Neolucanus fuscus Didier 1926
Creators: name: Xin, Fei-Yi
name: Zhong, Xiao-Tian
name: Guo, Wen-Chi
name: Zhang, Yi-Feng
name: Qi, Zhi-Hao
name: Wu, Song-Qing
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Lucanidae
Neolucanus
Neolucanus fuscus

description: Neolucanus fuscus Didier, 1926
Suggested Chinese common name: Ḃ圆OiNJƤ
Figs. 1C–E; 2C–D; 3I–L; 4E–H; 5I–L; 6C, G, K; 7C; 8A–J
Neolucanus fuscus Didier, 1926: 210.
Neolucanus armatus: Lacroix 1972: 111, fig. 1–3, type locality: Vietnam, Phố Hà Nội Province, Tam Dao; Nguyen 2013: 382 (synonymized with N. fuscus).
Neolucanus sianoukei: Lacroix 1978: 270, fig. 1, type locality: Vietnam, Lâm Đồng Province, Ðà Lạt; Nguyen 2013: 382 (synonymized with N. fuscus).
Neolucanus zhongguo: Schenk 2012: 3, fig. 1, type locality: China, Guangxi Province, Liuzhou City, Dayao Mountain.
Neolucanus fuscus zhongguo: Schenk 2014: 35, fig. 42, new synonymy.
Type locality. Vietnam, Tuyên Quang Province.
Type material examined. None.
Additional material examined. China: 2 males (CFYX), Guangxi Province, Guilin City, Ziyuan County, VI.2021, You Xiao leg.; 2 males (CFYX), Guangxi Province, Nanning City, Wuming County, Tianping, 3.VI.2023, local collector leg.; 1 male (CZHQ), Guangxi Province, Daming Mountain, VI.2010, local collector leg.; 4 males (CZHQ), Guangxi Province, Daming Mountain, 2–8.VII.2013, 1300m, Yanquan Lu leg. Vietnam: 8 males (CXTZ), Yên Bái Province, 2023, local collector leg.; 18 males (CZHQ), Yên Bái Province, Yên Bái City, VI.2024, local collector leg.
Redescription of the male (n=35).
Body length: 29.2–57.1 mm (Fujita 2010; Toshiyuki 2021; Yi 2023 and present paper)
Telodont. Habitus (Fig. 1C–E). Head and pronotum black, elytra black or large areas yellowish; luster relatively matte; body with invisible pubescence in dorsal view, labium with dense setae, all legs with sparse yellow setae on surface.
Head transverse. Anterior ridge raised behind mandible and widely concave on the middle. Canthus long and wide, completely surround the eye. Clypeolabrum (Fig. 3I) almost invisible in dorsal view, fused with frons. Mandible (Fig. 3I–J) smooth from base to teeth on inner margin; in lateral view, clearly up-curved, a dorsal tooth behind apex forming an approximately acute-angle and significantly protrudes beyond upper margin, and protrudes to almost same length as lower tooth; in dorsal view, slightly curved, thickness almost regular from base to inner teeth, with 4–7 continuous small teeth behind apex and getting smaller apically. Antennal club with 3 antennomeres; antennomeres 8–9 subquadrilateral; antennomere 10 semi-elliptic.
Pronotum (Fig. 3K) transverse, markedly longer and wider than head with slightly raised edges.Anterior margin bisinuate, posterior margin slightly bisinuate. Anterior angles relatively sharp and directed forwards, lateral angles and posterior angles obtuse.
Elytra elongate, anterior margin obviously narrower than pronotum.
Legs. Protibia (Fig. 3L) with 2–3 conspicuous weakly sharp protuberances along outer margin, apex bifurcate with branches weakly sharp at tip, and base with a gap. Profemur (Fig. 3L) with a semi-circular protrusion at apex. Mesotibia and metatibia straight and outer margin with a terminal spine, without external spines.
Abdomen and aedeagus. Abdominal tergite VIII (Fig. 5I) nearly semilune, lateral angles poorly defined. Abdominal ventrite VIII (Fig. 5J) with 2 obvious protruding tips on basal margin near middle. Ventral plate of abdominal segment IX (Fig. 5L) wide without membranous stripe, an ambiguous protrusion on both side near base, basal 2/3 almost equally wide, then widens towards apex, and gradually constricted near apex. Aedeagus (Fig. 6C, G, K) with a large triangular pair of sclerotized dorsal plates and almost intersecting; ventral plate at apical end of basal piece with a sclerotized protruded part. Paramere wide, with relatively large inner curvature at base, apex of paramere curved outward. Penis about 0.65 times length of paramere in ventral view. Flagellum long, apex of flagellum simple.
Variation. Mesodont. Mandible only weakly longer than head, with a bifurcated sharp large tooth at base and continuous small teeth, the largest one at about proximal 1/3. Amphiodont and priodont (Figs. 2C–D; 8A–B). Mandible weakly shorter than head with unclear consecutive small teeth on inner side, without branch at apex in lateral view; clypeolabrum (Figs. 4E; 8A) clearly visible in dorsal view.
Differential diagnosis. See Table 1 and 2.
Distribution. China (Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan); Vietnam (Lào Cai, Thái Nguyên, Tuyên Quang, Yên Bái) (Fujita 2010; Schenk 2012, 2014; Toshiyuki 2021; Yi 2023 and present paper).
Remarks. A notable feature observed is a gap at the base of the protibia, which can be folded to fit snugly into a semi-circular protrusion located at the apex of the profemur.
In our examination of telodont males of N. fuscus from northern Vietnam and southern China, we found no discernible differences between the two populations in terms of external features or male genitalia. Furthermore, we inspected an ampriodont male (Fig. 8A–J) from Nanning, Guangxi Province, China, which exhibited no external distinctions from the holotype of N. fuscus zhongguo (see fig. 1 in Schenk 2012). Besides, the distance and geographical conditions of the interconnected distribution areas do not present any significant isolation that would justify the differentiation of N. fuscus into subspecies. Therefore, we propose that N. fuscus zhongguo should be considered a new junior synonym of the nominate subspecies.
description: Published as part of Xin, Fei-Yi, Zhong, Xiao-Tian, Guo, Wen-Chi, Zhang, Yi-Feng, Qi, Zhi-Hao & Wu, Song-Qing, 2025, A taxonomic note on Chinese species of the Neolucanus fuscus group with the description of a new species (Coleoptera: Lucanidae: Lucaninae), pp. 344-360 in Zootaxa 5570 (2) on pages 353-354, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5570.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/14735135