Aphanocephalus blackburni Szawaryn, 2025, nom. nov.
Creators: name: Szawaryn, Karol
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Discolomatidae
Aphanocephalus
Aphanocephalus blackburni

description: Aphanocephalus blackburni nom. nov.
(Figs 7C, D, 10D–F)
Aphanocephalus quadrimaculatus Lea, 1921a: 369. Junior homonym of Aphanocephalus quadrimaculatus Matthews, 1887: 114.
Material examined. Type material.
Lectotype and paralectotype (here designated). QUEENSLAND: " quadrimaculatus Lea, TYPE Hamilton Q / 19906 Aphanocephalus quarimaculatus Lea Queensland [black ink, handwritten] TYPE [red ink, handwritten]/ SAMA Database No. 25-036253 " (SAMA) (Fig. 6B). There are two specimens mounted on the same card, the left one with “TY” handwritten beneath it, is here designated as the lectotype, the right one is a paralectotype.
Other material. QUEENSLAND: SEQ: 27°31Sx153°07’E Belmont Hill, top 100m 12 Dec 97- 7 May 1998 G.B. Monteith 5815 Semi-rainfor. Intercept (1, QMB); 28.14S 152.46E QLD 11.5km SE Gympie 13 May 1997 J.F. Lawrence under bark (2, ANIC).
Type locality. Queensland, Hamilton (now district of Brisbane).
Distribution. Queensland (Fig. 16).
Etymology. The specific name “blackburni ” is a patronym in honor of Thomas Blackburn, an Australian entomologist.
Diagnosis. Very distinctive species with elongate oval body outline, entirely black elytra with two red-orange round maculae on each elytron. It co-occurs with, and is most similar to A. leai, but A. blackburni is larger and it is clothed with short, appressed pubescence on pronotum and elytra (Figs 6B, 7C, D), while A. leai is more rounded, smaller and with much denser, longer and more erected pubescence (Fig. 8B). Moreover, anterior elytral macula in A. blackburni is sub-oval, while in A. leai it is angulate. Male genitalia of A. blackburni are very unique (Figs 10D–E).
Redescription. Length: 1.97–2.08 mm, width: 1.33–1.38 mm. Body elongate oval about 1.43–1.50 times as long as wide, moderately convex in lateral view (Fig. 7C, D). Pronotum and elytra covered with yellowish, moderately long, sparse setae. Head, pronotum and elytra dark brown to black; elytra with two sub-oval reddish maculae on each elytron (Figs 6B, 7C); ventral side brown, mouthparts, antennomeres and coxae yellowish brown.
Pronotum covered with punctae of two sizes, disc and anterior part with small punctae, base with larger punctae. Lateral margins of pronotum bordered, anterior margin without bordering line. Elytra covered with punctae of two sizes, uniformly intermixed. Pronotum and elytra narrowly explanate laterally, margins well visible throughout. Lateral sides of elytra sub-parallel, without pseudopores. Epipleuron with shallow sub-marginal furrow.
Mentum without lateral carinae. Labial palps contiguous. Prosternum with notosternal carinae short but visible; prosternal process with lateral carinae absent. Metaventrite longer than ventrite 1. Ventrite 1 almost as long as ventrites 2–4 combined. All ventrites covered with small punctae, only lateral sides of ventrite 1–3 covered with larger punctae.
Male genitalia. Tegmen in inner view with sides sub-parallel, distal part tapering towards apex, deeply notched apically (Fig. 10F); in lateral view broad, with large, rounded lob on inner margin, apex rounded with a few short setae (Fig. 10E). Penis short, about as long as the length of gonopore, slightly curved, with pointed apex; gonopore very large, elongate, widening at basal half, distal half with sides sub-parallel and truncate apex (Fig. 10D).
Female genitalia not examined.
Remarks. Lea (1921a) described A. quadrimaculatus unaware that Matthews (1887: 114) had already used that name for his species described from Penang (Malaysia), making Lea’s name a junior homonym. Aphanocephalus blackburni is here proposed as a replacement name. In the SAMA collection, two specimens are mounted on the same card with the label “TYPE”. The left specimen, with the “TY” handwritten beneath it, is here designated as the lectotype to fix the taxonomic status of this species.
description: Published as part of Szawaryn, Karol, 2025, Revision of the Australian species of Aphanocephalus Wollaston (Coleoptera: Discolomatidae), pp. 401-440 in Zootaxa 5632 (3) on pages 415-416, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5632.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15372416