Lamprima aenea ( Fabricius, 1792 )

Reid, Chris A. M., Smith, Kindi & Beatson, Max, 2018, Revision of the genus Lamprima Latreille, 1804 (Coleoptera: Lucanidae), Zootaxa 4446 (2), pp. 151-202 : 163-171

Lamprima aenea ( Fabricius, 1792)

( Figs 2 , 16 , 23 , 34 , 47 , 63 , 77 , 90 )

Lethrus aeneus Fabricius, 1792: 2 (type locality: Norfolk Island); Fabricius 1801:2.

Lucanus aeneus: Schreibers 1802: 185 .

Lamprima aenea: Latreille 1804b: 240 .

Lamprima schreibersi Hope in Westwood, 1845: 3 (unnecessary replacement name for L. aenea Fabricius sensu Schreibers ) (junior synonym L. aenea ).

Lamprima subrugosa Hope in Westwood, 1845: 28 (type locality: New Holland [p. 3]); Thomson 1862: 393 (junior synonym L. aenea ).

Material examined (* = specimen dissected). Norfolk Island: 1 ♂, 1 ♀ / ex Macleay Museum collection ( ANIC) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀ / xii.2010, ex collection R de Keyzer / (AMS); 2 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 ♀ * / K27757 [ Norfolk Island]/ ( AMS) ; 1 ♂*/ ii.1947, Mrs A Greenwood / (AMS); 1 ♀ / Norfolk Island National Park, 29.02S 167.57E, berlesate, pine area, 8.iv.1984, J.E. Feehan ( ANIC) .

Description. Male. Length 26¯ 30 mm; relatively flat compared with other Lamprima species, pronotum slightly broader than elytra; entirely metallic bronze, green or bluish green, except antennae and tarsomeres darker, almost black, and inner faces, upper margins and tips of mandibles dark purple; if pronotum green head usually more bronzed or coppery; pronotum and upper surfaces of tibiae distinctly reticulately microsculptured and relatively dull (with a metallic sheen but not shiny), head and elytra shinier with indistinct microsculpture; upper surfaces of pronotum and elytra apparently glabrous, but each puncture with minute simple seta arising from anterior edge.

Head: sides and apex with scattered, erect setae; head length approximately half width; sides convergent from small but angularly projecting temples, along feebly convex eyes, then parallel-sided to obtuse anterior angles; projecting temples notched in lateral view; anterior of clypeus transversely ridged before concave margin; dorsum with two smooth ridges from anterior angles to midline of base of head where they meet at about 100°; area subtended by these ridges strongly and closely punctate, except two smooth tubercles at sides of anterior margin; area between ridges and sides of head also strongly punctate. Antennomere 2 quadrate, 3–4 elongate, 5 quadrate to slightly elongate, 6 transverse and ridged on anterior edge, 7 cupuliform; mandible length 11–13% of overall length; inner faces of mandibles almost entirely densely setose; mandibles relatively curved, almost symmetrical, right usually slightly longer than left; upper surfaces with small, blunt tooth about 2/3 along dorsolateral ridge, tips bent inwards and strongly upwards; mandibles laterally smooth and finely punctate; ventral surface of mandibles with single prominent elongate blunt tooth or lobe 1/3 from apex and sometimes 1–2 small secondary teeth beyond this; mentum convex, closely punctate and setose.

Thorax: shape of pronotum typical for Lamprima , almost hexagonal but sides slightly concave anterior to greatest width at just behind middle, anterior margin truncate with slightly protruding anterior angles, basal margin strongly sinuate, anterior and posterior angles obtuse, anterior margin narrower than basal margin, lateral margination complete, without crenulation; distinctly punctate, punctures much smaller than on head and separated by 1–4 diameters, anterior of disc more closely punctate than posterior. Pronotal disc even convex, each side with a small dimple; hypomeron coarsely and densely punctate, with mostly recumbent setae; prosternum strongly and densely punctate with erect setae; scutellum semiovate with sparse small punctures; base of epipleural upper margin simple. Elytra slightly expanded posterior to humeri, then contracted to rounded apices, sides narrowly explanate in posterior 2/3; elytra usually distinctly bevelled at base to accommodate base of pronotum; elytral surfaces irregularly, longitudinally, transversely and obliquely grooved, but usually with one distinct longitudinal groove near suture from base of elytron almost to apex; surface between grooves distinctly punctate, punctures larger than on pronotal disc but smaller than on head, and separated by 1–4 diameters; meso-metaventral process with scattered recumbent setae and shiny, apex blunt, 80–90° in lateral view. Protibia with pair of curved apical teeth, inner elongate, outer much wider, and external margin with 5–7 well-spaced, triangular and approximately right-angled teeth diminishing in size to base; protibia expanded from base to apex, inner margin almost straight to abrupt contraction at dense tuft of convergent, red setae and narrowly expanded blade-like spur (width 32–42% of length), spur with 1–3 small denticles on outer edge; upper surface of protibia with dense, small punctures on inner half and an irregular line of small punctures on base of outer half, short recumbent setae arising from punctures, plus tuft of elongate setae at tarsal insertion; mesotibiae and metatibiae with 0–4 tiny, external teeth.

