp. nov. (holotype ♂; Pu’er, Yunnan); 6. C. diversistriatus sp. nov. (♂; NE Mintaingbin Forest Camp, Myanmar); 7. C. felicis sp. nov. (holotype ♂; Baishui, Yunnan); 8. C. japonicus (♂; Shanghai). Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 39–50. Male genitalia of Copelatus. 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49. median lobe in lateral view; 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50. paramere. 39–40. C. japonicus (Shanghai); 41. C. malaisei (a. Gaoligongshan, Yunnan; b. Renjiafen, Yunnan); 42. C. malaisei (Renjiafen, Yunnan); 43–44. C. miaowangi sp. nov. (paratype, Liupanshui, Guizhou); 45–46. C. mopanshanensis sp. nov. (holotype, Mopanshan, Yunnan); 47–48. C. nanlingensis sp. nov. (holotype, Dadongshan, Guangdong); 49–50. C. oblitus (Macao). Scale bar 0.5 mm.