Plateumaris rustica (Kunze, 1818)

Geiser, Elisabeth, 2023, Revision of the Palaearctic species of the genus Plateumaris C. G. Thomson, 1859 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Donaciinae), ZooKeys 1177, pp. 167-233 : 167

Plateumaris rustica (Kunze, 1818)

Fig. 10

Donacia rustica Kunze, 1818: 31.

Donacia abdominalis Bedel, 1891: 218 [nomen nudum].

Donacia affinis Kunze, 1818: 37.

Plateumaris rustica ab. forojulensis Gortani, 1906: 20 [infrasubspecific name].

Donacia fusca Zschach, 1788: 27 [nomen oblitum].

Donacia pallipes Kunze, 1818: 35.

Plateumaris rustica var. picipes Weise, 1898: 180.

Donacia planicollis Kunze, 1818: 34.

Donacia rustica Schüppel, 1818: 31 [nomen nudum].

Plateumaris sulcifrons Weise, 1900: 267 [syn. nov.].

Type locality.

Germany, surroundings of Berlin [Kunze, 1818: 31: "in der Gegend von Berlin"].

Type material.

Type specimens missing.

Taxonomic history and synonymies.

Kunze (1818) described four new Donacia species (see original text and translation in Geiser and Geiser 2023) which in fact belong to one single Plateumaris species ( Askevold 1991 in part). The name Donacia rustica was described first in this publication, so Donacia planicollis , Donacia pallipes , and Donacia affinis are now synonyms.

Some authors, like Jolivet (1970) and Borowiec (1984), cited the authority of P. rustica as Schüppel (1818, in Kunze 1818) but this is inaccurate since Kunze (1818) wrote after the description: " D. rustica Schüppel in litt." Therefore, the suggestion is there that the name is derived from J. Schüppel (Berlin), but Kunze actually described this species and published it. The unambiguous authority of P. rustica is Kunze; therefore, D. rustica ( Schüppel, 1818) is a nomen nudum. Note that there is no publication of “Schüppel (1818)".

The names P. abdominalis Bedel, 1891 and P. (Donacia) abdominalis Olivier, 1795 [1800 is correct, see above for P. bracata ] were erroneously attributed to P. rustica . The name P. abdominalis is frequently mentioned as a synonym for P. rustica or P. affinis as occurs in the key by Jacobson (1892): " Donacia abdominalis Oliv." with P. affinis as its synonym. Clavareau (1913) defined " Donacia abdominalis Bedel" as synonymous with P. affinis and this was followed by Reitter (1920), Winkler (1930), Goecke (1960), and Jolivet (1970); the latter also mentioned " Donacia abdominalis Olivier" as synonymous with P. bracata , but Olivier did not describe it [see above for P. bracata ]. Also, Bedel (1891) did not describe P. abdominalis ; in his list of the Coleoptera of the Seine basin he mentioned P. abdominalis Olivier, together with the synonyms Donacia affinis Kunze, 1818 and [sic!] Donacia fusca Zschach, 1788 (synonymous with P. bracata ). Therefore, P. abdominalis Bedel is a nomen nudum, a misidentification or misinterpretation by Bedel, but not a synonym of P. affinis .

Donacia affinis was also described in Kunze (1818) (see Geiser and Geiser 2023). Goecke (1943) suggested that P. affinis should be considered synonymous with P. rustica . Askevold (1991: 37) synonymised it after examination of ~ 250 specimens from various locations in Europe. These beetles are typically separated in keys by the colour of the antennae, legs, and ventral side, and by the metafemoral tooth size, but these are highly variable characters among many Donaciinae (pers. obs.). In fact, the aedeagi of these two “species” are indistinguishable.

Plateumaris forojulensis was described by Gortani (1906) as aberration.

Donacia fusca was regarded as synonymous with P. affinis , but it is a nomen oblitum ( Jolivet 1970).

Plateumaris pallipes was assigned as a synonym of P. affinis and P. planicollis as a synonym of P. rustica . As the original descriptions of Kunze (1818) show, all characters are within the variation range of the typical characters of P. rustica ( Geiser and Geiser 2023).

Plateumaris picipes was described by Weise (1898) as a variation ( Geiser and Geiser 2023). It refers to specimens with at least very dark femora up to very dark legs. Albeit the basal joints of the femora are always reddish.

Diagnosis.

Upper side mostly metallic, antennae and legs entirely or partly reddish brown. It has a very smooth and the most flattened pronotum of all Palaearctic Plateumaris species (Fig. 10A ).

Description.

Size: 6.5-9.0 mm.

Colour: Upper side bronze or black with greenish, bluish, or purplish metallic lustre, colour of pronotum and elytra mostly the same but can also differ significantly. Antennae and legs entirely or partly reddish brown.

Head: Frons with deep or shallow groove, longitudinal calli distinctive or flattened.

