Anthaxia (Anthaxia) ephippiata Redtenbacher, 1850

(Figs. 9–12)

Anthaxia ephippiata Redtenbacher, 1850: 45, 47. Type locality: “ Persia ”.

Anthaxia ephippiata: Lacordaire, 1857: 50 (taxonomy); Marseul, 1865: 529 (monograph); Gemmiger & Harold, 1869: 1388 (catalogue); Saunders, 1871: 53 (catalogue); Reitter, 1891: 226 (taxonomy); Kerremans, 1892: 118, 120 (syn. of brevis); 1903: 175 (catalogue); Obenberger, 1912: 65 –66 (taxonomy); Jakobson, 1913: 792 (catalogue); Obenberger, 1914c: 13 (taxonomy); Bedel, 1916: 272 (taxonomy); Obenberger, 1917a: 18, 47, 82, 133–134 (monograph); 1926: 647 (catalogue); 1930: 481 (catalogue); Richter, 1944: 50 (taxonomy); Gentry, 1965: 132 (agriculture); Soldatova, 1976: 634 –636, Figs. 1–3 (immatures); Borumand, 2002: 45 (faunistics).

Anthaxia (Cyclanthaxia) ephippiata: Richter, 1945a: 122 (faunistics, taxonomy); 1949: 6, 59, 143–145, 147, 149, 246, pl.2 - Fig.8 (monograph); Alexeev, et all., 1991: 863 (faunistics); Modarres Awal, 1997: 132 (agriculture).

Anthaxia (s. str.) ephippiata: Cobos, 1966: 318 (faunistics); Bílý, 1997: 21, 66, 68, 91, 154 (catalogue).

Anthaxia (Anthaxia) ephippiata: Bílý, 2006: 371 (catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1383 –1384, 1424 (catalogue).

Anthaxia maschelii Kiesenwetter, 1880: 130 . Type locality: “Caucasus”.

Anthaxia maschelii: Kerremans, 1885: 138 (mascheli [sic!], catalogue); 1892: 124 (mascheli [sic!], catalogue); 1903: 176 (mascheli [sic!], catalogue); Obenberger, 1912: 67 (taxonomy); Jakobson, 1913: 792 (catalogue); Bedel, 1916: 272 (maschelli [sic!]); syn. of ephippiata); Obenberger, 1917a: 19, 48, 82, 135 (mascheli, maschelli [sic!], monograph); 1926: 647 (maschelli [sic!], catalogue); 1930: 481 (maschelli [sic!], catalogue); Richter, 1945a: 122 (maschelli [sic!], faunistics, taxonomy); 1949: 143, 248 (maschelli [sic!], monograph); Bílý, 1997: 21, 91,169 (maschelli [sic!], catalogue); 2006: 371 (maschelli [sic!], catalogue); Kubáň, 2007: 28 (errata, catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1384, 1424 (catalogue).

Anthaxia edithae Reitter, 1890: 194 –195. Type locality: [Azerbaijan] “Araxesthal bei Ordubad”.

Anthaxia edithae: Reitter, 1891: 226 (syn. of ephippiata); Kerremans, 1892: 120 (catalogue); Jakobson, 1913: 792 (catalogue); Bedel, 1916: 272 (taxonomy); Obenberger, 1917a: 82 (monograph); 1926: 647 (catalogue); 1930: 481 (catalogue); Richter, 1945a: 122 (faunistics, taxonomy); 1949: 143, 246 (monograph); Bílý, 1997: 21, 66 (catalogue); 2006: 371 (catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1383 –1384 (catalogue).

Anthaxia kreuzbergi Richter, 1944: 49 –51, syn. nov. Type locality: [Turkmenistan] “vicinity of Kushka, mountain range Shor- Safit“.

Anthaxia (Cyclanthaxia) kreuzbergi: Richter, 1945c: 70 (faunistics, comments); 1949: 6, 60, 144–145 (monograph); Volkovitsh & Alexeev, 1992: 161 (faunistics); 1994: 433, 449 (faunistics, comments).

Anthaxia (s. str.) kreuzbergi: Bílý, 1997: 26, 85, 168 (catalogue).

Anthaxia (Anthaxia) kreuzbergi: Bílý, 2006: 371 (catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1415 (catalogue).

Type specimens studied. Anthaxia (A.) ephippiata: holotype by monotypy (♀, NHMW - Fig. 9, original labelling: Fig. 10); A. (A.) kreuzbergi: lectotype by present designation (♂, ZIN - Fig. 11, original labelling: Fig. 12).

