Platyope Fischer von Waldheim 1820
Creators: name: Chigray, Svetlana N.
name: Nabozhenko, Maxim V.
name: Chigray, Ivan A.
name: Abakumov, Evgeny V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Tenebrionidae
Platyope

description: Genus Platyope Fischer von Waldheim, 1820
Figs 4E–F, 5–6, 12C–F, 13A–D, 20–21, 23F–G, 24D, 25A, 26H, 28D–E
Platyope Fischer von Waldheim, 1820: fig. 15.
Homopsis Semenov, 1893: 258 (type species Homopsis grumi Semenov, 1893, by monotypy).
Platyope – Solier 1836: 10. — Lacordaire 1859: 178. — Jacquelin du Val 1861: 261. — Reitter 1893: 204, 247. — Semenov 1893: 249, 262. — Semenov-Tjan-Shansky 1907: 177. — Kühnelt 1957: 85. — Skopin 1962: 258–260, 280 (larvae). — Medvedev 1965a: 359; 1990: 122; 1992: 624, 633. — Ren & Yu 1999: 67–68. — Ren & Dong 2001: 296–297, 300. — Abdurakhmanov & Nabozhenko 2011: 39, 81, 83.
Homopsis – Semenov-Tjan-Shansky 1907: 178. — Schuster 1935: 27. — Kühnelt 1957: 85. — Ren & Dong 2001: 297. Syn. nov.
Type species
Tenebrio leucographa Pallas, 1781 (= Tenebrio leucogramma Pallas, 1781), by monotypy.
Species included
Platyope altaiensis Ren & Wang, 1993, P. bairinana Ren & Dong, 2001, P. balteiformis Ren & Wang, 1993, P. granulata Fischer von Waldheim, 1820, Platyope grumi (Semenov, 1893) comb. nov., P. korgasica Wu & Huang, 2005, P. korlaensis Fan & Huang, 2005, P. leucogramma (Pallas, 1781), P. mongolica Faldermann, 1835, P. ordossica Semenov-Tjan-Shansky, 1907, P. pointi Schuster & Reymond, 1937, P. proctoleuca chinensis Kaszab, 1962, P. proctoleuca proctoleuca Fischer von Waldheim, 1820, P. qitaiensis Wu & Huang, 2005, P. trichophora Ren & Dong, 2001, P. unicolor Zubkov, 1829, P. victor Schuster & Reymond, 1937. Species below are listed from the west (Europe) to the east (Mongolia, China) distribution.
Diagnosis
Body black, elongate-oval (Figs 4E–F, 5G–I, 6), weakly flattened dorsally, densely covered with recumbent grey, yellowish, cream or white setae; elytra often with striped or mixed spotted and striped pattern partly or completely. Sometimes (P. ordossica) body dorsally glabrous (Fig. 6B). Body completely or partly granulated, each granule with spine or strong seta. Body length 9–15 mm. Eyes circular, very weakly convex in dorsal view; surface behind eyes partly concealed by anterior margin of pronotum.
Pronotum transverse (1.7–2.3× as wide as long) (Figs 4E–F, 5G–I, 6, 12C, 13A), usually widest before middle, covered by coarse, moderate (Fig. 12C–D) or large (Fig. 13A–B) semispherical tubercles. Anterolateral angles from weakly (P. leucogramma) (Fig. 4E–F) to strongly (P. grumi) (Fig. 5G–H) projecting. Disc of pronotum distinctly and deeply (Figs 4E, 5G, I, 6A) or weakly (Fig. 6B) depressed in middle, or pronotum without wide depression in middle (P. granulata) (Fig. 5I). Prosternum short before procoxae, with deep (P. grumi) or weak and wide triangular depression along anterior margin. Prosternal process not raised between procoxae (Fig. 5A–C), sometimes slightly protruding beyond procoxae (P. grumi) (Fig. 5D–F). Procoxal cavities externally open, postcoxal bridge discontinuous in middle (Fig. 25A).
Scutellar shield not concealed by pronotum, triangular or rounded, elytra цШер triangular or oval impression around scutellar shield. Elytral humeral ribs consist of two or three confused rows of conical large (Figs 4E, 5G, 6A, 13C), small (P. granulata) (Fig. 5I) or combined (Fig. 6B) tubercles. Dorsal surface of elytra with several longitudinal rows of granules, sometimes granules located on slightly elevated ribs (P. granulata, P. grumi) (Fig. 5G, I), which connected by short transverse elevations. Therefore, a spotted pattern of dense setae in depressions between elevations is formed (Figs 12E–F, 13C–D).
Intercoxal process of the first abdominal ventrite 1.2–1.3 × wider than one metacoxa (Figs 4F, 5H).
