Anthaxia (Anthaxia) magnifica Bily 1983
Creators: name: Baiocchi, Daniele
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Anthaxia
Anthaxia magnifica

description: Anthaxia (Anthaxia) magnifica Bílý, 1983
(Figs. 7, 8, 9, 25, 26, 27, 43, 44, 49, 50, 57, 59)
Anthaxia (s. str.) magnifica Bílý, 1983: 72, pl.6, fig. 40; HT: NMPC; TL: N Iran, 8 km NE Ziaran, m. 2400.
Description of male (Fig. 7). Large and robust species; body elongated, subparallel, moderately convex above, strongly convex below; length: 9.1 mm, maximum width behind the humerus: 3.5 mm, length to width ratio: 2.6 times longer than wide; head, pronotum, scutellum, ventral side and legs bright green with strong golden lustre on central anterior part of pronotum; elytra with strong golden tinge on basal and circumscutellar area, deep purple on the disc, largely ruby-red along suture and lateral margins; antennomeres 1–2 green, antennomeres 3–11 black; pubescence white.
Head (Figs. 9, 25) slightly narrower than anterior pronotal margin; eyes large, drop-shaped, slightly projecting beyond outline of head, upper end moderately acute; vertex slightly depressed, narrow, 0.32 times as wide as width of head; frons (Fig. 25) slightly depressed, upper part slightly wider, shallow depressions present in mid lower part and on fronto-clypeal area; inner ocular margins slightly raised, strongly S-shaped, moderately divergent on lower part, strongly convergent on the vertex; sculpture of head foveate-reticulate, sculpture of vertex consisting of subpolygonal foveae, denser near ocular margins, sparser in middle; sculpture of frons deep, rather subpolygonal and denser on lower part, slightly more sparsely foveate in mid area, subpolygonal near ocular margins, with very small, central, setigerous pores; clypeus about 0.3 times as wide as total width of head, slightly protruding, lateral margins parallel, anterior margin unsculptured, very shiny in middle, deeply triangularly emarginate; pubescence of head dense, very long.
Antennae (Fig. 9) long, slender, 1.3 times longer than pronotum in midline; scape and pedicel slightly flattened, distinctly microsculptured and punctured, bearing long pubescence; antennomeres 3–11 moderately flattened; scape slender, 3.3 times longer than wide, slightly bent and club-shaped; pedicel somewhat pyriform, 1.4 times longer than wide; antennomere 3 slightly conical, 1.7 times longer than pedicel; antennomeres 4–10 about 1.5 times longer than wide, subtriangular to subtrapezoidal; last antennomere elongated, 2.5 times longer than wide.
Pronotum (Fig. 9) transverse, 1.5 times wider than long, strongly convex, distinctly narrowed on anterior 1/2, widest at midlength, with very shallow median longitudinal depression on posterior 1/2; anterior margin bisinuate, with strongly pronounced central lobe; anterior angles slightly acute; lateral margins rather strongly, rectilinearly convergent on anterior 1/3, shortly subparallel in middle, slightly narrowed on posterior 1/3; posterior margin very shiny black, distinctly arched backward in middle; lateroposterior angles slightly obtuse; lateroposterior depressions wide, shallow; lateral pronotal carina sharp, not complete, disappearing at 3/4 of lateral pronotal length; discal sculpture areolate-rugose in middle, deeper and more regularly subpolygonal laterally; pubescence very long, more apparent on lateral sides.
Scutellum (Fig. 9) subpentagonal, wider than long, more convex on posterior portion, finely microsculptured.
Elytra elongate, moderately convex, 1.9 times as long as wide, widest behind the humerus, slightly narrowed at base and in central 1/3, rectilinearly tapering in apical 1/3, with separately, obtusely rounded apices; elytral base slightly bisinuate, as wide as the basal pronotal margin; basal transverse depressions rather deep, coarsely wrinkled, reaching the scutellum; humeral swellings poorly developed, distinctly, obliquely prolonged backwards; a moderately developed callosity present on each elytron, between humeral swelling and suture; elytral suture finely black-bordered, slightly elevated on posterior 1/2; lateral elytral groove wide, flat, disappearing before apex; lateral margins progressively serrate from midlength to the fairly serrate apex; epipleura fairly wide, parallel, disappearing before the apex; elytral sculpture rather deep, densely rugulose-lacunose, coarser at base; pubescence fine, long, dense, very erect.
