Sagittogethes Audisio & Cline, 2009

Audisio, Paolo, Cline, Andrew Richard, Biase, Alessio De, Antonini, Gloria, Mancini, Emiliano, Trizzino, Marco, Costantini, Lorenzo, Strika, Sirio, Lamanna, Francesco & Cerretti, Pierfilippo, 2009, Preliminary re-examination of genus-level taxonomy of the pollen beetle subfamily Meligethinae (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (2), pp. 341-504 : 398-402

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.5319334
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BE87CC-F653-FFB9-BA6F-FBF3FC84FCBF
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Sagittogethes Audisio & Cline
status	gen. nov.

Treatment

16. Sagittogethes Audisio & Cline , gen. nov.

( Figs. 16 a–k View Fig )

Type species. Meligethes maurus Sturm, 1845: 36 (by present designation) [= Sagittogethes maurus ( Sturm, 1845) comb. nov.].

Generic description and diagnosis. Inclusive species vary greatly in size (1.3–3.7 mm length), and share the following combination of characters.

Body color and pubescence: pubescence silvery-whitish to golden, short and fine, recumbent, never obscuring the blackish dorsal body surface; pronotal and elytral sides narrowly flattened, typically the same color as disc; lateral margin of pronotum and elytra with a series of faintly distinct, small and short setae, each seta usually 0.3–0.5× as long as those on elytral disc; posterior margin of pronotum with long, usually distally bifid or trifid microsetae, microsetae uniformly distributed on middle region anterior to scutellum ( Fig. 16h View Fig ).

Dorsal habitus: body moderately convex, variably shaped ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ); dorsal punctures on discal portion of pronotum larger than eye facet, usually deeply impressed and densely distributed; anterior margin of clypeus typically truncate and faintly narrowly bordered ( Fig. 16c View Fig ), rarely faintly emarginate and more distinctly bordered, without small, faintly distinct, medial bulge; circum-ocular furrows (occipital sulci) on dorsal side of head almost complete, narrow, moderately impressed ( Fig. 16c View Fig ); eyes large and usually moderately projecting laterally ( Figs. 16a, b, c View Fig ); pronotum with distinct obtuse posterior angles, never directed posteriorly ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ); scutellum regularly punctured on most of exposed portion ( Fig. 16h View Fig ); elytra with variable punctation, punctures simple, never transversely strigose; elytral humeral angle moderately distinct, not protruding laterally ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ); elytral humeral striae moderately to faintly distinct; elytral pre-sutural striae distinct, originating posteriorly to scutellar vertex, terminating close to elytral apex, and delimiting on each elytron a slightly raised and narrow sutural border, usually distinctly narrower than proximal portion of 3 rd antennomere; elytral apices truncately rounded in both sexes ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ); pygidium partially exposed, moderately convex, apically rounded in both sexes ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ).

Ventral habitus: antennal furrows distinctly delimited, nearly parallel-sided, slightly convergent posteriorly; mentum subpentagonal, submental impression normal shaped ( Fig. 16d View Fig ); antennal furrows on anterior margin of prosternum strongly raised and moderately long ( Fig. 16d View Fig ); prosternal process relatively wide, subapical dilated portion 2.3–2.8× as wide as maximum width of 1 st antennomere, usually bluntly convex distally ( Fig. 16g View Fig ); lateral borders of prosternal process delimiting moderately to deeply impressed furrows, distally terminating over predistal lateral expansions, nearly reaching distinctly microscopic denticulate posterior margin ( Fig. 16g View Fig ); posterior margin of mesoventrite simple, never medially incised ( Fig. 16g View Fig ); male impressions, ridges, or tubercles on metaventrite frequently well-developed; first two visible abdominal ventrites simple in both sexes, without tufts of setae; caudal marginal lines of metacoxal cavities simple, parallel and contiguous to posterior margin of metacoxal cavities, or more or less strongly and regularly deviating posteriorly medially (Figs. 125v, x, y in AUDISIO 1993b), usually with deep arched impression of outer ‘axillary’ line ( Fig. 16e View Fig ); ‘axillary’ space on first abdominal ventrite reduced, ‘axillary’ angle subacute ( Fig. 16e View Fig ); moderately large, and peculiarly deeply impressed arched impressions on basal portion of last visible abdominal ventrite, rarely covered by distal portion of penultimate visible abdominal ventrite ( Fig. 16e View Fig ).

