Mispila (s. str.)

Xie, Guanglin, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. & Wang, Wenkai, 2023, The collection of the genus Mispila Pascoe, 1864 housed in the Natural History Museum, London (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), Zootaxa 5352 (2), pp. 245-265 : 248-250

Mispila (s. str.) curviline a Pascoe, 1869

( Figure 3 )

Mispila curvilinea Pascoe, 1869: 206 ; Gemminger & Harold, 1873: 3092; Hua, 1981: 178; Hua, 2002: 216; Weigel, 2012: 411; Kariyanna et al., 2017: 193; Barševskis, 2018: 291.

Mispila (Mispila) curvilinea: Aurivillius, 1922: 275 ; Breuning, 1961a: 281; Breuning, 1963b: 474; Rondon & Breuning, 1970: 415; Löbl & Smetana, 2010: 315.

Alidus multilineatus Pic, 1925: 24 .

Type material examined. India. Holotype, male ( Figure 3a–d ): ‘Type [p, label circular, red framed]; India [h, label oval, dark green]; Pascoe / Coll. / 93–60 [p]; Mispila / curvilinea / Typ. Pasc. [h]; Mispila / curvilinea [h]; NHMUK 014596491’.

Non-type material examined. India: 1 male: ‘ Mungphu. [Sikkim, India]; Atkinson Coll. / 92–3 .’; Laos: 1 male: ‘ B. Van Heua [ Ban Van Heua ] / 30.4–65 [h]; J. A. Rondon Collection / BISHOP MUS.’; 1 female: ‘unreadable / 4–7–63 [h]/ Vientiane; Laos: / J. A. Rondon. / B. M. 1966–602. [p, with yellow line] ’; 1 male: ‘ Phon Tiou / 4–5–63 [h]; Laos : / J. A. Rondon. / B. M. 1966–602. [p, with yellow line]; NHMUK014596462 [p]’; 1 female: ‘ Phon Tiou / 1–5–62 [h]; Laos : / J. A. Rondon. / B. M. 1966–602. [p, with yellow line]; NHMUK014596463 [p]’; 1 female: ‘ Houei Sai / 2. 12. 64; Laos / J. A. Rondon. / B. M. 1966–602. [p]; Mispila (S. Str.) curvilinea Pascoe [h] ’; 36 specimens (male and female) all with labels: ‘ Phon Tiou [h]; Laos : / J. A. Rondon. / B. M. 1966–602. [p, with yellow line]’ and dates (with number of specimens in parentheses) 1.5.62 (x3), 15.5.62 (x5), 1.4.63 (x11), 10.4.63 (x2), 20.4.63 (x6), 4.5.63 (x5), 16.5.63 (x1), 27.5.63 (x1), 20.10.63 (x2) .

Comments. A total of 43 specimens, 17 males (including the holotype) and 26 females were examined. The markings on the pronotum and elytra of the specimens from India (the holotype and a non-type from Mungphu, Sikkim) are distinctly paler and lighter than those observed on the non-type specimens from Laos. The specimens from Laos are also more brightly coloured, pinkish brown rather than greyish in the Indian specimens. This variation may have led Pic (1925) to describe Alidus multilineatus from Laos, which is presently treated as a junior synonym of Mispila curvilinea . Reexamination of Pic’s type material would be needed to verify this synonymy.

‘Ban Van Heua’ is a locality in Vientiane Province, Laos. ‘Houei Sai’ (alternatively Houayxay, Huoeisay or Huay Xai) is a district in Bokeo Province, Laos near the border with Thailand. ‘Phon Tiou’ is a locality in Khammouane Province, Laos.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Habitus of Mispila (s. str.) curvilinea Pascoe, 1869. (a–d) holotype, male; (e, f) female; (g, h) male; scale: 5 mm.