NEMOPHAS RAMOSI SCHULTZE, 1920 a FORGOTTEN PHILIPPINE SPECIES (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) Francesco VITALI* & Vitali NAGIRNYI**
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470 Lambillionea CIX, 4 Décembre 2009 NEMOPHAS RAMOSI SCHULTZE, 1920 A FORGOTTEN PHILIPPINE SPECIES (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) Francesco VITALI* & Vitali NAGIRNYI** * 7a, rue J. P. Huberty, L-1742 Luxembourg ** 131-1 Narva mnt., 51008 Tartu, Estonia Abstract : Nemophas rosenbergii ramosi Schultze, 1920 from Mindanao (Philippines) is removed from the synonymy with Nemophas subcylindricus Aurivillius, 1927 and considered as bona species, as follows: Nemophas ramosi Schultze, 1920 nov. stat. Nemophas zonatus Lansberge, 1880 is recorded for the first time from Flores Island and Nemophas bicinctus Lansberge, 1880 from Sulawesi. Nemophas rosenbergii Ritsema, 1881 and Nemophas grayii (Pascoe, 1859) are restored at their original spellings. A key to the genus Nemophas Thomson, 1864 is provided. Résumé : Nemophas rosenbergii ramosi Schultze, 1920 de l'Île de Mindanao (Philippines) est relevée de la synonymie avec Nemophas subcylindricus Aurivillius, 1927 et considérée comme une bonne espèce, dans la façon suivante: Nemophas ramosi Schultze, 1920 nov. stat. Nemophas zonatus Lansberge, 1880 est cité pour la première fois de l'Île de Flores et Nemophas bicinctus Lansberge, 1880 de Célèbes. Nemophas rosenbergii Ritsema, 1881 et Nemophas grayii (Pascoe, 1859) sont corrigés selon leur orthographies originelles. Enfin, il est fourni un tableau pour la détermination des espèces du genre Nemophas Thomson, 1864. Key-words : Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae, Nemophas, taxonomy Introduction In 1920, SCHULTZE described Nemophas rosenbergii ramosi from a female (Fig. 1) coming from the Mt. Ramos (Philippines, Mindanao, Surigao). The author confronted this new subspecies with the typical form of Sulawesi, which he knew only through the original description, noticing a different disposition of the markings. AURIVILLIUS (1921) mentioned this subspecies as a variety of N. rosenbergii Ritsema, 1881, while BREUNING (1944) synonymised it with the variety virescens (Fig. 2) of N. subcylindricus Aurivillius, 1927, with the pretext that both species have the same ground colour of elytra. Actually, this claim was unreasonable from all points of view and it appears nowadays incredible how it could have resisted for such a long time. Firstly, SCHULTZE's species had the priority over the AURIVILLIUS' one; hence, the synonymy had to be inverted. Secondly, the species about which BREUNING furnished the description corresponded neither to Nemophas rosenbergii ramosi nor to N. subcylindricus, being a mix of them. Thirdly, BREUNING (1980) arrived even to describe another species (N. zonatoides), claiming its fanciful likeness with N. grayii Pascoe, 1859 of the Moluccas. Such species, being in reality a clear synonym of the true subcylindricus, was quickly synonymised by HÜDEPOHL (1983). Successively, other authors (MATSUDA, 1997; LINGAFELTER & HOEBEKE, 2002) published pictures of the true N. subcylindricus, but N. rosenbergii ramosi seemed forgotten. Thus, the research of the original publications has revealed unbelievable truth: BREUNING synonymised this SCHULTZE's species without either knowing the type or having read its description. In fact, SCHULTZE had furnished clear description and picture of his new species, both corresponding neither to AURIVILLIUS', nor to BREUNING's subcylindricus. Moreover, the fact that BREUNING (1980) described subcylindricus again with another name also suggests that he did not know AURIVILLIUS' species either. Actually, not only N. rosenbergii ramosi is not a synonym of subcylindricus but it is also a valid species, much more than SCHULTZE initially suspected. BREUNING (1944) ignored the descriptions of other species as well. He described N. subterrubens Schultze, 1924 and N. tricolor Schultze, 1919 as having a pubescent head, while they are hairless, and even mentioned subterrubens as "subterrubus". Finally, he unjustifiably transferred N. ammiralis Schwarzer, 1931 and N. benningseni Aurivillius, 1908 to the genus Anoplophora (Lingafelter & Hoebeke, 2002). Lambillionea CIX, 4 Décembre 2009 471 The study of the Nemophas-species has thereby evidenced the incontrovertible fact that BREUNING furnished descriptions, drawings and even synonymies of several species, in fact completely unknown to him. