Phymatestes Pascoe, 1866

Aalbu, Rolf L., Kanda, Kojun, Merkl, Otto, Ivie, Michael A. & Johnston, M. Andrew, 2023, Reconstitution of some tribes and genera of Lagriinae (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae), ZooKeys 1172, pp. 155-202 : 155

Genus Phymatestes Pascoe, 1866

Figs 23 , 29

Phymatestes Pascoe, 1866: 142. Type species: Lagria tuberculata Fabricius, 1787.

= Gamaxus Bates, 1868: 315. Type species: Gamaxus hauxwellii Bates, 1868. syn. rest. (original synonymy by Gebien 1928: 191).

Note.

Bates (1868: 315) distinguished Gamaxus (Fig. 29 ) from Phymatestes (Fig. 23 ) by havinG "shorter antennae with apical antennomeres strongly transverse with some segments being concave". Gebien (1928) studied non-type material identified as Gamaxus and concluded that it should be a synonym of Phymatestes , stating that it agrees with Phymatestes in all essential characters. This synonymy was included in the catalog by Gebien (1941) and in a subsequent taxonomic study of Phymatestes ( Ferrer and Moraguès 1998). However, several other catalogs and regional lists have treated Gamaxus as valid ( Blackwelder 1945; Smith et al. 2015; Bouchard et al. 2021), although without any justification for reversing the synonymy.

During this study, the holotype of Gamaxus hauxwelli Bates, 1868 (Fig. 29 ) was examined and the specimen clearly agrees with Phymatestes in several important characters. The large body size, parallel form, tuberculate elytra, and femora armed with spines are all consistent with species of Phymatestes . Furthermore, the shape of the femora and compact antennal segments are identical with P. brevicornis (Lacordaire, 1859) and thus G. hauxwelli Bates, 1868 is considered a new synonym of P. brevicornis (Lacordaire, 1859).

Figures

Figure 29. Dorsal habitus of holotype of Gamaxus hauxwellii Bates, 1868 [= Phymatestes brevicornis (Lacordaire, 1859)]. Scale bar: 2.5 mm.

Figures 21 - 28. Dorsal habitus of representatives of Goniaderini genera. 21) Aemymone cariosa Fairmaire 1873 22 Goniadera repanda (Fabricius, 1801) 23 Phymatestes spathifer Gebien, 1928 24 Spinolagriella sp. 25 Opatresthes quadrinodosus Gebien, 1928 26 Xanthicles caraboides Champion, 1886 27 Lyprochelyda sp. 28 Ancylopoma punctigera Pascoe, 1871, holotype. Scale bars: 1 mm (22, 26); 2 mm (19, 23 - 25); 5 mm (20, 21).