Alaolacon cyanipennis Candeze , 1865

Arimoto, Koichi & Arimoto, Hisayuki, 2017, The genus Alaolacon Candeze, a senior synonym of the genus Eumoeus Candeze (Coleoptera, Elateridae, Agrypninae), ZooKeys 656, pp. 85-110 : 91-94

Alaolacon cyanipennis Candeze, 1865 Figures 17-19

Alaolacon cyanipennis Candèze, 1865: 13 (original description: type locality: Peninsular Malaysia); Gemminger and Harold 1869: 1498 (catalogue of Coleoptera ); Candèze 1874: 114 (monograph); Candèze 1891: 29 (catalogue; description of type locality: Malacca); Schwarz 1906: 316 (catalogue); Hyslop 1921: 625 (type species); Schenkling 1925: 40 (catalogue); Fleutiaux 1926: 102 (catalogue); Casari-Chen 1993: (description; designation of homeotype); Suzuki 2004: 152 (record from Sumatra).

Type material.

Lectotype. Female, Malacca, West Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia), Malaysia, Janson coll. [BMNH] (Fig. 19). Label data: “Malacca”; [female symbol]; Janson coll/ 1903-130.; " Alaolacon / cyanipennis / Cdz. "; " Alaolacon / cyanipennis Cand./ Comp to RSNB/ smaller female/ C.M.F. von Hayek/ 1976"; "female int. genitalia/ delicate no plates/ C.M.F. von Hayek/ 1978"; “Antseps”; "mouthparts in/ separate vial/ C.M.F. von Hayek 1991/ by Casari-Chen"; and with the authors’ red lectotype label: "LECTOTYPE/ Alaolacon cyanipennis / Candèze, 1865".

Diagnosis.

Body black, elytra blue-black and with metallic luster; setae white; female antennomere III trapezoidal, 1.4 × as long as wide; prothorax as long as wide, widest at mid-length except for posterior angles; pronotal anterior angles bisinuate and rounded; anterior angles of hypomeron rounded; prosternal spine inclined weakly behind procoxae; scutellum concave laterally, widest near posterior 1/3; hind wings with wedge cell, with cross vein between veins MP4 and CuA2 located at contact point between veins MP3 and MP4; female sternite VIII with rounded apex.

Description.

See Casari-Chen (1993) for a detailed description.

Distribution.

Malaysia: the Peninsular Malaysia. Indonesia: Sumatra.

Remarks.

Candèze (1865) did not provide the number of the type specimens. Candèze (1865) mentioned that "Elle a été découverte et apportée récemment en Europe par M. de Castelnau. Je l’ai vue dans sa collection, ainsi que dans celle de M. le comte de Mniszech". Mniszech’s collection went to Laporte de Castelnau, part of this went to Janson and then to BMNH. Candèze’s first collection of Elateridae (up to 1869) went to the BMNH, while a second collection of Elateridae went to IRSNB ( Bousquet 2016). BMNH can be most expected to hold types of this species because it was described before 1869. Label data of the examined specimen in BMNH agree with the original description. The external features of the specimen also agree with the original description. Thus, the specimen should be considered a syntype. Casari-Chen (1993) considered the type specimen as a homeotype. We designated the known syntype as lectotype to stabilize the classification.

We could not locate other syntypes including at IRSNB in this time. Laporte de Castelnau’s first collection was given to the National Institution of the Promotion of Science in Washington DC but was probably destroyed by fire, while part of his later collection was left to the Melbourne Museum in Australia ( Bousquet 2016).

Only female specimens are known ( Candèze 1865; Suzuki 2004). Only this species exhibits hind wings with wedge cell in this genus, whereas the other species lost wedge cell of hind wings. We predict that the male could also be recognized by presence of the wedge cell.