Revision of the Palaearctic species of the genus Plateumaris C. G. Thomson, 1859 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Donaciinae)
Author
Geiser, Elisabeth
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4536-8938
Natural History Museum, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
elisabeth.geiser@gmx.at
text
ZooKeys
2023
2023-08-30
1177
167
233
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1177.103214
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1177.103214
1313-2970-1177-167
DF38DD37843C467B9DD598CC7A6290E7
48F5CB6D99365D5AAC536E770168124C
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
Schueppel
, 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
Schueppel
(1818, in
Kunze 1818
) but this is inaccurate since
Kunze (1818)
wrote after the description: "
D. rustica
Schueppel
in litt." Therefore, the suggestion is there that the name is derived from J.
Schueppel
(Berlin), but Kunze actually described this species and published it. The unambiguous authority of
P. rustica
is Kunze; therefore,
D. rustica
(
Schueppel
, 1818) is a nomen nudum. Note that there is no publication of
"Schueppel
(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
).
Figure 10.
Plateumaris rustica
A
habitus
B
median lobe (photographs by K. Matsumoto). Scale bar: one unit - 1 mm.
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
x
smaller than other antennomeres which are approximately equal in length, only the 3rd antennomere is sometimes slightly smaller than the others: (2-3)
x
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
x
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
Bienkowski
and
Orlova-Bienkowskaja
(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
Bienkowski
2016.
Serbia:
Gavrilovic
and
Curcic
(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
Dagi
[mountain], Abant
Goelue
[lake]; 1298 m a.s.l.; 31 May 1999; J.
Vorisek
and J. Kodada leg.;
P. rustica
E. Geiser 2021 det.; BMNH [ex coll. J.
Vorisek
]. Bolu province and
Kahramanmaras
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
Kahramanmaras
province. In 2021 I found 25 specimens in the coll.
Vorisek
which is now stored in BMNH. These specimens were labelled as "
P. sulcifrons
Weise J.
Vorisek
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
.