Epepeotes desertus subsp. obscurus

Abstract

<p>Epepeotes desertus obscurus (Aurivillius, 1926)</p> <p>Fig. 1g, h</p> <p>Diochares desertus var. obscurus Aurivillius, 1926: 102. Type locality: Buru [Indonesia].</p> <p>Epepeotes desertus s.- sp. obscurus: Breuning 1943: 229.</p> <p>Epepeotes desertus ssp. obscurus: Breuning 1961: 326.</p> <p>Epepeotes desertus obscurus: Barševskis 2020: 180.</p> <p>Non-type material.</p> <p> 14 specimens. <b>Indonesia (14)</b>: Ceram (2 females); Mausela (5 males, 7 females).</p> <p>Comments.</p> <p> Breuning (1943) stated that the subspecies <i>E. desertus rhobetor</i> is distinguished from the subspecies <i>E. d. desertus</i> 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 <i>E. d. obscurus</i> is separated from the nominate subspecies by the elytron with less concave apex and reduced body markings. However, the holotype of <i>E. d. rhobetor</i> (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 <i>Cerambix fimbriatus</i> Olivier, 1795 (Fig. 1c, now a synonym of the nominate subspecies), which differs from <i>E. d. rhobetor</i> and <i>E. d. obscurus</i> 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.</p>Published as part of <i>Xie, Guanglin, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. & Wang, Wenkai, 2023, The collection of the genus Epepeotes Pascoe, 1866 housed in the Natural History Museum, London (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae), pp. 19-39 in ZooKeys 1184</i> on page 19, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1184.11172