Amara (Curtonotus) dux Tschitscherine, 1894

Fig. 5

Amara (Curtonotus) dux Tschitschérine, 1894: 383 (type locality: "Chingan mer." [= south Chingan Mountains, China]; holotype in ZRAS); Hieke 1993: 100.

Amara (Curtonotus) suensoni Hieke, 1990: 249 (type locality: “Si-wan-tse” [= Xiwanzi Town, Hebei, China]; holotype in MNHU); synonymized by Hieke 1993: 100.

Specimens examined.

1 male (CBJFU), China, Beijing, Songshan National Nature Reserve, 40.50806°N, 115.79111°E, 778 m, 2013.08.12, Liubo leg. ; 6 males, 6 females (CBJFU), Beijing, Songshan National Nature Reserve, 40.50806°N, 115.79111°E, 778 m, 2013.08.10, Bo Liu leg. ; 1 male (CBJFU), Beijing, Xiaolongmen Forest Park, 1100 m, 2014.08.17 -22 ; 1 female (CLYH), Hebei., Zhangjiakou, Zhangbei, Caoyuantianlu West Line, 41.00010926°N, 114.62708997°E, 1523 m, 2022. 09.04, Cong Wang leg. ; 1 male (CLYH), Hebei, Zhangjiakou, Hailiutu, Dayuedai, 41.176428°N, 114.512037°E, 1390 m, 2022.09.11, Cong Wang leg. ; 1 male (CLYH), Henan, Gongyi, Shihuiwu Village, 34.763760°N, 113.031417°E, 2022.09.07, Zheng Zhi leg. ; 2 males, 1 female (CLYH), China, Gansu, Lanzhou, Yuzhong, Lanzhou University, 35.942353°N, 104.158454°E, 2022.09.22, Hanyu Yu leg.

Chinese common name.

点胸暗步甲 .

Diagnosis.

Medium- to large-sized species, BL = 13.0-14.4 mm; dorsal surface dark brown, legs yellowish brown; head relatively large, slightly narrower than pronotum maximum width; head with two supraorbital setae. Pronotum (Fig. 5B) transverse, widest near middle; finely and densely punctate through basal, mid-anterior, and lateral regions; lateral margins strongly sinuate before posterior angles; posterior angles strongly laterally protruded, apex acute or near rectangular. Elytra basal border slightly curved; lateral sides of abdominal sternites sparsely wrinkled and punctate. Male mesotibiae (Fig. 5C) without distinct denticles, swollen near middle which different from females. Male genitalia with apical lamella (Fig. 5F) wide, apex rounded-truncated, indistinctly declined to right side; gonocoxite 2 (Fig. 5G) of ovipositor elongate, length ~ 2 × greatest width, narrowed to apex.

Comparison.

This species is very similar to A. (C.) brevicollis, but can be distinguished from the latter species in having pronotum lateral margins always evidently sinuate before the acute posterior angles, pronotum mid-lateral setae present, elytra basal border slightly curved, and longer apical lamella of male genitalia. It has overlapped distribution with A. (C.) brevicollis, but is less common.

Remarks.

In Hieke’s work (1990), Amara (Curtonotus) suensoni, a synonym of this species, was described as having three similarly sized denticles on the male mesotibial projection. We also observed two or three very tiny denticles (much smaller than and alike the denticles in males of several other species) in our examined male specimens of this species. However, considering some female individuals also have similar-sized denticles on their mesotibiae, we do not think these additional small denticles are male-specific character.

Distribution.

China (Ningxia, Hebei, Beijing, Henan*, Gansu*, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia), Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Russia (east Siberia, Far East).