Aspidimerus ruficrus Gorham, 1895

Huo, Lizhi, Wang, Xingmin, Chen, Xiaosheng & Ren, Shunxiang, 2013, The genus Aspidimerus Mulsant, 1850 (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) from China, with descriptions of two new species, ZooKeys 348, pp. 47-75 : 62-64

Aspidimerus ruficrus Gorham, 1895 Figs 36-38, 79-84, 86

Aspidimerus ruficrus Gorham, 1895: 690; Korschefsky 1931: 173; Kapur 1948: 83; Pang and Mao 1979: 55; Cao and Xiao 1984: 98; Cao et al. 1992: 134; Pang 1998: 186; Kovář 2007: 575; Ren et al. 2009: 108; Poorani 2002: 343.

Cryptogonus blandus Mader, 1954: 130; Liu 1963: 84. syn. n.

As pidimerus blandus (Mader, 1954): Kovář 2007: 73. Combined by Kovář 2007: 73.

Diagnosis.

This species is similar to Aspidimerus mouhoti in general appearance, but can be distinguished by the penis guide slender and slightly straight in lateral view and vase-shaped with truncate apex in ventral view (Figs 81-82). The shape of penis is also diagnostic (Fig. 79).

Description.

TL: 3.75-4.00mm, TW: 3.00-3.25mm, TH: 1.55-1.65mm, TL/TW: 1.23-1.25; PL/PW: 0.54-0.56; EL/EW: 0.98-1.00.

Body oblong oval, dorsum moderately convex and pubescent (Figs 36-38). Head deep yellow in male and black in female. Eyes black or silver. Pronotum black with anterior corners deep yellow (Fig. 38). Scutellum black. Elytra deep yellow with a black border along all the margins and three black spots (Figs 36-37). Spot 1 rounded, situated on humeral callus. Spot 2 subrounded, largest, posterior to the transverse middle line, nearer the suture. Spot 3 small, oblong, and confluent with the lateral margin. Underside black, except legs and abdomen reddish brown.

Head small and transverse, 0.43 times elytral width (HW/EW=1:2.31). Punctures on frons finer, separated by 0.5-1.0 times their diameter, with thin, yellow white pubescence. Eyes moderately large and rather finely faceted, the widest interocular distance 0.31 times head width. Pronotum convex and transverse, 0.68 times elytral width (PW/EW=1:1.46), covered with finely close punctures associated with dense yellowish pubescence. Punctures on elytra fine and close, smaller than those on pronotum, separated by 1.0-2.0 times their diameter, with dense silver white pubescence. Scutellum subtriangular. Punctures on prosternum coarse, with sparse long pubescence. Mesoventrite with yellow white pubescence. Metaventrite coarsely punctate, separated by 0.3-0.5 times their diameter, with pubescence sparse, moderately long and yellowish.

Male genitalia: Penis long, curved almost in a circle. Penis capsule with an expanded outer process and a small inner one (Fig. 79). Apex of penis with membranous appendage (Fig. 80). Penis guide slender and nearly straight in lateral view (Fig. 82). In ventral view, penis guide vase-shaped, widest at middle, with truncate apex (Fig. 81). Parameres slender, equal in length to penis guide, sparsely setose at apex (Fig. 82).

Female genitalia: Tenth tergite moderately broad and coxites subtriangular, each with a few long terminal setae (Fig. 84). Spermatheca with a wide nodulus, a stout cornu and a short ramus (Fig. 83).

Specimens examined.

China, Yunnan: 2♂ 1♀, Longmen, Mengla, [21°15.12'N, 101°38.52'E], ca 1030m, 9.v.2009, Ren SX leg (SCAU); 1♀, Longmen, Mengla, [21°30.17'N, 101°31.44'E], ca 760m, 1.v.2008, Wang XM leg (SCAU); 1♀, Mengdui, Zhenkang, [23°53.47'N, 98°53.33'E], 1400m, 18.v.2008, Wang XM leg (SCAU).

Distribution.

China (Sichuan, Yunnan); Vietnam; Burma.

Remarks.

Mader (1954) described the species Cryptogonusblandus based on 1 male and 3 female specimens which were collected from Yunnan, China. Liu (1963) recorded Cryptogonus blandus Mader in his monography and mentioned that this species belongs to the genus Aspidimerus according to the character of its prosternal lines. Kovář (2007) transferred Cryptogonus blandus to the genus Aspidimerus without further explanation. An examination of the specimens of Aspidimerus blandus (Mader) collected from type locality show that the characters of the adult, including the male genitalia, were in perfect agreement with the descriptions and illustrations of Aspidimerus ruficrus given by Kapur (1948). Therefore, we considered Aspidimerus blandus (Mader, 1954) as a junior synonym of Aspidimerus ruficrus Gorham, 1895.