Themus (Telephorops) nepalensis species-group

Diagnosis.

Elytra enlarged posteriorly and widest near apical third. Aedeagus: conjoint dorsal plate of parameres narrowed apically in dorsal view, emarginate at middle of apical edge; laterophyses flattened dorsoventrally, reduced and not reaching apices of conjoint dorsal plate except in a few species. Female internal genitalia: diverticulum situated at end of vagina, presenting with a sclerotized ring around at base, confluent in middle and extending to median oviduct; spermatheca arising from middle of the sclerotized ring.

Distribution. Most species are restricted in their distribution (Figs 1, 2), except T. impressipennis (Fairmaire, 1886) and T. coelestis (Gorham, 1889), which are widely distributed in China.

Remarks.

The diagnosis is developed from the definition of the species-group by Švihla (2008). Characters of the elytra and aedeagus, the female internal genitalia are supplemented in the present study. This differs from the davidis species-group in the female genitalia having a sclerotized ring around the base of the diverticulum, delimiting it from the vagina; and spermatheca opening on the opposite side to the median oviduct. While in the davidis species-group, there are only a pair of short conjoint sclerotized ridges below the diverticulum, hardly delimitated from the vagina; and spermatheca opening on the same side as the median oviduct (Yang et al. 2019).