Cyphochilus septentrionalis Waterhouse 1867
Creators: name: Sabatinelli, Guido
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Melolonthidae
Cyphochilus
Cyphochilus septentrionalis

description: Cyphochilus septentrionalis Waterhouse, 1867
restored name
Figs 1-3, 9, 19, 22, 26-28, 86
Cyphochilus septentrionalis Waterhouse, 1867: 141.
Cyphochilus pygidialis Nonfried, 1893: 332. new synonym
Cyphochilus pygidialis v. angeri Nonfried, 1893: 333.
C. septentrionalis type material examined: Lectotype by present designation: BMNH; 1 ♂; HIMALAYA: // C. septentrionale / Waterh. Type (H) // Type (P round label with red border// n / Ind (H black on blue, round label) // (Figs 3, 86). – Paralectotype, by present designation; BMNH; 1 ♂; // Cyphochilus / septentrionalis / co-type Wat. (H) //.
C. pygidialis type material examined: Lectotype by present designation: ZMHB; 1 ♂; // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya [sic] (P black on white, black line border) // pygidialis / type ♂ Brsk (H on red) // (Fig. 1). – Paralectotypes by present designation, with identical label than lectotype as follows: ZMHB; 1 ♂; // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya [sic] (P black on white, black line border) // pygidialis / type ♂ Brsk (H on red) // (Fig. 1). – ZMHB; 1 ♂; // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya (P) // Cyphochilus / pygidialis / type Nonfried (H, black on white) //. – Paralectotype by present designation: ISNB; 1 ♂ // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya [sic] (P, black line border) // Cyphochilus / pygidialis / Nonfried ex typ. (H) //. – Paralectotypes, by present designation: ISNB; 8 ♂, 6 ♀; pinned on row being the first specimen the sole with an identification label // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya (P, black line border) // Type (P red on white, black line border) //. – Paralectotype by present designation: ISNB; 1 ♀; // Darjeeling / coll. Nonfried (H) // COTYPE (P on red, black border) //. – Paralectotype by present designation: NMPC; 1 ♂; // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya (P black line border) / TYPUS (P on red, black line border // C. / pygidialis / Nonfried (H red line border) //. – Paralectotype by present designation: NMPC; 1 ♀; // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya (P black line border) // TYPUS (P black on red, black line border //. – Paralectotype by present designation: NMPC; 5 ♀; // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya (P black line border) / TYPUS (P on red, black line border) // pygidialis / Nonfried typ Hymal (H on yellow, black line border) //.
C. pygidialis angeri type material examined: Lectotype by present designation: ZMHB; ♂; // Coll. Nonfried / Hymalaya (P black line border) // Cyphoch pyg. / v. angeri Nfr (H on green, black line border //. (Fig. 9).
Additional material examined: 54 specimens.
UTTAR PRADESH: MTD; 1 ♂; Saharanpur.
NEPAL: MTD; 3 ♂, 2 ♀.
SIKKIM: MTD; 1 ♂; Sikkim.
ASSAM: ZMHB; 1 ♂; Assam; sub Cyphochilus assamensis Brenske, Type [unpublished name]. – MNW; 1 ♂; same data as previous. – MTD; 3 ♂; same data as previous.
BANGLADESH: MHNG; 1 ♂; Silhet, ex Museo Sharp.
MEGHALAYA: BMNH; 1 ♂, ISNB; 2 ♂, NMPC 1 ♀; Shillong. – ISNB; 1 ♂; MTD 1 ♀; Khasi Hills.
NAGALAND: ISNB; 1 ♂, 3 ♀; MTD; 1 ♂; Naga Hills; Kohima, leg. V. M. Duchon, ex coll. P. de Moffarts.
WEST BENGAL: MHNG; 1 ♂, 1 ♀; ISNB; 1 ♂; Kalimpong, Pedong.
INDIA (generic): NHRS; 1 ♂; India.
HIMALAYA: ISNB; 4 ♂. – ZMHB; 2 ♀, 4 ♂. – MNW; 2 ♂, 1 ♀. – NMPC; 3 ♂, 4 ♀. – MHNG; 1 ♂. – MTD; 3 ♂, 3 ♀; (all specimens ex coll. Nonfried).
Description of the lectotype male (BMNH): Size – BL: 19.2 mm, BW: 8 mm, BWX: 10.4 mm, situated at midpoint of elytra. Color – Integument dark brown including antennal clubs and legs; dorsal surface with scales uniformly white cream more dense and whitish along sides of pronotum and margins of elytra. Head – CW/L: 2.9; anterolateral edges of clypeus slightly angulate, lateral edges of clypeus straight posteriad; frons large, making eyes not prominent (F/O: 6.8); clypeofrontal suture faint; antennal club slightly shorter than antennomeres 2-7 (A2-7/CL: 1.1) (Fig. 22). Pronotum – Transverse (PnW/L: 2.1), strongly convex, slightly concave just behind eyes; apical angles flattened, acute, slightly protuberant; basal lateral margins straight, basal angles obtuse and smooth. Elytra – Without any elevated visible stria (Fig. 19). Thoracic sterna – Surface with short, yellowish-brown pubescence and scales; mesosternum well developed anteriorly between the mesocoxae (MstL: 1.3 mm), pointed and curved dorsally. Abdomen – Sternites with sparse scales except median part of the eight sternite; pygidium convex with apical margin largely reflected. Legs – Protibia tridentate, smallest tooth at base; slender apical tooth bigger than the middle tooth. Aedeagus – Parameres slightly asymmetric both curved dorsally; left paramere in its ventral portion with a spur directed frontally, another smaller spur is present in the ventral distal part of the right paramere, apical part of the right paramere with a deep hollow (Figs 26-28).
Variability: BL: 18-20 mm (x = 19.4, n = 48); vestiture of scales may be of any intermediate color between white and cream.
Females: Antennal club length much shorter than on the males (A2-7/CL: 1.4).
Type locality: The type locality for C. septentrionalis is generically “ India ” and for its synonym pygidialis is vaguely “Himalaya”. The type specimens were collected in the late 1800’s probably in the northeastern territories of India while it was under the rule of the British Crown.
Distribution: The confirmed records for this species indicate a presence from Uttar Pradesh to Nagaland including Nepal (however, no more precise records are available for this country and need to be confirmed), West Bengal Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, and Bangladesh.
Remarks: Cyphochilus septentrionalis, was considered until now (Dalla Torre, 1912; Bezdek, 2016) as a smaller form and synonym of C. candidus. The study of the types reveals that C. septentrionalis is in reality well distinct from C. candidus, and that C. pygidialis and C. pygidialis v. angeri are junior synonyms. The particular form of the parameres with two ventral spikes (Fig. 26) is sufficient to easily distinguish this species from the closest species C. candidus, C. gandhii, and C. tenzingyatsoi. In some old collections, there are few specimens of C. septentrionalis identified as C. assamensis Brenske, a name that has, however, never been published and is thus unavailable.
description: Published as part of Sabatinelli, Guido, 2020, Taxonomic notes on the genus Cyphochilus Waterhouse, 1867 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea, Melolonthinae) with description of 10 new species, pp. 157-181 in Revue suisse de Zoologie 127 (1) on pages 162-164, DOI: 10.35929/RSZ.0014, http://zenodo.org/record/5743429