Author Institution: Academic Faculty of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210A new species, Eleodes (Promus) knullorum, from Texas is described and two names for taxa in the subgenus Promus are placed in synonymy, E. seriata LeConte under E. goryi Solier and E. terricola Blaisdell under E. insularis Linell

Triplehorn, Charles A.

The Ohio Journal of Science

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A NEW SPECIES OF ELEODES FROM TEXAS,WITH NOTES ON THE SUBGENUS PROMUS1(COLEOPTERA: TENEBRIONIDAE)CHARLES A. TRIPLEHORNAcademic Faculty of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43810ABSTRACTA new species, Eleodes (Promus) knullorum, from Texas is described and two namesfor taxa in the subgenus Promus are placed in synonymy, E. seriata LeConte under E. goryiSolier and E. terricola Blaisdell under E. insularis Linell.The name Promus was originally proposed (LeConte, 1862, p. 226) for a mono-typic genus with Blaps opaca Say as type species. Horn (1870, p. 302) used thename Promus for one of three subgenera into which he divided the genus Eleodes.In addition to E. opaca (Say), he placed four LeConte species—E. fusiformis,E. seriata, E. subnitens, and E. striolata—in the subgenus Promus. Blaisdell (1909)divided Eleodes into eleven subgenera, retaining Horn's concept of the subgenusPromus virtually intact, adding to it only E. insularis Linell, a species known onlyfrom Baja California, and placing seriata as a synonym of goryi Solier. Themost recent checklist (Tanner, 1961, p. 71) lists only the six species recognized byBlaisdell in Promus with only minor changes in nomenclature.The subgenus Promus may be characterized as follows: body fusiform inoutline; basal and sometimes second segment of protarsus conspicuously pubescentbeneath, interrupting plantar groove in the male but unmodified in the female; inat least two of the species the profemora conspicuously armed with a sharp toothin the male and simply emarginate in the female. The most diagnostic charactersare in the female genitalia, in which the dorsal plate is broadened externally withthe margin strongly arcuate, conspicuously punctate, and sparsely clothed withlong flying hairs and in which the valvular appendages are moderate to large in size.The following new species is clearly a member of the subgenus Promus. Itake great pleasure in naming it for the collectors who provided the first specimensI ever saw and who were among the earliest and most successful insect collectorsin the Big Bend area of Texas, my friends and colleagues, Dorothy J. and JosefN. Knull.Eleodes (Promus) knullorum NEW SPECIESDescription: Holotype, female—elongate, robust, fusiform, flattened dorsally, black,subopaque, glabrous. Head % as long as broad, flat, and with clypeal suture barely traceable,epistomal margin shallowly emarginate; surface moderately finely and densely punctured; eyessmall, narrow, somewhat reniform; antennae moderate in length, extending caudad at least3 segments beyond pronotal base. Pronotum slightly broader than long, broadest about themiddle, lateral margins strongly arcuate, briefly sinuate just before basal angles; anteriormargin broadly and shallowly emarginate, angles rectangular, not prominent, basal marginevenly arcuate, angles obtuse; disc slightly convex, a shallow depression on each side of middle,surface very minutely and densely punctulate, strongly alutaceous. Scutellum rather coarselyand densely punctured. Elytra broad, somewhat flattened, widest across middle, sidesparallel, strongly arcuate basally and apically, with a pionounced caudal lobe; base emarginateand equal in width to pro thoracic base; humeri acute and slightly prominent anteriorly; surface,including inflexed portions, strongly alutaceous, striae not impressed, composed of very fine,closely spaced punctures, intervals flat, finely and sparsely punctured; epipleura narrow,alutaceous, practically impunctate. Legs moderate in size; tibiae roughly sculptured, spiculose,and clothed with spinous hairs; tibial spurs short and slender; tarsi all conspicuously groovedbeneath; profemur strongly emarginate on ventral margin about V& the femoral length fromapex; all femora finely and densely punctured and clothed with short, yellow, recumbent hairs.Ventral surface alutaceous, abdominal sterna finely and densely punctured, thoracic sternaManuscript received May 11, 1970.THE OHIO JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 