Five new species of Lamiogethes Audisio & Cline from China (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Meligethinae)

Five new species of the genus Lamiogethes Audisio & Cline are described from western, central and southern China: L. falcatus sp. n. (Sichuan), L. hastipenis sp. n. (Hubei), L. sagittalis sp. n. (Shaanxi), L. unditibiis sp. n. (Chongqing), and L. limaelytralis sp. n. (Sichuan). The first four new species appear to be morphologically related to Lamiogethes ancestor (Kirejtshuk, 1980) (comb. n.) from Central China, and allied taxa. Lamiogethes limaelytralis sp. n. appears to be more isolated, probably with relationships to the recently described L. forcipenis Liu, Huang, Cline & Audisio, 2017 and L. convexistrigosus Liu, Huang, Cline & Audisio, 2017 from Sichuan. All new species differ from other closely related taxa by details of the body shape and color, as well as the shape of the male and/or female genitalia

New fossil species of ommatids (Coleoptera: Archostemata) from the Middle Mesozoic of China illuminating the phylogeny of Ommatidae

BACKGROUND: Ommatidae is arguably the “most ancestral” extant beetle family. Recent species of this group are only found in South America and Australia, but the fossil record reveals a much broader geographical distribution in the Mesozoic. Up to now, thirteen fossil genera with more than 100 species of ommatids have been described. However, the systematic relationships of the extant and extinct Ommatidae have remained obscure. Three constraint topologies were designed based on Kirejtshuk’s hypothesis, enforced the monophyly of Tetraphalerus + Odontomma, Pareuryomma + Notocupes and both respectively. RESULTS: In this study, four new species, Pareuryomma ancistrodonta sp. nov., Pareuryomma cardiobasis sp. nov., Omma delicata sp. nov., and Tetraphalerus decorosus sp. nov., are described. Based on well-preserved fossil specimens and previously published data the phylogenetic relationships of extant and extinct lineages of Ommatidae were analyzed for the first time cladistically. Based on the results we propose a new classification with six tribes of Ommatidae: Pronotocupedini, Notocupedini, Lithocupedini, Brochocoleini, Ommatini and Tetraphalerini. These taxa replace the traditional four subfamilies. CONCLUSION: There is good support for the monophyly of the ingroup. Notocupedini, as defined by Ponomarenko, are paraphyletic. Notocupoides + Eurydictyon are the sister group of the remaining fossil and extant ommatids. Together they form the clade Pronotocupedini. Notocupedini and Lithocupedini are the next two branches. The tribe Brochocoleini is the sister group of a clade comprising Tetraphalerini and Ommatini

Application of high-resolution remote sensing technology for the iron ore deposits of the West Kunlun Mountains in China

This study focuses on the iron ore of Taxkorgan and Heiqia in the West Kunlun mountains as a case study, for the application of WorldView−2 and IKONOS remote sensing images as major data sources in the fabrication of a standard image map and in the adoption of image enhancement methods to extract information on the ore-controlling factors and mineralization, to interpret remote sensing for the mineral resources in these areas. ASTER, WorldView−2, and IKONOS data were applied for the extraction of alteration anomaly information. With an appropriate amount of field sampling and verification tests, this was used to establish a remote sensing geology prospecting model, that would provide the basis for future remote sensing of metallogenic belts in  West Kunlun in the hope of discovering similar minerals. Survey results showed four additional iron ore mineralization belts could be delineated in the Taxkorgan area. A comparative analysis conducted for part of the field confirmation and the known mineral deposits indicated good reliability. In Heiqia, a siderite-haematite mineralization zone was observed with copperlead- zinc formation, 60-km in length and 200–500 m wide, which includes several mineralized bodies. The ore bodies, appear as stratoid, lenticular, or podiform morphologies and were located in the transition site from clastic to carbonate rocks of the D segment in the Wenquangou Group. The ore bodies generally occur within 40°–50° strike and 68°–81° dip, in accordance to the strata. The length of the single body varies from several hundred metres to more than 9500 m. Its exposed thickness on the surface ranges from 2–50 m, and the general thickness was approximately 15 m. The surface ore minerals were mainly haematite and limonite, with a small amount of siderite. Therefore, high-resolution remote sensing technology is suitable for iron ore geological and mineral remote sensing surveying. It is advantageous in both high-ground resolution of optical characteristics and a certain spectral recognition capability, and is effective not only for information extraction from a large area, but also for recognition of local mineralization outcrops. Therefore, high-resolution remote sensing technology is valuable for popularization.