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce the differential diagnoses of all involved species and a new key to the genus Nemophas. Results Nemophas subcylindricus Aurivillius, 1927 = Nemophas zonatoides Breuning, 1980 Diagnosis. Body, head, pronotal base, antennae and legs black; pronotum (except for the basal third) and part of the ventral side densely covered with whitish or yellowish pubescence; elytra metallic, covered with four narrow transversal bands of whitish or yellowish pubescence disposed as follows: a post-basal, a median, a post-median, a pre-apical. Variations of colour: elytra blue-violet, pattern white (typical form), elytra greenish blue, pattern yellowish (var. virescens Aurivillius, 1927). Variations of pattern: pre-apical band reduced to two transversal spots (typical form), pre-apical band entire (var. zonatoides Breuning, 1980). Examined material. LINGAFELTER & HOEBEKE (2002) furnished a picture of the type of N. subcylindricus at page 103 (fig. a) of his text, while the German entomologist Robert Perger furnished a picture of the type of the var. virescens in his web-page (http://www.coleop-terra.com). Distribution: Philippines (Mindanao, Luzon) (Fig. 3). Remarks. The var. virescens, which AURIVILLIUS described from Luzon, might also constitute a good subspecies, but the material in our hands does not allow clarifying this topic. Actually, both the typical form and N. zonatoides have white pubescence and come from Mindanao. Nemophas rosenbergii Ritsema, 1881 (Fig. 4, 5). Diagnosis. Body, pronotal base and antennae black; head, pronotum (except for the basal third), legs and ventral side densely covered with yellowish pubescence; elytra metallic green covered with four transversal bands of yellowish pubescence disposed as follows: a narrow basal, a broad pre-median a broader post-median, a narrow apical. Apical band with a more or less visible irregular denuded pre-apical spot. Examined material. Indonesia, Sulawesi, Selatan, Mamasa, IV.2001, Syamsus Alan lgt., coll. F. Vitali, 1 M; Indonesia, Sulawesi, Tengah, Palolo, III.2009, Syamsus Alan lgt., coll. V. Nagirnyi, 1 M, 1 F. Distribution: Sulawesi (Fig. 3). Nemophas ramosi Schultze, 1920 removed from synonymy, new status (Fig. 6, 7). Diagnosis. Body black; head, prothorax, antennae, legs and ventral side densely covered with yellowish pubescence; elytra metallic green covered with four transversal bands of yellowish pubescence disposed as follows: a narrow basal, a narrow pre- median, a broad post-median, a narrow apical. Apical band with a very large denuded pre-apical spot, which forms a narrow regular band or nearly occupies the entire elytral apex. Distribution: Philippines (Mindanao). Examined material. Philippines, Mindanao, North Cotabato, Mt. Apo, 19.X.2006, coll. F. Vitali, 1 F; ditto, 22.X.2006, coll. F. Vitali, 1 M; ditto, 19.X.2006, coll. V. Nagirnyi, 2 M, 1 F; ditto, 20.X.2006, coll. V. Nagirnyi, 1 M; ditto, 22.X.2006, coll. V. Nagirnyi, 1 F; ditto, 27.X.2006, coll. V. Nagirnyi, 1 F; ditto, 29.X.2006, coll. V. Nagirnyi, 2 M, 1 F. Remarks. Nemophas ramosi is well characterised inside the genus for its relatively thin habitus, the pubescent antennae and the stout pronotal spines. With respect to its congeners, it has more elongated elytra in male too, looking a fairly isolated species inside of Nemophas, and similar to the genus Dolichoprosopus Ritsema, 1881. These peculiar characters, beside the split distribution, imply to consider this form as a true species, rather than a subspecies of rosenbergii. If we consider that the evolution of the genus draws to species with reduced pubescence, ramosi might also be considered as the most primitive species of the genus. Nonetheless, phylogenetic studies about this topic are beyond the purpose of the present paper. 472 Lambillionea CIX, 4 Décembre 2009 Key to the genus Nemophas Thomson, 1864 Presently, this genus includes 16 species widespread through Indonesia from the Philippines to New Ireland. BREUNING (1944) erroneously localised the distribution of N. benningseni, quoting it from New Guinea, while the mentioned locality (Hebertshöhe = Kokopo) is actually in New Britain. Moreover, N. bicinctus was described from Sula-Bessi, another spelling for Sula-Besi, Xulla-Besi, Sanae or Sanana (Sula Is., Moluccas); nonetheless, the species is also widespread in Sulawesi (Sulawesi Selatan, Mamasa, coll. F. Vitali), from where the majority of the specimens are currently sold. Hence, it is unclear whether the locality quoted in the original description was really Sanana or actually Sulawesi. Finally, N. rosenbergii and N. grayii, which HELLER (1919) and some of the subsequent authors (AURIVILLIUS, 1921; BREUNING, 1944) misspelled as "N. rosenbergi" and "N. grayi", must be restored at their original spellings (PASCOE, 1859; PASCOE, 1869; RITSEMA, 1881; SCHULTZE, 1920). In addiction, N. zonatus is here recorded from Flores Island for the first time (1 female, coll. F. Vitali). The genus has currently an insular distribution, whereas it is strangely absent from New Guinea and in particular from the North Moluccas, where the close genus Dolichoprosopus seems to be its vicariant. 1. Elytra at least with one transverse band of light pubescence...................................2. -. Elytra covered with small spots of pubescence