Pseudoplites Lameere, 1916

Jin, Mengjie, Keyzer, Roger De, Hutchinson, Paul, Pang, Hong & Ślipiński, Adam, 2020, A Review Of The Australian Macrotomini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Prioninae), Annales Zoologici 70 (1), pp. 33-96 : 70-71

Pseudoplites Lameere, 1916

( Figs. 13 A–C, 14L , 15O , 17E )

Macrotoma (Pseupoplites) Lameere, 1916: 233 . Type species Macrotoma (Pseudoplites) inexpectata Lameere, 1916 (= Cnemoplites (Cnemoplites) hamali Lameere, 1903 ), by monotypy.

Pseudoplites: Quentin and Villiers, 1981: 361 .

Diagnostic combination (Male). Moderately large beetles, 25–45 mm long. Dorsum unicoloured, brown or dark brown. Sexually dimorphic dense punctures present on most of the pronotum, scutellum and most of the ventral side of prothorax and abdomen. Head narrow- er than prothorax; frontoclypeal suture arcuate to broadly angulate; median groove complete. Antennal tubercles prominent, rounded at apex. Eyes large, weakly emarginate near antennal insertion, narrowly separated dorsally. Mandibles about 1/2 of head capsule length, not sexually dimorphic, broad at base, not bent towards ventral side and unidentate apically. Antenna extend to apical elytra in male. Scape distinctly longer than half of head capsule length, posteriorly extending beyond posterior margin of eye, gradually expanded; antennomere 3 longer than scape, twice length of antennomere 4 and thicker than antennomere 4. Mentum not fused to sub-mentum. Terminal palpomere of maxillary and labial palps oval and apically rounded. Prothorax transverse with lateral carina weak, sometimes incomplete but regularly dentate; anterior and posterior margins with complete bead. Pronotal disc with smooth and coarsely punctate callosities on densely punctate, feebly shiny background. Prosternal process subparallel, extending well beyond procoxae, rounded apically. Elytra surfaces coriaceous; inner apical with sharp spine. Legs relatively long; rows of spines present on femora and tibiae except for hind tibiae. Protibia with ventral surface bearing several short spines, densely setose apically, with pair of unequal spurs; protarsi bearing both long hairs and short setae; tarsomere 3 moderately lobed, tarsomere 5 shorter than tarsomeres 1 and 2 combined.

Description. Male. Length 25–45 mm. Body uniformly brown or dark brown. Head approximately as long as wide, narrower than pronotum. Mandibles about 1/2 of head capsule length, weakly curved inwards; each mandible wedge-shaped, very thick and strong on lateral side and near the base, unidentate at apex, with two or three teeth along incisor edge. Labrum weakly concave near apex, anterior margin truncate with very dense setae; labrum separated from clypeus by deep groove; dorsal surface of labrum with longer and denser setae than on clypeus. Frontoclypeal suture arcuate to broadly angulate; median groove distinct and complete. Antennal tubercles relatively prominent, apex rounded. Antenna 11-segmented, filiform, extending almost to elytral apices; scape moderately long and gradually expanded, reaching beyond posterior margin of eye; antennomere 3 longer than scape, over twice length of antennomere 4, and apically thicker than all following segments; antennomeres 5–11 with rather blunt posterior angles. Eyes large, convex, coarsely facetted, slightly emarginate near antennal foramen; narrowly separated dorsally. Submentum curved at apex, mentum well exposed. Terminal palpomere of maxillary and labial palps oval and apically truncate. Pronotum transverse, trapezoid with posterior margin broader than anterior margin; complete bead present on both anterior and posterior margins; lateral carina weak sometimes incomplete with regular sharp teeth. Disc very densely punctate and matt except for shiny, coarsely and deeply punctate islands consisting of two admedian triangular areas, two smaller lateral areas and transverse area in front of the posterior margin. Prosternum covered with fine and deep punctures; hypomeron well-defined, slightly narrower than prosternal process. Prosternal process extending beyond coxae, projecting towards mesoventrite, rounded apically. Mesoventral process sub-parallel and emarginate apically. Ventral side of thorax and coxae with dense golden hairs. Metaventrite with shiny arrow-shaped area medially, finely and densely punctate elsewhere. Metanepisternum weakly constricted at base. Scutellum rounded apically; surface with very fine punctures. Elytral surfaces dull covered with irregular coriaceous sculpture; without traces of venation; elytral apices rounded with sharp sutural spine; epipleuron complete, narrowing apically. Legs strong and relatively long; femora sub-parallel, surface rough, rows of spines present on ventral side; tibia slender and relatively flat, with spines along outer margin on front- and mid-tibia, bearing sensory setae on ventral side apically; each tibia with distinct apical spine and a pair of unequal spurs. Protibia with several spines along external edge, ventral surface with short spines, densely setose apically. Tarsi strong; tarsomere 3 moderately lobed, front tarsi covered with dense long hairs and short setal patch; tarsomere 5 shorter than tarsomeres 1 and 2 combined. Abdomen with ventrites 1–5 densely punctate basally with smooth and appearing less sclerotised apical part; ventral surface almost glabrous, only bearing long setae along the edge, and very densely setose on the apex of ventrite 5. Male genitalia ( Fig. 14L ). Tegmen longer than sternite VII; parameres moderately long, 0.17 times length of entire tegmen, rounded apically with triangular projections at the base; penis as long as tegmen, dorsal apex truncate while ventral apex narrowly rounded.

