Allocota Motschulsky, 1859

Shi, Hongliang, Zhou, Hongzhang & Liang, Hongbin, 2013, Taxonomic synopsis of the subtribe Physoderina (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini), with species revisions of eight genera, ZooKeys 284, pp. 1-129 : 47-48

Genus Allocota Motschulsky, 1859

Allocota Motschulsky 1859: 29; Chaudoir 1877: 203; Jedlička 1963: 304 (in part); Kirschenhofer 1996: 763 (in part).

Taicona Bates 1873: 314; Jedlička 1963: 448; Habu 1967: 140. Syn. n. [Synonym]

Type-species:

Allocota viridipennis Motschulsky, 1859, by monotypy.

Diagnosis.

Dorsal side glabrous; mandibles strongly widened; posterior supraorbital setae near eyes, insertions not tumid; pronotum narrow, ratio PW/PL less than 1.4; lateral setae of pronotum absent; elytral 3rd and 5th intervals with four or more setigerous pores, subequally placed; 7th intervals sometimes with setigerous pores; protibiae with cleaning spur reduced or absent; males with two pairs of setigerous pores on terminal sternum.

This genus is closest to Physodera ; their differences are presented in the diagnosis of Physodera . In general appearance, Allocota is similar to Diamella , but can be distinguished from the latter by the glabrous surface and vertex not tumid.

Generic characters.

Body length 6.0 to 8.7 mm, slender, pronotum narrow. Elytra strongly metallic, sometimes disc more or less reddish. Head and pronotum glabrous, elytra glabrous except primary setigerous pores; elytra usually with faint isodiametric microsculpture. Head glabrous; eyes hemispherical, strongly prominent; tempora slightly longer than half length of eyes, gradually narrowed behind eyes, not expanded; vertex not tumid. Antennae extended to about elytral basal one-third; 1st antennomere gradually narrowed to base, 3rd longer than 4th. Labrum smooth, without secondary setae, slightly widened to apex, apical margin more or less emarginate; mandibles strongly widened, outer margin rounded ( Fig. 150 ), surface glabrous; terminal maxillary palpomeres fusiform in both sexes; terminal labial palpomeres more or less widened in males, fusiform, truncate or slightly securiform; less widened in females; ligular apex truncate, with four long setae; paraglossae membranous, as long as ligula, adnate; mentum tooth simple, apex rounded or sharp, with two setae near base; submentum with two long setae; genae glabrous beneath eyes. Pronotum slightly wider than long, nearly as wide as head; disc glabrous, front angles with a few setae, lateral margins glabrous; mid-lateral setae absent; pronotal base briefly but distinctly lobed; lateral margins slightly expanded in middle; hind angles more or less distinct; basal foveae shallow. Elytra narrow, slightly convex, slightly widened to apex; apex truncate or slightly curved, sutural angles not projected, outer angles rounded; disc without distinct depression; intervals flat, without additional pubescence; basal margination only reaching 3rd interval; basal pores present; 3rd and 5th intervals with four or more setigerous pores, sometimes 7th interval also with setigerous pores; 7th and 8th intervals strongly tumid near apex. Ventral side nearly glabrous; males with terminal sternum moderately emarginate apically, with two pairs of setae ( Fig. 145 ); females with terminal sternum straight or slightly curved apically, with two pairs of setae, rarely one additional setae present on one side (the right side in Fig. 146 ). Legs short; protibiae with cleaning spur absent ( Fig. 140 ), or very fine and short ( Fig. 141 ), distant from inner margin; tarsi widened; 4th tarsomere bifid, claws pectinate; males with adhesive hairs on first three protarsomeres well developed (two whole rows), those on first three mesotarsomeres rudimentary (two rows, weakly present near apex) or well developed (two whole rows) on some mesotarsomeres. Male genitalia with median lobe of aedeagus not twisted, slightly bent to right side in dorsal view; apical orifice opened apically; apical lamella short; dorsal surface with some fine setae subapically; internal sac with main flagellum moderately thick, apex not reaching apical orifice, trumpet-form expansion small; apical bursa absent; secondary flagellum distinct. Female genitalia. Spermatheca tubular, with more or less ring-sculpture, inserted at the joining of the bursa copulatrix and common oviduct; spermathecal gland with basal part very fine, inserted at middle of spermatheca; spermatheca not distinctly bent. Apical segment of ovipositor very short and wide, apex rounded, with membranous extension slightly widened.

Distribution

( Map 6 ). East Asia and Southeast Asia: Japan, China, Indo-China Peninsula, Malay Peninsula, Philippine Islands, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi. Not discovered in South Asia or the eastern part of the Malay Archipelago.

Monophyly and relationships.

Monophyly of Allocota is suggested by the following apomorphic character states: (1) cleaning spur on protibiae reduced or absent; (2) setigerous pores on 5th interval not restricted to basal half; (3) apical segment of ovipositor only slightly longer than basal width.

Taxonomic comments.

