Cautires Waterhouse, 1879

Bocak, Ladislav, 2012, A revision of the Cautires obsoletus species group from Java (Coleoptera, Lycidae), ZooKeys 241, pp. 55-66 : 56-57

Cautires Waterhouse, 1879

Type species.

Lycus (gen. 22) excellens Waterhouse, 1878; Bourgeois 1891: 345, by subsequent designation.

Differential diagnosis of the Cautires obsoletus species group.

Cautires belongs to the tribe Metriorrhynchini , which is easily recognizable by well-developed pronotal and elytral costae, a circular phallobase and unpaired gland in the vagina ( Bocak 2002).All species classified in the Cautires obsoletus group share principal diagnostic characters with other Cautires : a medium sized, flattened, feebly sclerotized body, flabellate antennae in males which are serrate in females, four primary and five secondary longitudinal costae in the elytra, and a lanceolate phallus with membranous internal sac bearing two sickle-shaped thorns at its base (Figs 1-23). The species groupis defined by the presence of a single median areola in the pronotum and it differs from the Cautires pauper species group in the obtuse frontal angles resulting in the triangular shape of the pronotum, and a slender phallus (Figs 7-16). The morphology of Cautires was described and illustrated in detail by Dudkova and Bocak (2010).

Distribution and biology.

The low dispersal propensity of metriorrhynchine net-winged beetles results in small ranges and effectiveness of barriers, which are crossed easily by other beetles ( Kubecek et al. 2011). Adults of net-winged beetles usually remain under the canopy of the tropical rain forest and do not fly in open habitat ( Bocak 2002). Extensive studies of South East Asian Cautires and other Metriorrhynchini revealed that each species is typically restricted to a single island, and that these beetles very seldom have extensive ranges (e.g. Dudkova and Bocak 2010, Weiszenstein and Bocak 2011). Although Kleine (1933) recorded several species of Cautires from two or more Great Sunda islands, the study of principal collections and extensive collecting activity in Sumatra and Borneo revealed that all Javanese species treated here are endemic to Java and do not occur in the other Great Sunda islands. So, for example, due to high similarity, Cautires apicalis described from Java has been for long time kept in synonymy of Cautires corporaali from Northern Sumatra and is reinstated as a valid species.

The second potential reason for the high level of endemism in net-winged beetles is the role of aposematic coloration. The majority of Metriorrhynchini in the Oriental Region are aposematically colored and the Javanese Cautires species are no exception (Figs 1-6). The similar orange and black pattern is known also from higher mountain regions of Sumatra, e.g. Gunung Kerinci, Gunung Merapi and volcanoes in the vicinity of Brastagi. These aposematic patterns are limited to higher mountain habitats and the lower areas are inhabited by differently colored species. The role of color patterns as a factor limiting dispersal was discussed by Bocak and Yagi (2010).

Key to the Cautires obsoletus species group of Java