71(1): 56, January, 1971.No. 1 A NEW TEXAS KLEODES 57finely rugose, especially prostemum. Genital segment quadratoparabolic in outline, ovipositorvalve (fig. 5) more or less reflexed and explanate externally, deflexed at apex and distinctlysetose; appendage moderate, rounded apically, densely setose. Length: 18.7 mm.; width:9.0 mm.FIGURES 1-4. All illustrations are of Eleodes knullonim new species. Photographs by John C.Moser.1. Female2. Right profemur of female3. Male4. Right profemur of male58 CHARLES A. TRIPLEHORN Vol. 70Allotype, male—similar to female, but much more slender and with elytra more attenuatebehind middle; apical angles of pronotum acute and prominent; profemur with a strong toothabout 1/6 the femoral length from apex; basal segment of pro tarsus with a conspicuous tuft ofdense golden hairs interrupting plantar groove. Length: 17.3 mm.; width: G.8 mm.Variation: Punctures of the elytral striae range from extremely fine to quite coarse, andsometimes there is a tendency for diffuse punctation, in which case the striae are poorly defined.The series from Del Rio, Texas, has unusually large strial punctures and the elytral intervalsare somewhat convex. The anterior angles of the pronotum vary from rectangular to acutein both sexes and the pronotal impressions are not always present. Some males have not onlythe basal, but also the second segment of the protarsus conspicuously hairy and interruptingthe plantar groove. There is great disparity in size in the series of specimens available forstudy. Range in size of type series: Males: length: 14.5-23.0 mm.; width: 5.8-8.5 mm.Females: length: 15.8-27.2 mm.; width: 6.9-11.4 mm.Remarks: Eleodes knullorum closely resembles and has many importantcharacters in common with E. insularis Linell. The formation of the tufts of hairinterrupting the plantar surface in the male appears identical, and both have theFIGURE 5. Dorsal view of right valve of ovipositor of female holotype. Drawing by author.profemora armed in the male and simply emarginate in the female. Both speciesare subject to the same variation in elytral punctation, ranging from diffuse todistinctly punctate-striate with intervals slightly convex. The female genitaliaof the two species are very similar and have the smallest valvular appendages inthe subgenus Promus.Eleodes knullorum differs from E. insularis in having a more transverse pro-notum, with the margins somewhat sinuate before the base. The dorsal surfacein knullorum is strongly alutaceous and dull in luster, while in insularis, it isminutely alutaceous and distinctly shiny. Specimens of both sexes of insularis tendto be more uniformly convex dorsally than do those of knullorum, specimens ofwhich are frequently distinctly flattened.A series of 38 specimens of Eleodes insularis was collected at six scatteredlocalities in Baja California (Sur) in October and November, 1968, by E. L. Sleeperand F. J. Moore. In this series, the dorsal punctation varies in much the sameway as it does in knullorum. I am convinced that the taxon named terricola byBlaisdell is not valid, but represents normal intraspecific variation in insularis.The same tendency is even more pronounced in E. goryi Solier, also a member ofthe subgenus Promus, in which the elytra vary from extremely coarsely puncturedto practically smooth. The smooth phase is considered by Tanner (1961, p. 71)as subspecies seriata LeConte. I am considering seriata a synonym of goryi, andNo. 6 A NEW TEXAS ELEODES 59terricola a synonym of insularis. As stated before, knullorum follows this samepattern in having two rather distinct phases which apparently is merely normalvariation and not geographic.Large specimens of Eleodes knullorum could be confused with subnitens, aspecies which inhabits southern California and Arizona. Pronotal shape willseparate these two species; the sides of the pronotum in subnitens are much lessarcuate and the anterior pronotal margin is much more shallowly emarginate.In subnitens, the tufts of hairs interrupting the plantar grooves of the first twoprotarsal segments in the male are in the form of spongy, pubescent pads. Thefemale genitalia are diagnostic, the valvular appendages in subnitens being extremelylarge and rounded.Types: Holotype, female—Chisos Mts., Texas, August 15, 1962, C. A. Triplehorn, (OSU).Allotype, male—same locality, August 5, 1962, W. E. and C. A. Triplehorn (OSU). Bothof these