Taocantharis, Švihla, Vladimír, 2011

Švihla, Vladimír, 2011, New taxa of the subfamily Cantharinae (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) from south-eastern Asia, with notes on other species III, Zootaxa 2895, pp. 1-34 : 5-6

Taocantharis gen. nov.

Etymology. Gender feminine. Derived from Taoism, one of the Chinese religions and Cantharis , an analogy to Islamocantharis .

Type species: Islamocantharis businskae Wittmer, 1997 .

Description. Body form Cantharis -like, external morphology, shape of aedeagus and coloration as in Taiwanocantharis , from which it differs in having both claws of all legs in both sexes with basal sharp appendage. From Islamocantharis Wittmer & Magis, 1978 , which also has a Cantharis -like aedeagus and the same form of claws, it differs as follows:

Taocantharis gen. nov. Islamocantharis

Frons between and before eyes flat. Frons between and before eyes with low but distinct bulge. Elytra metallic green. Elytra yellow, black or bicolorous, yellow and black. Parameres not extending beyond apex of dorsal part of the Parameres extending distinctly beyond apex of dorsal part of aedeagus. the aedeagus.

Dorsal part of the aedeagus with strongly developed lateroapi- Dorsal part of the aedeagus without lateroapical teeth. cal teeth curved inwards.

Discussion. Taocantharis businskae (Wittmer, 1997) comb. nov. is hitherto the only species which can be classified to this genus. Its body form, coloration and aedeagus are very similar to those of Taiwanocantharis thibetanomima (cf. Wittmer, 1997a), so that Taocantharis gen. nov. can be regarded as a sister group of Taiwanocantharis and both genera create an evolutionary lineage in south-eastern Asia probably derived from Cantharis . Islamocantharis , six known species of which occur in the Near and Middle East, is probably also derived from Cantharis , but the common ancestor of this genus is hitherto unknown. However, it is very probable, that Islamocantharis subgenus Unicantharis Švihla, 1999 , characterized by only the outer claw of all tarsi possessing a sharp basal appendage, is near to the ancestral type of this genus. Wittmer‘s (1997a) description of Islamocantharis businskae made the genus Islamocantharis polyphyletic. To resolve this situation it is necessary to describe Taocantharis gen. nov., and also to redefine Taiwanocantharis and raise it to the genus level.

Distribution. China: Shaanxi, Hubei.