Antennae: Filiform, each antennomere yellow or reddish at the basis, darkened at the apex, extent of darkened zone very variable, 2nd antennomere 2-3 × smaller than other antennomeres which are approximately equal in length, only the 3rd antennomere is sometimes slightly smaller than the others: (2-3) × A2 = A1 = A4 … A11; A3 ≤ A4.

Pronotum: Almost quadratic, only at the basis slightly constricted, with flat disc and indistinct anterior tubercles; surface shiny or alutaceous, disc smooth with small shallow dots, more or less densely dotted, median line varies from imperceptible to distinctive.

Elytra: Punctures very delicate, interstices with slight transversal rugae, interstices 2-4 × puncture diameter. Ratio of elytral length to width: 1.7-2.0.

Legs: Yellow reddish, sometimes partly or almost entirely darkened, piceous, but always with reddish joints (var. Plateumaris rustica picipes Weise, 1898). Femora basally broad, metafemoral tooth very variable, mostly prominent, in some (mostly female) specimens very small or imperceptible. There is no geographic correlation concerning the size of the tooth.

Aedeagus: Median lobe distinctly elongated, apex acute (Fig. 10B ).

There are two similar species. Plateumaris consimilis has the pronotum distinctly cordate and the disc is not flattened. The pronotum of P. weisei is trapeziform and slightly longer than wide. In the territories where their distribution areas are overlapping (European part of Russia) it can be distinguished from P. weisei by the quadratic shape of the pronotum.

Also, the aedeagi of these species are clearly different (compare Fig. 10B with Fig. 17B, C, E ).

Biology.

The larvae are oligophagous on Carex sp. and other Cyperaceae . Adults feed on leaves and stems, not on pollen ( Rheinheimer and Hassler 2018). For identification of the larvae see Steinhausen (1994) and Bieńkowski and Orlova-Bieńkowskaja (2004). Although P. rustica is widespread in the West Palaearctic region and there are many of its food plants available, it is rather rare suggesting that it needs not only wetland with Cyperaceae but also additional ecological conditions.

Distribution.

West Palaearctic region: throughout Europe, further in Algeria, Turkey, Iran, and west Siberia. Records exist for Europe: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina [new in PalCat], Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Crimea [new in PalCat], Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro [first record], The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia: northern, central, and southern parts [new in PalCat] of European Russia), Serbia [new in PalCat], Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine.

North Africa: Algeria.

Asia: Iran [first record], Russia (west Siberia), Turkey [new in PalCat].

New country records additional to Silfverberg (2010).

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Mohr (1966b).

Crimea: Listed in Catalogue: Beetles of the Krym (pers. comm. S. Mosiakin 2019).

Montenegro • 11 ex.; Poljane north-west of Podgorica “Pojane”; P. rustica E. Geiser 2019 det.; NHMB [ex coll. Breit in coll. Frey]. Remark: Some specimens were previously identified as P. forojulensis (1 ex.) and P. picipes (4 ex.).

Russia • 1 ex.; Southern European territory, town Samara Nikolayevsky Uyezd; May 1916; Bostanzhoglo leg.; Zoological Museum of Moscow State University, Russia. Remark: private record by Bieńkowski 2016.

Serbia: Gavrilović and Ćurčić (2011), Mohr (1966b).

Iran • 1 ex.; "Persien, Elbrus Gebirge" [Elbrus mountains]; Donacia affinis H. Goecke det., Donacia rustica E. Geiser 2019 det.; NHMB [ex coll. Reitter in coll. Frey].

Turkey • 25 ex.; Bolu Province, Abant Daği [mountain], Abant Gölü [lake]; 1298 m a.s.l.; 31 May 1999; J. Voříšek and J. Kodada leg.; P. rustica E. Geiser 2021 det.; BMNH [ex coll. J. Voříšek]. Bolu province and Kahramanmaraş province ( Ekiz et al. 2020).

Remarks:

Plateumaris rustica was unknown from Turkey. There was no record in the "Checklist of leaf beetles of Turkey" ( Ekiz et al. 2013). In 2019 I identified 12 specimens from Bolu province stored in Verona (MSNV) and their detailed data are published in Ekiz et al. (2020), including the type location of P. sulcifrons in Kahramanmaraş province. In 2021 I found 25 specimens in the coll. Voříšek which is now stored in BMNH. These specimens were labelled as " P. sulcifrons Weise J. Voříšek det." but are now relabelled as P. rustica . Also, the aedeagi of these " P. sulcifrons " were identical with the aedeagus of P. rustica .

Material studied.

More than 200 specimens throughout the West Palaearctic region .

Figures

Figure 10. Plateumaris rustica A habitus B median lobe (photographs by K. Matsumoto). Scale bar: one unit - 1 mm.

Figure 17. Plateumaris weisei A habitus B, C aedeagus: Median lobe and cap of tegmen (photographs by K. Matsumoto) D cap of tegmen E median lobe (from Hayashi 2020). Scale bars: one unit - 1 mm (A); 0.5 mm (D, E).