Synuchus hummeli ( Jedlička, 1935 ) Jedlicka, 1935

Guéorguiev, Borislav, 2013, Taxonomic, nomenclatural, and faunistic records for species in tribes Melaenini, Moriomorphini, Pterostichini, Licinini, and Sphodrini (Coleoptera: Carabidae), Zootaxa 3709 (1) : -

Synuchus hummeli ( Jedlička, 1935) , new combination

Pterostichus hummeli Jedlička, 1935: 17 (type locality: “ China: Prov. Kansu”) Habitus and pronotum: Fig. 26 .

Type material. Pterostichus hummeli Jedlička , holotype ♀, “ Kina S. Kansu ” [black print on white label] / “Sven Hedins Exp. Ctr. Asien Dr. Hummel” [black print on white label] / “ Type ” [black print on red label] / “23/7” [black handwritten on white label] / “ Pterostichus Hummeli sp.n. mihi det. Ing. Jedlička” [black print & handwritten on pink label] / “5670 E91 +” [black print on light blue label] / “ Hummeli Jedlicka .” [black print on white label] / “NHRS-COLE 000008534” [black print on white label] [ Fig. 26 ] ( NHRS).

Other material examined. Synuchus cathaicus (Bates) , 1 ♂, “ China Foochow 26°09′N 119°17′E 15. iv. 1935 Eigin Suenson leg.” ( NMW); 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀, “ China Min Kiang, Foochow 26°00′N 119°30′E 16. iv. 1935 Eigin Suenson leg.” ( NMW); Synuchus pseudomorphus (Semenov) , 1 ♀, “China-Gansu Librang Umg VI 92 3000m Richter leg” ( NMW). Besides the above two species, in NMW I was able to compared the holotype of Pterostichus hummeli with: Synuchus agonus (Tschitschérine) , 6 exs.; S. angusticeps Tanaka , 1 ex.; S. arcuaticollis (Motschulsky) , 10 exs.; S. callitheres towadensis Habu , 9 exs.; S. congruus (A. Morawitz) , 5 exs.; S. coreanus Kirschenhofer , 2 exs. (incl. one paratype); S. crocatus (Bates) , 4 exs.; S. cycloderus (Bates) , 29 exs.; S. melantho (Bates) , 4 exs.; S. montanus shikokuensis Habu , 5 exs.; S. nitidus nitidus (Motschulsky) , 11 exs.; S. orbicollis (A. Moravitz) , 12 exs.; S. sikkimensis (Andrewes) , 2 exs.; S. suensoni Lindroth , 1 ex.; S. tanzawanus (Habu) , 1 ex.; S. yasumatsui (Habu) , 23 exs.

Remarks. Pterostichus hummeli was described by single female specimen from Gansu, China. Recently, this taxon was treated as Pterostichus ‘incertae sedis’ hummeli Jedlička, 1935 ( Bousquet 2003) . According to Jedlička (1962), it is close to P. singularis Tschitschérine , another Pterostichus species with status ‘incertae sedis’.

However, the study of the type of Jedlička proved that it belongs to the tribe Sphodrini . Among the genera of this group, it is at best placed in Synuchus Gyllenhal , and according to Lindroth (1956), it is at best placed within the group of “ cathaicus ” (= Semenovia Jedlička ). In my view, S. hummeli is probably the adelphotaxon to S. pseudomorphus (Semenov) , as the two species are closer to each other than any of them to either S. cathaicus (Bates) and S. tokararum Lindroth. The following differences are established: 1/ sides of pronotum somewhat more concave in front of the hind angles in S. hummeli than in S. pseudomorphus ; 2/ hind angles of the pronotum somewhat more pronounced in S. hummeli than in S. pseudomorphus ; 3/ lateral beads (not margins) of the pronotum from apex to base more conspicuously rugose and punctured in S. hummeli than in S. pseudomorphus .

Figures

FIGURE 26. Holotype of Synuchus hummeli (Jedlička). Photos by Johannes Bergsten.