Remarks. Anthaxia (A.) ephippiata was described by Redtenbacher (1850) from a single female specimen (Figs. 9–10), apparently collected by Kotschy in the Fars province, during his expedition to Persia (Edmondson & Lack 2006).

Anthaxia (A.) maschelii, a species seldom reported in literature with its correct spelling, was described on a specimen from Caucasus by Kiesenwetter (1880), probably a female. The holotype is supposedly deposited in ZSMC.

Anthaxia (A.) edithae was described by Reitter (1890) from Ordubad, a city in the current Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, and synonymised with A. (A.) ephippiata by the same author (Reitter 1891).

The deposition of the holotype of this species indicated in recent catalogues (Bílý 1997; Bellamy 2008) seems to be incorrect, as it has not been found in the HNHM (O. Merkl, pers. comm.).

Richter (1944) described A. (A.) kreuzbergi from two male specimens reared from branches of Pistacia vera L. ( Anacardiaceae). The wood samples had been collected by Kreuzberg in southern Turkmenistan, in the area of Kushka, the present Serhetabad, near to the border with Afghanistan. In order to establish a single name-bearing type for this species, from the two male syntypes conserved in the ZIN, I designate the illustrated specimen (Figs. 11–12) as the lectotype, and the remaining one as paralectotype.

In his description, Richter included both A. (A.) kreuzbergi and A. (A.) ephippiata in the subgenus Cyclanthaxia Richter, 1945, one of the most valid subgenera established by Richter (1945a: 121, 129; 1945b: 156; 1949: 137), subsequently synonymised with Anthaxia s. str. by Nelson (1985: 135).

The area of distribution of A. (A.) ephippiata includes so far southern Caucasus, eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and nearly all of Iran, while A. (A.) kreuzbergi is present in southeastern Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, northern Pakistan and India. Both species have a larval development strictly associated with species of Pistacia .

One of the differences by which these two species have hitherto been distinguished is the pattern of elytral colouration, which in A. (A.) ephippiata (Fig. 9) usually lacks any green colouration, being deep red to goldengreen with a bluish-black discal macula reminiscent of a hourglass. The same pattern is shared by A. (A.) kreuzbergi, but in this latter species a green colouration is usually present on head, pronotum, and in the circumscutellar area (Fig. 11), thus reducing the basal part of the elytral macula to a couple of separate spots.

According to Richter's description (Richter 1944) and to the opinion of the late Alexeev (Mühle pers. comm.), an important diagnostic character would be the shape of the posterior part of the elytral macula which in A. (A.) ephippiata is sharply triangular anteriorly and somewhat truncate posteriorly, while in A. (A.) kreuzbergi it is more irregular and wider anteriorly, and more rounded posteriorly. In addition, according to these two authors, the elytral sculpture is finer in ephippiata than in kreuzbergi .

In the relatively abundant material of A. (A.) ephippiata that I have examined, both collected in the field and reared from samples of Pistacia spp., the great majority of specimens lack any green colouration, but occasional specimens show the green colouration and are practically indistinguishable from A. (A.) kreuzbergi . Some other specimens instead, although lacking the green colouration, show a more irregularly shaped elytral macula as in A. (A.) kreuzbergi . On the other hand, the few specimens of A. (A.) kreuzbergi available for study have revealed that specimens occasionally have a finely contoured elytral macula, the same as in A. (A.) ephippiata . Regarding the elytral sculpture, I have actually observed the existence of the slight difference mentioned by Richter and Alexeev, but I do not consider it as a sufficient reason for a specific separation. With regard to the slight differences in the characteristic pronotal sculpture, they are absolutely negligible and typical of species belonging to the A. (A.) salicis (Fabricius, 1776) species-group, in which it is very hard to find two specimens with identical pronotal sculpture.

In my opinion, these cases of regressive patterns of colouration, and the absence of any relevant morphological difference signify that these two species can at most be considered as two different phenotypes of a single polymorphic species with a wide distribution, which overlaps the area of diffusion of its host plants, the various species of Pistacia . Hence, I consider A. (A.) kreuzbergi Richter, 1944 to be conspecific and a junior synonym of A. (A.) ephippiata Redtenbacher, 1850 .

Anthaxia (A.) ephippiata belongs to the A. (A.) brevis Gory & Laporte, 1839 sub-group, which is currently contained in the A. (A.) salicis species-group.