specimens were taken on the trail between the Upper and Lower Basin in pifion-juniperassociation. The following specimens, all from Texas, are designated paratypes: BrewsterCo.: 5c?c?, 11 9 9 , Chisos Mts., August 3-17, 1962, C. A. and W. E. Triplehorn; 3 9 9, ChisosMts., July 17, 1946, D. J. and J. N. Knull; 2c? c?, 2 9 9 , Chisos Mts., June 27, 1959, D. J. andJ. N. Knull; 1 9 , Chisos Mts., June 26, 1961, D. J. and J. N. Knull; 4c?c?, 4 9 9 , Chisos Mts.,between Upper and Lower Basin, July 12, 1968, W. E. and C. A. Triplehorn (OSU); 12c?d\69 9, Big Bend National Park, Santa Elena Canyon, September 3, 1968, J. A. Brubaker andF. J. Moore (OSU, CAS, USNM); 4 9 9 , Big Bend National Park, Pine Canyon, September 3,1968, J. A. Brubaker and F. J. Moore (OSU); lc?, 1 9 , Chisos Mts., Window Trail, June 9, 1968,R. and L. Hamilton (OSU); 5c? d\ 4 9 9, Chisos Basin, Window Trail, May [3, 1969, R. L. Berryand P. J. Moore (RLB); 2c? c?, 3 9 9 , Big Bend National Park, Pine Canyon, May 4, 1969,R. L. Berry and F. J. Moore (RLB); 19 , Chisos Basin, August 18, 1962, H. V. Weems, Jr.(FSCA); 19 , Chisos Basin, Window Trail, August 16, 1962, Pamela Weems (FSCA). JeffDavis Co.: 16c? c?, 9 9 9, Davis Mts. State Park, near Indian Lodge, July 13, 1968, W. E. andC. A. Triplehorn (OSU, CAS, USNM); lc?, 2 9 9 , Fort Davis, Limpia Canyon, August 3, 1968,July 31 and August 1, 1969, W. Suter (RCG); lc?. 2 9 9 , Ft. Davis, July 29, 1965, B. K. Dozier(FSCA); lc?, 1 9 , Davis Mts. State Park, July 25, 1962, J. M. Campbell (JMC); Val Verde Co.:5c? c?, 12 9 9 , Del Rio, September 1, 1968, J. A. Brubaker and F. J. Moore (OSU, CAS, USNM);lc?, Pecos River Bridge on U. S. 90, October 8, 1958, H. V. Weems, Jr. (FSCA). Terrell Co.:2c? c?, 3 9 9 , Blackstone Ranch, 16 mi. s. Sheffield on Rt. 349, June 29-July 2, 1959, G. E. Ballfamily (UALB). This species also occurs in Arizona and probably in New Mexico as well. Ican report it from the following localities in Arizona: lc?, Cochise Co., Guadalupe Cyn., 4200ft., Sept. 20, 1968, Vincent D. Roth (SWRS); 6d"o*, C. Geronimo, June 5, 8, 15, 23 and August 3,1941, P. C. Grassman (UAR). The first of these is no doubt an authentic record, but I wasunable to locate the latter locality. For several reasons I have not designated any of theArizona specimens as paratypes.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSAbbreviations for institutions and collections where paratypes are deposited are as follows:California Academy of Sciences (CAS); Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA);J. M. Campbell personal collection (JMC); The Ohio State University Collection of Insectsand Spiders (OSU); Robert C. Graves personal collection (RCG); Richard L. Berry personalcollection (RLB); Southwestern Research Station, American Museum of Natural History,Portal, Arizona (SWRS); University of Alberta, Canada (UALB); University of Arizona,Tucson (UAR); United States National Museum (USNM). Grateful acknowledgment ismade to the individuals in charge of these collections for making the specimens available forstudy, to the American Philosophical Society for grants of financial aid in conducting fieldwork (Grant No. 3091—Penrose Fund, 1962; Grant No. 4597—Penrose Fund, 1967), to Dr.John C. Moser for taking the photographs and to Dr. Donald J. Borror for valuable suggestionsin the preparation of the manuscript.LITERATURE CITEDBlaisdell, Frank E. 1909. A monographic revision of the Coleoptera belonging to the tene-brionide tribe Eleodiini inhabiting the United States, Lower California, and adjacent islands.U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 63: 1-524, 13 pis.Horn, George H. 1870. Revision of the Tenebrionidae of America, north of Mexico. Trans.American Philos. Soc. (ser. 2) 14: 253-404, pis. 14, 15.LeConte, John L. 1862. Classification of the Coleoptera of North America, 1 (cont.). Smith-sonian Misc. Coll. 3 (136): 210-286.Tanner, Vasco M. 1961. A check-list of the species of Eleodes and descriptions of new species(Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Great Basin Nat. 21 (3): 55-78.

A New Species of Eleodes from Texas, with Notes on the Subgenus Promus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

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A New Species of Eleodes from Texas, with Notes on the Subgenus Promus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

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