Glipidiomorpha atraterga, Lu, Wenhua & Fan, Xiang, 2000

Lu, Wenhua & Fan, Xiang, 2000, Two New Chinese Glipidiomorpha Franciscolo (Coleoptera: Mordellidae) And A Key To Mainland Species, The Coleopterists Bulletin 54 (1), pp. 1-10 : 2-5

Glipidiomorpha atraterga , new species

Figs. 2–6 , 11

Types. Holotype. Male. Yunnan: Xishuanbanna, Damenlong , 650 m; 16­IV­ 1958, Wang Shu­Yong . Allotype. Female. Yunnan: Jingdon, Beishan ( North Hill ); 30­V­1956, Zhao Yi . Paratype. Male, head and genitalia missing. Yunnan: Menghun , 750 m ; 9­VI­1958, Meng Xu­Wu.

Additional Material Examined. Eight specimens, females, malaise trap; Hong Kong: New Territories, Tai Po Kau; 4­9­VI­1996, R. R. Snelling .

Diagnosis. Form ( Fig. 11 ) moderately elongate, with maximum width in middle of pronotum. Ground color black, upper surface bicolored: basal elytra 2 ⁄ 5 bright­red, apical 3 ⁄ 5 black. A narrow transverse band of golden pubescence on elytra posterior to the basal red portion ( Fig. 11 ); another such a band, at least twice as broad, in middle of the apical black portion ( Fig. 11 ), dividing it equally into two black bands (in female, this second band of golden pubescence located slightly more posteriorly, resulting in a broader anterior black band). Proximal 4 antennal segments, proximal segment of maxillary and labial palpus, underside of pronotum and mesonotum, front femur and tibia, middle femur, hind tibial spurs and claws, and outer area of metacoxa reddish brown; distal antennal segments, distal segment of maxillary and labial palpi, and front tarsus dark brown. Pronotum surrounded by golden pubescence, leaving a central black area like the Chinese character for ‘‘mountain.’’ Head, scutellum, and apical portion of pygidium and hypopygium covered by lighter golden pubescence; underside covered by silvery to light golden pubescence, except a reddish area on metacoxa, abdominal segment 5, and outer area of abdominal segment 4, where pubescence partakes ground color.

