Iphthiminus lewisii Horn 1870
Creators: name: Gardiner, Rebekka M.
name: Pollock, Darren A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Tenebrionidae
Iphthiminus
Iphthiminus lewisii

description: Iphthiminus lewisii (Horn 1870)
(Figs. 7, 8, 9, Appendix 3)
Iphthimus serratus lewisii Horn 1870: 335 [Type area: New Mexico. Type repository: MCZ]. Iphthimus laevissimus Casey 1890: 408 [Type area: California (Sierras). Type repository: USNM]; Woodworth 1913: 189;
Casey 1924: 328; Tschinkel 1975: 361, Fig. 8; Gebien 1941: 339; Leng et al. 1920: 235. New Synonymy Iphthimus lewisii: Snow 1904: 334.
Iphthiminus lewisi: St. George 1925: 8, 21; Casey 1890: 408; Gebien 1941: 339; Leng et al. 1920: 235. Lapsus Iphthimus serratus lewisi: Tschinkel 1975: 361, Fig. 8. Lapsus
Notes about type material (I. lewisii). No males and females were mentioned in the original description, but it should also be noted that the original species description was about three sentences long, and the species type is marked as a variant (“ lewisii var”). There are six specimens in the type material, all from New Mexico: two from the collection of Horn, and four from that of LeConte. One specimen from Horn’s material was previously labeled as “ LectoTYPE ”, while one from LeConte’s material is labeled “ Type ”. The former specimen is in very bad shape; the pin is broken off and the elytra and wings are separated from the rest of the specimen. We have designated the male from the LeConte collection as lectotype (here designated). The specimen has the following labels: “N. M.”/ “ Type 7204” / [handwritten det label] “ Lewisii var” / “ Jan.-Jul. 2005 MCZ Image Database” / [red label] “ LECTOTYPE ♂ Iphthimus serratus var. lewisii Horn design. Gardiner & Pollock 2015”. The lectotype is entirely intact.
Notes about type material (I. laevissimus). One specimen of undetermined gender is the type of this species (Casey 1890). Due to this being a Casey type, it is likely that this is the only specimen on which the description is based; this is supported by the lack of a range of measurements in the original species description. The holotype has the following labels: “Cal.”/ “ CASEY bequest 1925”/ “ TYPE USNM 46767”/ [handwritten det. Label] “Iph. laevissimus Casey ”. The type is in good condition, with no appendages missing.
Taxonomic notes. According to the species description of I. laevissimus (Casey 1890), I. laevissimus and I. lewisii are distinguished from each other by a larger body, wider prothorax, very shallow striae and steeply sloping base of elytra in I. laevissimus. In examining the type specimen of I. laevissimus, it was found that the type specimen did not fully show the extent of variation within the species. Examination of specimens from the same locality do show a more robust form, but the striae are highly variable, making the character of unimpressed striae a non-viable characteristic for distinguishing the species. The larger form of this species occurs primarily in southern California, and is a trait mirrored in the I. sublaevis specimens found occupying the same range. Large body size is considered to be an effect of environment, most likely the abundance of a ready food source and higher precipitation, not as a species trait. There is also a noticeable trend in body sizes across the range from east to west; specimens with larger body size are found in the west, and smaller specimens to the east. The declivous base of the elytra is another variable character, appearing primarily in California specimens, but also occurring in Arizona specimens that also exhibit the punctation characteristics of both I. lewisii and I. laevissimus. As the single specimen used in the I. laevissimus description (Casey 1890) is of a large size, it would follow that the prothorax would be wider; without more information, this is considered to be an uninformative character. Therefore, I. laevissimus is considered to be a junior synonym of I. lewisii.
Description. With general features of Iphthiminus, and the following characters: GHW 3.0– 4.7 mm; GPW 4.2–9.0 mm; GEW 5.7–12.4 mm; HL 3.3–5.7 mm; PL 3.7–5.7 mm; EL 11.0–18.0 mm; TL 18.3–29.2 mm; ratio of HL/HL 0.63–1.11; PW/PL.97–1.75; GEW/EL 0.48–0.95; HW/PW 0.45–0.89; HL/PL 0.74–1.24; PL/EL 0.25– 0.36; TL/GEW 1.75–3.46; GEW/EL 1.05–2.07; PW/GEW 0.47–0.98. Body smooth, pronotal punctures small, widely distributed; elytra interstices convex, interstitial punctation small to absent, striae unimpressed to deep with transverse wrinkles. Elytra base round to declivous. Parameres flared distinctly at their apices.
Diagnosis. Specimens of Iphthiminus lewisii (Fig. 7) are diagnosed by the following characteristics: pronotum smooth, minutely and uniformly punctate, lateral edges of pronotum less serrate than other species of Iphthiminus; elytra smooth, striae sometimes absent, interstices convex, interstitial punctation very minute to absent; parameres not as closely associated together as in other species, apex of parameres flared distinctly in most specimens (Fig. 8).
Distribution. Based on examined specimens, the geographic range (Fig. 9) of this species is as follows, organized by county (detailed locality list in Appendix 3): UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Arizona: Apache (13), Cochise (317), Coconino (201), Gila (37), Graham (49), Greenlee (25), Maricopa (1), Mohave (11), Navajo (204), Pima (111), Santa Cruz (2), Yavapai (6), Unknown (38). California: Kern (17), Los Angeles (19), Marin (1), Riverside (96), San Bernardino (78), San Diego (28), San Luis Obispo (5), Santa Barbara (24), Santa Clara (1), Tuolumne (5), Ventura (9), Unknown (14). Colorado: Alamosa (2), Archuleta (6), Boulder (10), Custer (2), Denver (2), Douglas (2), El Paso (23), Fremont (1), Huerfano (3), Jefferson (2), La Plata (4), Larimer (1), Las Animas (1), Montezuma (1), Ouray (11), Rio Blanco (2), Summit (1), Teller (1), Unknown (26). New Mexico: Catron (14), Cibola (5), Colfax (3), Grant (13), Hidalgo (1), Lincoln (17), Los Alamos (24), McKinley (6), Mora (1), Otero (31), Sandoval (93), San Miguel (12), Sante Fe (2), Socorro (8), Torrance (7), Valencia (2), Unknown (52). Nevada: White Pine (2). Utah: Beaver (9), Daggett (1), Duchesne (8), Garfield (6), Juab (1), Kane (2), Morgan (2), Salt Lake (2), San Juan (3), Summit (1), Tooele (2), Utah (16), Wasatch (1), Unknown (6). Wyoming: Albany (3), Converse (11). Texas: Culberson (4), Jeff Davis (1), Unknown (2). MEXICO. Baja California (12), Chihuahua (2). CANADA. British Columbia (1).
description: Published as part of Gardiner, Rebekka M. & Pollock, Darren A., 2015, Revision of the Nearctic species of the genus Iphthiminus Spilman (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), pp. 352-391 in Zootaxa 4048 (3) on pages 364-366, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4048.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/238239