Notocupes Ponomarenko, 1964

STRELNIKOVA, OLESYA D. & YAN, EVGENY V., 2021, Redescriptions of beetles of the Notocupes generic complex (Coleoptera: Archostemata: Ommatidae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Buryatia, Palaeoentomology 4 (5), pp. 499-514 : 501-502

Genus Notocupes Ponomarenko, 1964

Notocupes Ponomarenko, 1964 , pp. 61, fig. 5.

Zygadenia Handlirsch, 1906 , pp. 558 (type species: Curculionites tuberculatus Giebel, 1856 ); Jarzembowski, 1993, pp. 179; Ponomarenko, 2000, pp. S317.

Kakoselia Handlirsch, 1906 , pp. 561 (type species: Camptodontus angliae Brodie, 1845 ); Ponomarenko, 2006, pp. 91.

Sinocupes Lin, 1976 , pp. 113 (type species: Sinocupes validus Lin, 1976 ); Ponomarenko, 2006, pp. 90; Kirejtshuk et al., 2010, pp. 792.

Chengdecupes Hong, 1983 , pp. 83, fig. 75 (type species: Chengdecupes jurassicus Hong, 1983 ); Kirejtshuk et al., 2016, pp. 144–145.

Conexicoxa Lin, 1986 , pp. 76 (type species: Conexicoxa homorus Lin, 1986 ); Ponomarenko, 2006, pp. 90.

Forticupes Hong & Wang, 1990 , pp. 105 (type species: Forticupes laiyangensis Hong, 1990 ); Ponomarenko 2006, pp. 90.

Picticupes Hong & Wang, 1990 , pp. 107 (type species: Picticupes tuanwangensis Hong, 1990 ); Ponomarenko, 2006, pp. 90.

Lupicupes Ren et al., 1995 , pp. 74 (type species: Lupicupes trachylenus Ren, 1995 ); Ponomarenko, 2006, pp. 90.

Amblomma Tan et al., 2005 , pp. 208 (type species: Amblomma psilata Tan, Ren & Liu, 2005 ); Kirejtshuk et al., 2010, pp. 788.

Ovatocupes Tan & Ren, 2006 , pp. 225 (type species: Ovatocupes alienus Tan & Ren, 2006 ); Kirejtshuk et al., 2010, pp. 788.

Pareuryomma Tan, Ren, Shin & Ge, 2012 , pp. 7 (type species: Euryomma tylodes Tan, Ren, Shin & Ge, 2006 ) in: Tan, J, Wang, Y., Ren, D. & Yang, X., 2012; Kirejtshuk et al., 2010, pp. 788.

Type species. Notocupes picturatus Ponomarenko, 1964 ; Upper Jurassic , Karabastau Formation , Southern Kazakhstan, Karatau .

Diagnosis. Medium-sized beetles. First antennomere (scapus) distinctly larger than the remaining; second (pedicellus) usually equal in size to fourth or fifth; remainder of antennomeres gradually decreasing in size towards antennal apex. Pronotum transverse, with sides explanate and anterior angles at least slightly protruding anteriorly. Abdominal ventrites one to four (= sternites III–VI) overlapping each other. Elytra always with 10 rows of cells, organized pairwise (not counting cell rows on epipleuron). Two veins closest to sutural margin (Cu and A2 sensu Jarzembowski (2015) and 4 and 5 on figs 4C, E, 7, 10B, C, E, 11) merging near elytral apex as short combined veins. Apical abdominal sternite 2–4 times longer than penultimate one.

Species included. 82 species. Among them, species of previous synonymized genera: Zygadenia Handlirsch, 1906 , Ovatocupes Tan & Ren, 2006 , Sinocupes Wang, 1980 , Forticupes Hong & Wang, 1990 , Amblomma Tan et al., 2005 , Picticupes Hong & Wang, 1990 , Lupicupes Ren, 1995 , Conexicoxa Lin, 1986 , Kakoselia Handlirsch, 1906 and Camptodontus Dejean, 1826 . Also, species transferred to Notocupes from Procarabus Oppenheim, 1888 , Tetraphalerus Waterhouse, 1901 and Chengdecupes Hong, 1983 , and also four species of Pareuryomma Tan et al., 2012 , which were excluded from synonyms of Notocupes and become part of the Notocupes generic complex.

Remarks. In an earlier publication ( Strelnikova, 2019), the character “antennae reaching the base of the pronotum” was noted as one of the diagnostic features for the genus. However, the study of published material revealed, that some of the described species have antennae that are considerably shorter and do not reach the pronotal base (e. g., N. pulcher Ponomarenko, 1968 and N. kirghizicus Ponomarenko, 1969 ), while the antennae of some other species distinctly reach beyond the pronotum ( N. nigrimonticola Ponomarenko, 1968 or N. laticella Ponomarenko, 1969 ). Thus, this character is variable within the genus and is excluded from the diagnosis.

Another character, overlapping abdominal sternites, was used to separate Ommatidae and Cupedidae ( Lawrence, 1999) . In a recent diagnosis for Notocupes, Kirejtshuk (2020) included abutting sternites. However, it was mentioned in the earlier publication that Notocupes had overlapping sternites, while Amblomma and Pareuryomma had abutting sternites ( Tan et al., 2012). Pending further detailed examination, this character is also excluded here from the diagnosis.