Abdomen: sides of ventrites I–V similar to pterothoracic venter, with dense, small punctures (partly coalescent, interspaces less than diameters) and setae; middle third of ventrites more sparsely punctate (interspaces 1– 3x diameters), surface microsculpture as dorsum; apex ventrite V truncate. Genitalia: phallobase dorsally almost evenly smooth and convex, apical half slightly with a few microspicules beside shallow median groove, apical margin with V-shaped notch deepened at base; venter of phallobase with scattered microspicules, apex more deeply notched; parameres setose dorsally, tips triangular but incurved; penis with oblique basal ridges, thinly sclerotised apex not reaching apices of parameres (80% length of parameres).

Female. As male, except: length 23–27 mm; upper surfaces shiny, colour dark bronze, green or blue, with head usually brassier, pronotum sometimes black; head with approximately 100° anterior angles; antennomeres 4–5 transverse; dorsally visible part of mandibles shorter than head; mandibles in dorsal view with slightly elongaterectangular or triangular dorsal tubercle from base to about third mandible length, remainder of dorsal surface excavate with sharp outer edge. Pronotum conspicuously strongly and densely punctate, interspaces 0.5–2.0x puncture diameters on pronotal disc, shiny, not distinctly microsculptured; pronotum not broader than elytra; pronotum lateral margins entirely crenulate, basal half may be more irregularly notched. Elytra with grooves and punctures deeper and denser; protibiae narrower, outer edge with 8–10 triangular teeth, generally increasing in size from base to apex; outer edges mesotibiae and metatibiae with 4–7 prominent spines; apex ventrite V rounded; apex of tergite IX transparent and evenly rounded; gonostylus transverse, inner edge convex, as long as basal width, outer edge strongly expanded; spermatheca with blunt apex, strongly bent, spermathecal duct short and loosely coiled.

Taxonomy. Fabricius first described this species from Norfolk Island specimens in the Joseph Banks collection ( Fabricius 1792: 2). Norfolk Island had been visited by Cook and his naturalist George Forster in 1774, but was first settled by Europeans in 1788. Schreibers (1802) redescribed this species to correct errors in Fabricius' original description and to place it in the genus Lucanus Scopoli, 1763 . Schreibers' description was partly based on the same material as Fabricius (in the collection of Joseph Banks) and was not the description of a new species, although he also noted and illustrated an unnamed variety. Hope, in Westwood (1845), wrongly provided a nomen novum ( L. schreibersi ) for Schreibers' description. Parry (1864) compounded this error by placing L. schreibersi as a junior synonym of L. aurata , an action followed by Benesh (1960), who wrongly attributed the synonymy to Macleay (1885a). Moore & Cassis (1992) correctly noted that L. schreibersi was an unnecessary nomen novum, but they placed it under L. aurata instead of L. aenea . Lamprima schreibersi is hereby reaffirmed an objective junior synonym of L. aenea .

Donovan (1805) noted that this species (as Lucanus aeneus ) was abundant in the "environs of the English settlement at New South Wales " [i.e., Sydney], as well as Norfolk Island. His two illustrations of the species ( Donovan 1805: plate 1) clearly show a male of L. aenea and a male of L. aurata . Latreille (1817) was the first to formally separate the two species. Lamprima viridis Erichson 1842 , a species lacking a type locality, was synonymised with L. aenea by Reiche (1853), an action followed by Parry (1864), Harold (1868), de Lisle (1975) and Moore & Cassis (1992), but rejected by W.J. Macleay (1885a), Nagel (1930) and Benesh (1960). However, Reiche (1841; 1853) was of the opinion that all Lamprima species with expanded male protibial spurs formed a single species, L. aenea , including L. viridis . We reject synonymy of L. aenea with any other species from the Australian mainland or Tasmania. The description of L. viridis indicates that it is a junior synonym of L. aurata (q.v.). Lamprima subrugosa Hope in Westwood, 1845 , had only a short existence as a valid species, being synonymised with L. aenea by Thomson (1862), an action accepted by all subsequent authors including ourselves. Boileau confirmed the synonymy by examining the male holotype in OXUM ( Boileau 1913: 217).