Application of an airborne hyper-spectral survey system CASI/SASI in the gold-silver-lead-zinc ore district of Huaniushan, Gansu, China

The airborne hyper-spectral survey system CASI/SASI, which has an integrated system for gathering both image an spectral data, is at the cutting edge developments in the remote-sensing field. It can be used to directly identify surface objects based on diagnostic spectral characteristics. In this paper, the CASI/SASI were used in the Huaniushan gold-silver-lead-zinc ore district–Gansu to produce a lithologic map, identify altered minerals, and map the mineralized-alteration zones. Radiometric correction, radiometric calibration, atmospheric correction (spectral reconstruction), and geometric corrections were carried out in ENVI to pre-process the measured data. A FieldSpec ® Pro FR portable spectrometer was used to obtain the spectral signatures of all types of rock samples, ore deposits, and mineralized-alteration zones. We extracted and analyzed the spectral characteristics of typical alteration minerals. On the basis of hyper-spectral data, ground-spectral data processing, and comparative analysis of the measured image spectrum, we used the spectral-angle-mapping (SAM) and mixture-tuned matchedfiltering (MTMF) methods to perform hyperspectral-alteration mineral  mapping of wall rock and mineralized-alteration-zone hyperspectral identification. Hyperspectral- remote- sensing geological- classification maps were produced as well as distribution maps of all kinds of alteration minerals and mineralized-alteration zones. Based on geological comprehensive analysis and field investigations, the range of mineral alteration was proven to be the same as shown by the remote-sensing imagery. Indications are that airborne hyperspectral- remote-sensing -image CASI/SASI offer good application results and show a promising potential as a tool in geological investigations. The results will provide the basis for hyperspectral remote-sensing prospecting in the same or similar unexplored areas.

Geometric morphometric analysis of the pronotum and elytron in stag beetles: insight into its diversity and evolution

Stag beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea, Lucanidae) have received extensive attention from researchers in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology. There have been no previous quantitative analyses, particularly using a geometric morphometric approach based on a large sample of data, to shed light on the morphological diversity and evolution of Lucanidae. Thoracic adaptation and ecological differentiation are intimately related, and the pronotum bears important muscles and supports the locomotion of prothoracic legs. The elytron is an autapomorphy of the Coleoptera. To reconstruct and visualize the patterns of evolutionary diversification and phylogenetic history of shape change, an ancestral groundplan can be reconstructed by mapping geometric morphometric data onto a phylogenetic tree. In this study, the morphologies of the pronotum and elytron in 1303 stag beetles (Lucanidae), including approximately 99.2% of all globally described species, were examined, thus revealing several aspects of morphological diversity and evolution. First, on the basis of geometric morphometric analysis, we found significant morphological differences in the pronotum or elytron between any two Lucanidae subfamilies. And we subsequently reconstructed the ancestral groundplans of the two structures in stag beetles and compared them with those of extant species (through cladistic and geometric morphometric methods). The ancestral groundplan of Lucanidae was found to be most similar to extant Nicagini in both the pronotum and elytron, according to Mahalanobis distances. Furthermore, we analyzed species richness and morphological diversity of stag beetles and the relationships between them and found that the two parameters were not always correlated. Aesalinae was found to be the most diverse subfamily in both the pronotum and elytron, despite its poor species richness, and the diversity of the pronotum or elytron was not superior in Lucaninae, despite its high species richness. Our study provides insights into the morphological variations and evolutionary history of the pronotum and elytron in four subfamilies of stag beetles, and it illuminates the relationship between morphological diversity and species richness. Intriguingly, our analysis indicates that morphological diversity and species richness are not always correlated. These findings may stimulate further studies in this field

Notes on Lycocerus kiontochananus (Pic, 1921) and description of two new species of Lycocerus Gorham from China (Coleoptera, Cantharidae)

Yang, Yuxia, Yang, Xingke (2014): Notes on Lycocerus kiontochananus (Pic, 1921) and description of two new species of Lycocerus Gorham from China (Coleoptera, Cantharidae). Zootaxa 3774 (6): 523-534, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3774.6.

Lycocerus atropygidialis Pic 1937, stat. nov.