We studied the type series and other material of Taicona aurata Bates (type-species of Taicona ), and a male of Allocota viridipennis Motschulsky (type-species of Allocota ) from Java (type locality) that had been compared with the type by Andrewes. Except for color and body size, the only significant difference between them is that setigerous pores are present on the 7th interval in Allocota . Even the male genitalia show no obvious differences at the species level (see the detailed discussion under Allocota aurata ). So it can be inferred that these two species are extremely closely related. As the pore distribution on the 7th interval is not constant even at the species-level (see discussion under Allocota viridipennis ), we herein synonymize Taicona Bates with Allocota Motschulsky.

A total of seven species was included in Allocota before the present study, but four of them should be transferred to other genera. In the present paper, we combine species previously included in Taicona with Allocota , propose two new synonyms, and describe a new species. Therefore, in the present concept of Allocota , a total of four species is included. Three of these are very closely allied with each other, and strictly allopatric; while the fourth one, Allocota bicolor sp. n., is quite different from the others and sympatric with Allocota aurata .

Key to species of Allocota Motschulsky

1	Protibiae with cleaning spur present, but very fine ( Fig. 141 ); males with terminal labial palpomeres moderately widened, apex truncate; males with adhesive hairs rudimentary on first three mesotarsomeres; 7th interval of elytra with setigerous pores; internal sac of aedeagus without setose area	Allocota bicolor sp. n.
-	Protibiae with cleaning spur absent ( Fig. 140 ); males with terminal labial palpomeres slightly widened in middle, not truncate; males with adhesive hairs well developed on first two mesotarsomeres, rudimentary on 3rd mesotarsomeres; 7th interval of elytra usually without setigerous pores (except some specimens from Java and Borneo); internal sac of aedeagus with setose area near middle	2
2	Elytra greenish to cupreous; metasternum and abdomen not distinctly darker than prosternum; species from Japan, Taiwan, and Asian mainland	Allocota aurata (Bates)
-	Elytra more or less bluish; metasternum and abdomen much darker than prosternum; species from Malay Archipelago and Malay Peninsula	3
3	Setae on front angles of pronotum very short ( Fig. 151 ); internal sac of aedeagus with setose area divided into two parts, apex of secondary flagellum simple; species from Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra, Java	Allocota viridipennis Motschulsky
-	Setae on front angles of pronotum much longer ( Fig. 152 ); internal sac of aedeagus with setose area divided into three parts, apex of secondary flagellum forming a large triangular sclerite; species from the Philippines and Sulawesi	Allocota cyanipennis Heller

Figures

Map 6. Known distribution of genus Allocota: ● Allocota aurata (Bates) ★ Allocota cyanipennis Heller ▲ Allocota viridipennis Motschulsky ◆ Allocota bicolor sp. n.

Figures 138 - 157. Characters of Physoderina. 138 - 139 Internal reproductive system of females, scale bars = 0.2 mm: 138 Dasiosoma quadraticolle sp. n., a paratype from Yunnan 139 Orionella lewisii (Bates), a specimen from Zhejiang. 140 - 142 Right protibia, ventral view, showing the reduction of cleaning spur, scale bars = 0.5 mm: 140 Allocota aurata (Bates) (cleaning spur absent) 141 Allocota bicolor sp. n. (cleaning spur fine) 142 Diamella cupreomicans (Oberthuer) (cleaning spur well developed). 143 - 146 Terminal sternum, showing the setae and male emargination, scale bars = 0.5 mm: 143 Paraphaea binotata (Dejean), male (deeply emarginate, one seta on each side) 144 Paraphaea binotata (Dejean) (straight, two setae on each side), female 145 Allocota aurata (Bates), male (moderately emarginate, two setae on each side) 146 Allocota aurata (Bates), female (straight, two setae on each side, right side unusually with an additional seta). 147 - 148 Umbilical series of 9 th interval, right elytron, scale bars = 0.5 mm: 147 Paraphaea binotata (Dejean) (umbilical series placed in one row) 148 Metallanchista laticollis sp. n. (umbilical series placed in two rows). 149 - 150 Head, showing the different shape of mandibles, scale bars = 0.5 mm: 149 Paraphaea formosana (Jedlicka) (mandibles moderately widen) 150 Allocota bicolor sp. n. (mandibles strongly widen). 151 - 153 Pronotum, showing the different length of setae on front angle, scale bars = 0.5 mm: 151 Allocota viridipennis Motschulsky, (setae short and fine) 152 Allocota cyanipennis Heller, (setae relative long) 153 Allocota bicolor sp. n., (setae very long). 154 - 155 Pronotum, showing the difference on lateral margin, scale bars = 0.5 mm: 154 Anchista fenestrata fenestrata (Schmidt-Goebel), (lateral margin slightly angulated in middle) 155 Paraphaea formosana (Jedlicka), (lateral margin completely rounded in middle). 156 - 157 Pronotal hind angle, showing the geographical variation in Allocota bicolor sp. n., scale bars = 0.2 mm: 156 Allocota bicolor sp. n., a specimen from Guangdong, (hind angle sharp) 157 Allocota bicolor sp. n., holotype from Yunnan, (hind angle slightly rounded).