Natural history and distribution. Nothing has been recorded about the natural history of this species. Lamprima aenea is endemic to Norfolk Island, 1400 km east of the Australian mainland.

Conservation status. Norfolk Island is 35 km 2 in area but has largely been cleared for agriculture ( Green 1994). Approximately 13% of the main island is reserved as National Park (460 ha), with a few small reserves outside this. Lamprima aenea is found in this park, but its distribution on the rest of island is unknown, unlike that of L. insularis on Lord Howe Island ( Fig. 73 ), and therefore the adequacy of the current reserve system is also unknown. Lamprima aenea is rare in Australian collections. However, it has been illegally harvested by Japanese dealers (the two dealers convicted in 2004 of illegally harvesting 900 Lamprima insularis from Lord Howe Island had visited Norfolk Island on a previous trip to Australia) and L. aenea is established in the Asian “pet” trade (Hangay & de Keyzer 2017). We strongly recommend that a survey is made of L. aenea on Norfolk Island, to provide a management plan for the species. The species should be regarded as vulnerable (International Union for Conservation of Nature 2012) based on endemicity to a small island, fragmentation of habitat and harvesting pressure.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Male Lamprima species, dorsal view: 1, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875); 2, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 3, L. imberbis Carter, 1926 (holotype); 4, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885. Figure 3 courtesy Peter Hudson, South Australian Museum. All figures to same scale.

FIGURES 15–20. Female Lamprima species, dorsal view: 15, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875); 16, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 17, L. aurata Latreille, 1804, Sydney, New South Wales; 18, L. aurata, Sydney, New South Wales, blue form; 19, L. aurata, Western Australia; 20, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885.

FIGURES 21–24. Male Lamprima species, dorsal of head and pronotum: 21, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875), elongate mandible form; 22, L. adolphinae, short mandible form; 23, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 24, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885.

FIGURES 33–35. Female Lamprima species, dorsal of head and pronotum: 33, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875); 34, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 35, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885.

FIGURES 45–53. Male Lamprima species, mandibles, lateral view: 45, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875), elongate mandible form; 46, L. adolphinae, short mandible form; 47, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 48, L. aurata Latreille, 1804, elongate mandible form, northern Queensland; 49, L. aurata, New South Wales, large male; 50, L. aurata, New South Wales, small male; 51, L. aurata, Western Australia; 52, L. imberbis Carter, 1926, holotype; 53, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885. Figure 52 courtesy Peter Hudson, South Australian Museum.

FIGURES 62–65. Male Lamprima species, protibiae: 62, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875); 63, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 64, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885; 65, L. imberbis Carter, 1926. Figure 64 courtesy Peter Hudson, South Australian Museum.

FIGURES 76–83. Lamprima species, aedeagi (ventral, lateral and dorsal): 76, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875); 77, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 78, L. aurata Latreille, 1804, northern Queensland; 79, L. aurata, Snowy River, New South Wales; 80, L. aurata, Kingston, Tasmania; 81, L. aurata, South Australia; 82, L. aurata, Cue, Western Australia; 83, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885.

FIGURES 89–94. Lamprima species, ovipositor and spermatheca: 89, L. adolphinae (Gestro, 1875); 90, L. aenea (Fabricius, 1792); 91, L. aurata Latreille, 1804 (Bridport, Tasmania); Lamprima species, spermathecae: 92, L. aurata (Ourimbah, central New South Wales); 93, L. aurata (Nadgee, south New South Wales); 94, L. insularis W.J. Macleay, 1885.

FIGURES 66–75. Male protibia of Lamprima aurata Latreille, 1804: 66, Milmerran, inland southern Queensland; 67, Hobbys Yards, inland New South Wales; 68, Kingston Beach, Tasmania; 69, Big Desert, Victoria; 70, Little Desert, Victoria; 71, Adelaide, South Australia; 72, Kangaraoo Island, South Australia; 73, Mount Barker, Western Australia; 74, Mount Barker, Western Australia; 75, Perth, Western Australia.