Description. Head broad, almost as broad as anterior edge of pronotum; occipital margin seen from above regularly concave; temporal angle obtuse; temporal fringe short; tempora entirely wanting; eyes large, suboval, hairy, finely granulated, reaching occiput; distance between eyes on vertex about two eyes combined (less than two eyes combined in female). Antenna subserrate, long, reaching base of pronotum; segment 1 about ½ longer than 2, both stout; segments 3–4 narrow, twice as long as broad, subequal, ⅓ longer than 2; segments 5–10 of increasing width, each barely longer than 4, but twice as broad at apex; segment 11 ⅓ longer than 10, broadest of all segments. Maxillary palpus with distal segment as in Glipa, isosceles with apical side the longest, articulating with penultimate segment at an obtuse angle. Pronotum broader than long, broadest in middle; sides strongly convex from above, slightly folded inwards just before basal angles in lateral view; anterior lobe prominent, anterior angles obtuse and smooth; base arcuate, basal lobe broadly rounded, basal angles broadly obtuse but not rounded. Elytra slightly more than twice as long as broad, as broad as pronotum at base, parallel­sided, feebly narrowing apically, separately and broadly rounded at apex; humerus slightly raised. Scutellum triangular. Elytral epipleuron ½ narrower than metepisternum at its maximum width; abruptly obsolete at level of epicoxa; metepisternum broad and short (1.6 as long as maximally broad), truncate at apex. Legs: Front femur with some loose long setae on inner side and front tibia slightly arched outward (not so in female). Front and middle tibiae longer than their tarsi, respectively, with tarsal segments 3–4 flattened and enlarged, segment 4 deeply emarginate and bilobed. In addition to a short and oblique subapical ridge, hind tibia with a fine long and complete dorsal ridge; hind basitarsomere also with such a fine dorsal ridge. Inner spur of hind tibia 3 ⁄ 5 as long as its basitarsomere, twice as long as outer spur. Tarsal ratios: 2­1­1­2­4, 2­1­1­3­7, 3­4­5­ 11. Pygidium short and stout, truncate at apex, 3 ⁄ 2 and ¼ times as long as hypopygium and elytra, respectively; hypopygium slightly flattened (almost truncate in female), rounded with a broad longitudinal depression (not present in female). Urosternites: Eighth sternite ( Fig. 2 ) typical of Glipa with broadly dilated lateral wings and an apical protuberance, distally slightly emarginate; ninth sternite ( Fig. 3–4 ) 1 ⁄ 5 shorter than eighth, thin and slender, strongly asymmetrical at apex: a middle hollow and horn­like branch with some setae, a short right branch heavily sclerotized and keel­like, and a thin left branch lying perpendicular to middle and right branches and pointing inward. Genitalia: Furca as long as tube, twice as long as penis, epimere as long as paramera. Right parameron ( Fig. 6 ) as long as left one, branching immediately from base with a shallow basal ridge ( Lu et al. 1997); dorsal branch heavily sclerotized on basal ⅓, extremely thin on remaining apical ⅔. Left parameron ( Fig. 5 ) rather flat, branching from basal 3 ⁄ 5, medial branch (homologous to the basal prominence of Mordellistenini , short, dorsal branch elongate and extremely thin, much less sclerotized than that of right parameron. Penis about ½ as long as elytra and three times as long as epimere, enlarged in middle portion, terminating in a rounded lobe raised dorsally in lateral view.

Dimensions (mm). Holotype: head 1.6 3 1.84; pronotum 1.6 3 2.16; elytra 4.4 3 1.9; pygidium 1.15 3 0.2; hypopygium 7.5; head to elytra 7.6. Allotype: head 1.7 3 2.0; pronotum 1.8 3 2.4; elytra 4.4 3 2.15; pygidium 1.1 3 0.3; hypopygium 6.5; head to elytra 7.9.

Etymology. The Latin atraterga refers to the largely black pronotum.

Remarks. This species appears active from April to June from the label data. However, these data may reflect more collectors’ than insects’ activity. Females are generally larger than males and duller in proximal antennal segments, front and middle legs, and pronotum and mesonotum ventrally. The front femur does not have loose long setae on the inner side and the tibia is straight. In all Hong Kong specimens (females), there are reddish brown areas on the basal angles and basal lobe of pronotum, and thus the pubescence on these areas partakes more or less the ground color. These reddish brown areas are less evident in the Yunnan females. Also, the location of the second transverse band of golden pubescence on the elytra varies between the Yunnan and Hong Kong specimens. In Yunnan specimens, the band is located exactly in the middle of the apical black portion in the males and slightly below the middle in the female. In Hong Kong specimens, the band does not start until the second half of the black area so that the first black band is twice as broad as the second or apical black band. This geographic variation and the lack of Hong Kong male specimens for genitalic comparisons call for further collection efforts.

Figures

Figs. 2–6. Glipidiomorpha atraterga, male, holotype. 2) eighth sternite; 3) ninth sternite; 4) ninth sternite in lateral view; 5) left paramere; 6) left paramere. L, left; R, right; m, medial branch; r, basal ridge; d, dorsal branch; v, ventral branch.

Figs 11–15. Diagrammatic pubescent patterns of species of Glipidiomorpha. 11) G. atraterga. 12) G. rufiterga. 13) G. curticauda. 14) G. rufobrunneipennis. 15) G. kuatunensis. Figs. 13–15 redrawn from Ermisch (1968). Unshaded is red to brown. Stipple is dark gray to black. Fine line indicates white to yellow pubescence.