Melalgus batillus ( Lesne, 1902 )

Jerzy, Borowski, 2022, Taxonomic changes in Bostrichidae (Insecta, Coleoptera), Zootaxa 5154 (5), pp. 590-594 : 591

Melalgus batillus ( Lesne, 1902)

Heterarthron batillum Lesne, 1902: 223 (male)

Heterarthron talpula Lesne, 1911: 47 (female)

Melalgus japonicus Chûjô, 1973 n. syn.

Geographical distribution: Cambodia, China (Guanxi, Guangdong, Hainan), India, Japan (Tsushima, Kyushu, Yakushima), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.

2. Amphicerus (Caenophrada) malayanus (Lesne, 1899) and A. (Caenophrada) caenophradoides ( Lesne, 1895)

Amphicerus malayanus was described based on numerous species (males and females) collected in Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. The described specimens came from the museums in Paris, Leiden and Vienna.After a morphological analysis of typical males and females from L. Bedel’s and R. Oberthür’s collections (MNHN) it can be safely stated that the species is identical with A. (C.) caenophradoides . The features differentiating A. malayanus and A. caenophadoides , presented by Lesne in his key, only reflect the individual variability of the latter. The author of A. malayanus description himself summarised it as follows: „ Nous avions d'abord confondu cette forme avec notre Bostrychus caenophradoides , dont elle est extrêmement voisine, á tel point qu'on peut la considérer comme une race géographique de ce dernier.” A. caenophadoides is a common species, widely distributed in the Orient, and so, considering the species strong heteromorphic variability, the size of frontal or pronotal tubercles or elytral puncturation and pubescence cannot be indicated as the only diagnostic features. Thus A. malayanus should be treated as a newer synonym of A. caenophradoides . Full synonymy of the species name along with its geographical distribution is presented below.