Protibia wide and flattened, triangular, without projecting process at apex of outer margin, with strong teeth on outer margin (Figs 26H, 28D–E). Maximal length of teeth much shorter than maximal width of protibia. Teeth spinose or not, often spines abraded. Meso- and often metatibiae curved outward, with conical, coarse granules bearing spines and dense or sparse, long setae. Protibial terminal spurs moderately elongated, extending to protarsomere 4, subequal; longest mesotibial terminal spurs extending to or slightly not extending to apex of mesotarsomere 1; longest metatibial terminal spur not extending to apex of metatarsomere 1. Tarsal claws comparatively (compared to other genera) short, weakly curved outward.
Male genitalia (Figs 20A–H, 21A–I)
Inner sternite VIII (Figs 20H, 21I) widely sclerotized on margins, V-shaped emarginated medially, densely pubescent; gland moderately long, sclerotized in apical third.
Spiculum gastrale (Figs 20F–G, 21G–H) arcuately connected at apex, slightly curved in lateral view; derivatives of inner sternite IX large, weakly oval, unevenly sclerotized, with membranous C-shaped area along outer margins; apical margins of these derivatives pubescent with long sparse setae.
Tegmen of aedeagus long and slender (Figs 20A–C, 21A–C), basal piece more or less longer than apical piece. Apical piece bare, weakly curved, fusiform, acutely angulate at apex; ventral apophyses presented, short; dorsal apophyses long, triangular, not merged. Basal piece slightly wider than apical piece. Median lobe with baculi not distinct, bifurcate or narrowly rounded apex and sub-acutely angulate base (Figs 20D–E, 21D–F).
Female genitalia
Spiculum ventrale (Figs 20I, 21J) long, with long common stem. Inner sternite VIII can be with long or short acutely angulate apophyses.
Ovipositor long, moderately sclerotized (Figs 20J–L, 21K–M). Coxite with not merged lobes. Baculi of lobe I transverse, narrow, strongly sclerotized only near middle of ovipositor; pair of lobe I forms cruciform sclerotization area ventrally together with median sclerotization of vulva; lobes I and II membranous; lobe III widely sclerotized; apical lobes fossorial, strongly sclerotized, flattened, subacutely angulate or widely rounded at apex. Coxite laterally and on inner side of apical lobe densely covered with very long setae.Apical margin of proctiger narrowly or densely rounded. Paraproct basally, proctiger and coxite densely pubescent with long setae.
Female genital ducts (Fig. 23F–G) Vagina strongly widened, sacciform, sometimes with poorly expressed bursa copulatrix, sometimes in apical third elastically turned back. Spermatheca short, single-tube (Fig. 23F) or with thick basal tube with tuft of small tubes at apex (P. grumi) (Fig. 23G). Accessory gland of spermatheca elongate, shortly constricted at base and with narrow basal duct, sacciform after this duct.
Notes
The genus Homopsis was described by Semenov (1893) based on the structure of the prosternal process, which is slightly raised and slightly protruding beyond the posterior margin of procoxae, in contrast with Platyope, which has the vertically rounded prosternal process, not raised in ventral aspect and not protruding beyond procoxae. Semenov (1893) placed Homopsis and Mantichorula in one couplet, as genera having protruding and raised prosternal process, in contrast to other genera of ‘Platyopidae’. In our opinion, the prosternal process in the latter genera is strongly different from each other. Mantichorula has a process that is strongly protruding, extending to mesoventrite and horizontally (in lateral view) flattened, while Homopsis has only a slightly protruding, angularly rounded prosternal process. Homopsis is very similar to Platyope and differs only by some species-rank characters, including the prosternal process, the structure of the pronotum, the elytra, the male and female genitalia (especially the ovipositors are similar). On the other hand, a single species of Homopsis has peculiarities in the structure of the female genital ducts: vagina elastically V-curved and spermatheca multi-tubed at the apex. However, the main congeneric character of Platyope and Homopsis is externally open procoxal cavities (postcoxal bridge is discontinuous in the middle). As a result, the following synonymy is proposed: Platyope Fischer von Waldheim, 1820 = Homopsis Semenov, 1893 syn. nov. Consequently, the following combination is proposed: Platyope grumi Semenov, 1893 comb. nov. (from Homopsis).
Distribution
Russia (south of the European part, Southern Siberia), North Kazakhstan, China (from Xinjiang to Inner Mongolia).
description: Published as part of Chigray, Svetlana N., Nabozhenko, Maxim V., Chigray, Ivan A. & Abakumov, Evgeny V., 2022, A revision of the Palaearctic Pimeliini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae): a comparative analysis and systematic position of Eastern European and Asian taxa with dorso-lateral eyes, pp. 1-71 in European Journal of Taxonomy 809 on pages 35-43, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.809.1719, http://zenodo.org/record/6419425