Female. Antennae usually shorter than in male, only extending to middle of elytra; antennomere 3 longer than scape, but not thicker than antennomeres 4–11. Pronotal disc shiny, surfaces irregular with smooth central area and coarsely punctate lateral area; lateral carina complete and with longer spines. Fine and dense punctures on thorax and abdomen absent. Legs much slender than on males. Abdominal ventrite 5 truncate or weakly emarginate medially. Ovipositor ( Fig. 15O ) long, apical sclerosed part less than half length of baculus, distal gonocoxites very short and stout, abruptly narrowed near apex; stylus large, inserted laterally and very close to gonocoxite apex, gradually expanded apically.

Figures

Figure 13. A–C: Pseudoplites hamali (Lameere); D–F:Teispes insularis (Hope); G–I: Utra nitida Jordan; J–M: Xixuthrus microcerus (White). A, D, G, K: male, dorsal; B, E, H: male, ventral; C, F, I, L: female, dorsal; J: apex of protibia, arrow indicate the single spur; M: head, dorso–lateral, arrow indicates not emarginate eye near antennal insertion.

Figure 14. Male genitalia, each figure from left to right: tegmen (ventral), tegmen (lateral), penis (ventral). A: Agrianome spinicollis (Macleay); B: Analophus parallelus Waterhouse; C: Anomophysis coxalis (Gahan); D: Archetypus marginatus sp. nov.; E: Brephilydia jejuna (Pascoe); F: Cnemoplites edulis Newman; G: Cryptipus frenchi (Blackburn); H: Eurynassa servillei Thomson; I: Hagrides princeps (Gahan); J: Geoffmonteithia queenslanda Jin, de Keyzer et Ślipiński; K: Hermerius impar Newman; L: Pseudoplites hamali (Lameere).

Figure 15. A–C: male genitalia, each figure from left to right: tegmen (ventral), tegmen (lateral), penis (ventral). A: Teispes insularis (Hope); B: Utra nitida Jordan; C: Xixuthrus microcerus (White). D–R: ovipositor. D: Agrianome spinicollis (Macleay); E: Analophus parallelus Waterhouse; F: Anomophysis coxalis (Gahan); G: Archetypus marginatus sp. nov.; H: Brephilydia jejuna (Pascoe); I: Cnemoplites edulis Newman; J: Cryptipus frenchi (Blackburn); K: Eurynassa servillei Thomson; L: Geoffmonteithia queenslanda Jin, de Keyzer et Ślipiński; M: Hagrides princeps (Gahan); N: Hermerius impar Newman; O: Pseudoplites hamali (Lameere); P: Teispes insularis (Hope); R: Utra nitida Jordan; R: Xixuthrus microcerus (White).

Figure 17. Distribution maps based on specimens examined.