The collection of the genus Epepeotes Pascoe, 1866 housed in the Natural History Museum, London (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)
Author
Xie, Guanglin
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3273-8985
Institute of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, 434025, China & Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, SW 7 5 BD, UK
Author
Barclay, Maxwell V. L.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4989-2014
Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, SW 7 5 BD, UK
m.barclay@nhm.ac.uk
Author
Wang, Wenkai
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4482-076X
Institute of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, 434025, China
wwk@yangtzeu.edu.cn
text
ZooKeys
2023
2023-11-10
1184
19
39
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1184.111728
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1184.111728
1313-2970-1184-19
78124FF820424F51BAA4BF692AF9551C
C13CF1FC393C5000814F7602BB942DD8
Epepeotes desertus obscurus (Aurivillius, 1926)
Fig. 1g, h
Diochares desertus var. obscurus
Aurivillius, 1926: 102. Type locality: Buru [Indonesia].
Epepeotes desertus s.- sp. obscurus
:
Breuning 1943
: 229.
Epepeotes desertus ssp. obscurus
:
Breuning 1961
: 326.
Epepeotes desertus obscurus
:
Barsevskis
2020
: 180.
Non-type material.
14 specimens.
Indonesia (14)
: Ceram (2 females); Mausela (5 males, 7 females).
Comments.
Breuning (1943)
stated that the subspecies
E. desertus rhobetor
is distinguished from the subspecies
E. d. desertus
by the body usually smaller, the antennae more slender, the body markings yellow, and the elytral spots small and separate, with only a few individuals uniting into narrow transverse bands before and after the middle; the subspecies
E. d. obscurus
is separated from the nominate subspecies by the elytron with less concave apex and reduced body markings. However, the holotype of
E. d. rhobetor
(Fig.
1d
) has the complete premedian transverse band and the postmedian band consisting of several large spots that are not fully fused, which is different from the description and illustration by
Breuning (1943)
.
Olivier (1808)
illustrated the dorsal view of the species
Cerambix fimbriatus
Olivier, 1795 (Fig.
1c
, now a synonym of the nominate subspecies), which differs from
E. d. rhobetor
and
E. d. obscurus
mainly in the large and complete premedian and postmedian transverse bands on the elytra. However, the body markings and size are variable in this species, which make it difficult to accurately distinguish the three subspecies. The taxonomic status of the three subspecies is expected to be resolved by further study of more type and non-type material, perhaps with the possible removal of the subspecies-level status.