Appendages: male 1 st antennomere 0.6–0.7× as long as width of protibiae excluding distal teeth ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ); 3 rd antennomere usually 2.2–2.3× longer than wide in both sexes, 0.9– 1.0× as long but distinctly thinner than 2 nd antennomere ( Fig. 16d View Fig ); 4 th and 5 th antennomeres subequal in both sexes, short, slightly longer than wide; antennal club compact, small, simple, comprising last 3 antennomeres in both sexes (8 th antennomere scarcely widened, 0.5–0.6× as wide as 9 th antennomere) ( Fig. 16d View Fig ), distinctly narrower than width of protibiae, sexual dimorphism absent; labial palpi typically short in both sexes ( Fig. 16d View Fig ), terminal segment 1.1–1.6× as long as wide; maxillary palpi moderately long in both sexes ( Fig. 16d View Fig ), terminal segment 2.2–2.3× as long as wide; mandible mid-sized ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ), apex acuminate, no sexual dimorphism; tarsal claws simple ( Fig. 16f View Fig ); tarsi of normal size and shape, 0.5–0.7× as long as corresponding tibiae ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ); protibiae with a series of variably shaped, frequently uneven, and more or less sharply acuminate perpendicular teeth on lateral margin ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ; Figs. 128 a–g in AUDISIO 1993b), with or without a group of larger teeth in distal position; lateral margin on meso- and metatibiae bearing a single and usually moderately even row of relatively small but robust spurs, without U-shaped sinuosity at distal third; meso- and metatibiae of variable width, usually slender and narrow ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ), never subtrapezoidal or axe-shaped; meta- and/or protibiae frequently sexually dimorphic ( Figs. 16a, b View Fig ); protibiae and tarsal plates of prolegs usually markedly wider in males; posterior margin of metafemora in both sexes without tubercles, spines, or gibbosities.

Male genitalia: processes along inner side of parameres absent (Figs. 146 e–r, 147, 148 in AUDISIO 1993b), with more or less deeply incised distal margin, without deep median longitudinal desclerotization from proximal portion of tegmen extending to medial distal V-shaped excision; median lobe of aedeagus variable, without lateral emargination, narrowed and variably shaped distally, most species with arrow-like or arcuately truncate distal projections.

Female genitalia (ovipositor): variably shaped, usually large, needle-shaped in S. lindbergi (Rebmann, 1940) ; styli usually short, simple, cylindrical, moderately pigmented, inserted close to apex of usually contiguous gonostyloids, or styli absent (Figs. 160 a–d, and 161 in AUDISIO 1993b); each gonostyloid lightly sclerotized and occasionally moderately to darkly pigmented distally, completely and heavily pigmented in S. minutus (C. N. F. Brisout de Barneville, 1863) , with a simple, never indentate outer portion of basicoxites, and a single, narrow, scarcely pigmented and sclerotized arcuate area along outer subdistal portion of gonostyloids. ‘Central point’ of ovipositor usually nearly centrally located, without proximad directed spicule.

Etymology. The generic name is derived from the Latin ‘ sagitta ’ (= arrow), to emphasize the characteristic arrow-like shape of the aedeagal apex of most inclusive species, and from ‘- gethes ’, to emphasize a phylogenetic relationship with Meligethes . Gender masculine.

Biology. All species are apparently strictly associated for larval development with flowers of Lamiaceae , in particular, members of the Sagittogethes umbrosus species-group are mainly associated with Salvia L., Prunella L., Glechoma L., Lallemantia Fisch. & C. A. Mey., and related taxa, whereas members of the S. obscurus species-group are exclusively associated with Teucrium L. ( AUDISIO 1993b).

Phylogenetic position. Available molecular and morphological datasets provide evidence for a monophyletic clade including Sagittogethes gen. nov. as sister to Thymogethes gen. nov., both being marginally related to Afrogethes gen. nov. and allied genera. However, phylogenetic relationships between these taxa remain uncertain, and are only partially supported with molecular data.

Taxonomy and geographic distribution. Sagittogethes gen. nov. includes 28 described species, mostly distributed in the southwestern Palaearctic ( KIREJTSHUK 1992b; AUDISIO 1993b). Inclusive species were formerly attributed to two recognized species-groups, i.e. the ‘ Meligethes umbrosus ’ and ‘ M. obscurus ’ species-groups ( KIREJTSHUK 1978; JELÍNEK & SPORNRAFT 1979; JELÍNEK 1982c; AUDISIO & JELÍNEK 1990; AUDISIO 1993b). The latter group also tentatively contains S. minutus , a strongly isolated member of the genus.

Sagittogethes ancestor (Kirejtshuk, 1980) comb. nov. NE China

Sagittogethes astacus (Easton, 1957) comb. nov. Japan

Sagittogethes ater (C. N. F. Brisout de Barneville, 1863) S France, NE Italy, SE Europe comb. nov.

Sagittogethes biondii (Audisio, 1988) comb. nov. E Turkey

Sagittogethes devillei (Grouvelle, 1912) comb. nov. S Europe, Caucasus, N Turkey, NW Middle Asia Sagittogethes distinctus ( Sturm, 1845) comb. nov. Europe, Near East

Sagittogethes hladili (Jelínek, 1982) comb. nov. Turkey, Caucasus, Near East

Sagittogethes hoffmanni ( Reitter, 1871) comb. nov. S Palaearctic

Sagittogethes holzschuhi ( Jelínek & Spornraft, 1979) SE Turkey comb. nov.

Sagittogethes incanus ( Sturm, 1845) comb. nov. Europe, N Africa, Near East

Sagittogethes initialis (Kirejtshuk, 1979) comb. nov. E China

Sagittogethes interjectus ( Jelínek & Spornraft, 1979) N Turkey, Caucasus comb. nov.

Sagittogethes jordanis ( Jelínek & Spornraft, 1979) Pontic areas, Near East comb. nov.