Lycocerus atropygidialis (Pic, 1937) stat. nov. Figs 4, 13, 31 Cantharis perroudi var. atropygidialis Pic, 1937: 143. Synonymized with Athemus kiontochananus (Pic, 1921) by Wittmer, 1982: 341. Lycocerus kiontochananus: Kazantsev & Brancucci, 2007: 251. Type material examined. Cantharis perroudi var. Atropygidialis: Holotype ♀ (MNHN): [p]“T’ienmushan \ Musée Heude”, [h-p]“22.6.36 \ O. PIEL coll.”, [h]“ v. atropygidialis \ Pic”, [h]“ Athemus \ kiontochananus \ (Pic) \ det. W. Wittmer ”, [p]“P. \ 498 ”, [p]“HOLOTYPUS”. The right antennomeres III–XI and right meso-leg of the holotype are missing. Other material examined. CHINA: Zhejiang: 1 ♀ (IZAS): “T’ienmushan, 2.VI. 37, O. PIEL coll.”. Redescription. Female (Fig. 4). Body black, except mandibles dark brown, pronotum reddish brown, slightly darkened at anterior and posterior margins. Body densely covered with black pubescence, head, antennomeres I −III, pronotum, all coxae, trochanters and basal parts of femora, meso- and meta-ventrites and ventral part of abdomen with pale yellow pubescence, of which slightly longer on clypeus, pronotum and pro-legs than other parts. Head sub-rounded, surface finely and densely punctuate, width across eyes slightly wider than anterior margin of pronotum, eyes slightly protruding; terminal maxillary palpomere nearly triangular, widest in middle, apical half of inner margin arcuate; antennae (Fig. 13) extending to basal one-third length of elytra when reclined, antennomere II slightly longer than wide at apex, III −XI flattened, III −X slightly widened apically, long-triangular, VI longest, XI slightly longer than X and acute at apex. Pronotum subquadrate, distinctly wider than long, widest near base, anterior margin arcuate, lateral margins diverging posteridly, posterior margin nearly straight, anterior angles rounded, posterior angles nearly rectangular, disc slightly convex on posterolateral parts, surface finely and slightly sparsely punctuate than that on head. Elytra about 4 times longer than pronotum, 3.5 times longer than width across humeri, humeral width distinctly wider than posterior margin of pronotum, outer margins nearly parallel, disc mat, coarsely and densely punctuate, present with two slightly distinct longitudinal costae near inner margins. Legs slender, all tarsal claws simple. Abdominal sternite VIII (Fig. 31) with a middle and two lateral large emarginations at posterior margin, the middle emargination slightly shallower than lateral ones, the portion of posterior margin between middle and lateral emarginations obtuse at apex respectively. Body length: 10.0 mm; width: 2.5 mm. Male unknown. Distribution. China (Zhejiang). Remarks. This species was synonymized with L. kiontochananus (Pic, 1921) by Wittmer (1982). In the present study, it is reinstated as a valid species, since that its abdominal sternite VIII and antennae of the holotype are found to be different from that of the latter species. Furthermore, it is different from L. perroudi (Pic, 1937) stat. rev. in the characters of antennae, pronotum and abdominal sternite VIII, which are sufficient to place it at the specific level. Therefore, we suggest Cantharis perroudi var. atropygidialis Pic, 1937 be resurrected from synonymy with L. kontochananus and upgraded to the specific status.Published as part of Yang, Yuxia & Yang, Xingke, 2014, Notes on Lycocerus kiontochananus (Pic, 1921) and description of two new species of Lycocerus Gorham from China (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), pp. 523-534 in Zootaxa 3774 (6) on pages 527-528, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3774.6.2, http://zenodo.org/record/22866

Lycocerus kiontochananus

A key to Lycocerus kiontochananus and similar species 1. Aedeagus: parameres conjoint on dorsal side................................. L. nigrigenus Y. Yang & X. Yang, 2013 - Aedeagus: parameres separated on dorsal side............................................................... 2 2. Legs with pro- and meso-outer claws each with a tooth at base in both sexes....................................... 3 - Legs with pro- and meso-outer claws simple in both sexes..................................................... 4 3. Head behind eyes metallic dark blue and weakly shiny; antennae slightly flatted, without grooves in male; pronotum with lat-eral margins nearly parallel............................................................. L. metalliceps sp. nov. - Head entirely black, not metallic; antennae filiform, antennomeres V–XI each with a short, narrow and smooth longitudinal groove at apical part of outer margin in male; pronotum with lateral margins distinctly diverging posteriorly.................................................................................................. L. hainanus sp. nov. 4. Abdomen yellow at the last segment in female............................................................... 5 - Abdomen entirely black or yellow in female................................................................ 6 5. Pronotum distinctly longer than wide in male; aedeagus: basal piece of each paramere with outer margin not extending to the bottom of the emargination between dorsal plate and ventral process in lateral view; abdominal sternite VIII of female with middle emargination distinctly shallower than lateral ones of posterior margin.............. L. kiontochananus (Pic, 1921) - Pronotum nearly as long as wide in male; aedeagus: basal piece of each paramere with outer margin extending to the bottom of the emargination between dorsal plate and ventral process in lateral view; abdominal sternite VIII of female with middle emar-gination slightly shallower than lateral ones L. perroudi (Pic, 1937) stat. rev. 6. Pronotum distinctly darkened at anterior margin and or a black marking in center of disc............................. 7 - Pronotum entirely yellow or red.......................................................................... 8 7. Pronotum with a black marking in center of disc, legs with femora mostly brown................. L. hansi (Švihla, 2004) - Pronotum without any black marking on disc, legs with femora entirely black......... L. atropygidialis (Pic, 1937) stat. nov. 8. Aedeagus: median lobe with a pair of longitudinal sclerites on dorso-basal side...... L. naokii (Okushima & Imasaka, 2000) - Aedeagus: median lobe without longitudinal sclerites......................................................... 9 9. Aedeagus: dorsal plate of each paramere with inner angle distinctly bent ventrally, outer margin sinuate.................................................................................................... L. jendeki Švihla, 2005 - Aedeagus: dorsal plate of each paramere with inner angle not bent ventrally, outer margin nearly straight.............................................................................................. L. pubescens (Wittmer, 1983)Published as part of Yang, Yuxia & Yang, Xingke, 2014, Notes on Lycocerus kiontochananus (Pic, 1921) and description of two new species of Lycocerus Gorham from China (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), pp. 523-534 in Zootaxa 3774 (6) on page 524, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3774.6.2, http://zenodo.org/record/22866