Xenorthrius consimilis Gerstmeier & Eberle, 2010

Gerstmeier, Roland & Eberle, Jonas, 2010, Revision of the Indo-Australian checkered beetle genus Xenorthrius Gorham, 1892 (Coleoptera: Cleridae, Clerinae) 2584, Zootaxa 2584 (1), pp. 1-121 : 26-28

Xenorthrius consimilis Gerstmeier & Eberle, 2010 n. sp.

( Figures 18 and 64A )

Specimens examined: Holotype: Japan: Banna-dake, Ishigaki-jima Is , Okinawa, Japan, 2. VI. 2008, s. Kondo leg. (♂, RGCM)

Paratypes: Japan: Maese-dake, Ishigaki-jima Is, Okinawa , Japan, 4. VI. 2008, s. Kondo leg. ( KSCT). Tonoshiro, Ishigaki-jima Is , Okinawa , Japan, 19.V. 2002, Kaoru Sakai leg.; Xenorthrius umbratus, Schenkling, 1912 , det. K. Sakai ( RGCM). Tonoshiro, Ishigaki-jima Is , Okinawa , Japan, 19.V.2002, Kaoru Sakai leg. (2ex., KSCT) .

Measurements: (5 specimens measured) Average total length: 8.2mm, range: 7.4–8.6mm, average elytral length: 5.4mm, average elytral width: 2.4mm, average pronotal length: 2.0mm, average pronotal width: 1.9mm, average head width: 1.7mm.

Head: Red-brown, wrinkled ventrally, smooth centrally; cranium vested with short and long yellowish setae, with distinct punctation, interstices larger than one diameter of punctures; posterior part of clypeus redbrown, lighter than head capsule, anterior margin concave, posterior margin more or less straight, with large punctation and a few long setae laterally, centrally smooth; ventrally wrinkled, smooth centrally; antennae red-brown, antennomeres gradually decreasing in length from A3 to A8, A9 to A11 forming a distinct club, male antennae not reaching base of pronotum when laid back; gular sutures diverging apically, deeply sulcate next to gular sutures, gular process as long as wide.

Thorax: Average pronotal length:width ratio 1.1:1; pronotum red-brown, pronotal arch lighter, vested with short yellowish setae, pronotal arch with very fine and sparse punctation, pronotum proper with coarse and dense punctation, punctures large, interstices smaller than diameter of punctures; prosternum red-brown, margins darkened, smooth; mesosternum red-brown, sparsely vested with yellowish setae; metasternum dark red-brown to black, vested with fine setae; anterior metasternal process with two strongly sclerotized, ventrally projecting, edges; scutellum oval, red-brown, margins darkened.

Elytra: Average length:width ratio 2.3:1; basal quarter dark red-brown followed by a yellow fascia, apical half dark red-brown, one yellow spot on each elytra near apex, subcutaneous structures visible through lighter areas, vested with shorter and longer setae, punctation relatively large, striae 1 and 2 obsolete with beginning of yellow fascia, striae 3 still weakly present in dark red-brown apical area, remaining striae entirely present, but striae 10 indistinct behind yellow fascia, interstices within striae smaller than one diameter of punctures, interstices between striae about one diameter of punctures, punctation often rasp-like in basal third, carination weakly present in apical third.

Legs: Yellow, femora distally slightly red-brown in some specimens, tarsal pulvilli yellowish pale; metatibiae more or less straight, anterior and posterior face of each tibia carinate, carination red-brown, distinct, especially on metatibia.

Abdomen: Ventrites red-brown, ventrite 5 and ventrite 6 lighter, punctation distinct, interstices irregular, about one diameter of punctures; lateral margins of male pygidium slightly converging; male ventrite 6 with V-shaped emargination. Male genitalia ( Fig. 18 ): Tegmen becoming continuously broader apically, phallic plates extremely narrow, tip broader and strongly sclerotized with horizontal furrow; spicular fork dividing into two branches after one fifth of length.

Distribution: Japan (Ishigaki-jima).

Seasonal occurrence: Collecting in May and June.

Etymology: The specific epithet, consimilis , a Latin adjective meaning very similar, refers to the similarity with Xenorthrius umbratus .

The decision to separate this species from Xenorthrius umbratus Schenkling, 1912 , was not easy. The former is known only from Ishigaki Island which is located about 250km east of Taiwan ( Fig. 18 ) where Xenorthrius umbratus is endemic. The decision to describe a new species was made because of slight differences in the tegmen and phallus ( Figs. 18 and 60 ), the unicolored legs of X. consimilis as well as the less distinct elytral carination.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Xenorthrius consimilis: (A) Tegmen in ventral view, (B) phallus in ventral view, (C) tip of aedeagus in lateral view, (D) spicular fork, (E) male pygidium, (F) male ventrite 6 and distribution map.

FIGURE 60. Xenorthrius umbratus: (A) Tegmen in ventral view, (B) phallus in ventral view, (C) tip of aedeagus in lateral view, (D) spicular fork, (E) male pygidium, (F) male ventrite 6 and distribution map.

FIGURE 64. Habitus photographs: Xenorthrius consimilis n. sp. (A), Xenorthrius cruralis n. sp. (B), Xenorthrius decoratus n. sp. (C), Xenorthrius disjunctus (D), Xenorthrius dissipatus n. sp. (E) and Xenorthrius doliaris n. sp. (F). Scale bars = 4mm.