Ventral surface (Fig. 8) shiny, very shiny on abdomen; anterior margin of prosternum slightly arched; prosternal process moderately wide, flat, lateral margins feebly curved, posterior angles only slightly acute, posterior apex moderately long; sculpture along anterior prosternal margin irregular, transversally elongate, rather scabriculous; lateral prosternal sculpture coarser, sparse, roundly foveate; prosternal process sculpture denser, less coarse; posterior end of central metasternal suture very slightly divergent for a short distance; pro- and metatrochanters simple, mesotrochanters bearing a long, acute spine protruding outwards (Fig. 27); meso- and metasternal sculpture densely foveolate; posterior margin of metasternum smooth, slightly microsculptured; pro- and mesocoxae deeply, irregularly sculptured, metacoxae rather densely foveolate; ventral side of legs with distinct imbricate sculpture; all ventral foveae bearing a small setigerous puncture; sculpture of abdominal surface widely, deeply variolate; whole ventral surface including legs, covered with dense, very long pubescence, distinctly denser on prosternal process, legs and lateral sides of sterna.
Anal ventrite (Fig. 26) transverse, 1.6 times wider than long, moderately convex on basal 1/2, shallowly depressed, finely microsculptured along margins of posterior 1/2; lateral margins smooth, slightly raised, irregularly serrate on pre-apical portion; apex wide, smooth, clearly truncate.
Legs long, thick; tarsomeres very long, progressively widened; all tibiae with distinct substrigulate sculpture on basal portion, imbricate on distal portion; protibiae (Fig. 49) subcylindical, weakly bent at base, straight distally, slightly enlarged at apex, irregularly serrate on inner-posterior side, densely covered with short whitish bristles, protibial carina of outer edge expiring before apex; protarsomeres 1–4 subequal, tarsomere 5 slightly longer; mesotibiae weakly arched, subcylindrical, slightly enlarged at apex, inner margin strongly, irregularly serrate; mesotarsomere 1 distinctly longer than each of 2–4, slightly shorter than 5; metatibiae (Fig. 50) straight, strongly flattened, apical 2/3 of inner margin strongly, deeply, acutely serrate; metatarsomere 1 very long, tarsomeres 2 and 3 subequal, as long together as 1, tarsomere 4 slightly shorter than 3, tarsomere 5 longer than each of 2–4, shorter than 1; tarsal claws brown, thick, moderately long, slightly enlarged at base, strongly incurved, acutely pointed.
Aedeagus slender, subcylindrical, subparallel, 5.8 times longer than wide; phallobase representing nearly 1/4 of the total length; parameres (Fig. 43) dark, strongly chitinised, widest at anterior 1/2, strongly, sinuately narrowed on apical 1/4; setigerous area located laterally, on the narrowest pre-apical portion of parameres; apical portion slightly enlarged before the rather obtuse apex; apex of lower lamina sharp, distinctly protruding; median lobe (Fig. 44) stout, poorly chitinised, subparallel, nearly 8 times longer than wide, slightly wider and strongly vaulted at midlength; basal apodemes extending for nearly 1/3 of total length; anterior 1/2 of dorsal surface with smooth, central, longitudinal depression, progressively wider anteriad; lateral margins with a double row of backward directed teeth, progressively larger anteriad; basal 1/2 of dorsal surface more rugulose laterally; apex smooth, slightly narrowed, obtusely rounded, feebly depressed in middle.
Variation. Large species, lenght: 9.1–10.1 mm; body moderately convex, subelliptical in male, more subparallel in the female; the size of the herein illustrated male is 9.1 mm x 3.5 mm, while in the two females it ranges from 9.8 mm x 3.6 mm (holotype) to 10.1 mm x 3.9 mm. Sexual dichromatism absent. The female differs from the male in the following characters: body more stout, subparallel; frons flat; last antennomere shorter, round; apical part of elytra strongly convex, distinctly sinuate; mesotrochanteres unarmed; all tibiae with smooth inner margin; pubescence thinner, shorter; apex of anal ventrite slightly notched.
The dorsal colouration of the reared specimens is slightly darker, especially the elytra, differing from the holotype (Fig. 17), that shows a more golden-greenish colouration along the elytral margins. The male collected in Kurdistan shows a lighter and duller colouration which is probably due to a prolonged immersion in salt water of the coloured pan-trap in which it was caught. Ovipositor (Fig. 48).
Type specimen studied. Holotype Ƥ (Fig. 17) (NMPC): data labels (Fig. 18);
Further specimens studied. 1 3, IRAN (Tehrān) 2100 m, 10 km N Ziaran, N36°07’00” E50°39’25.3”, 13.V.2008 D. Gianasso leg. / ex larva Salix sp. 2.IV.2010 (DBCR); 1 Ƥ (Tehrān) 2100 m, 10 km N Ziaran, 36°07’00”N 50°39’25.3”E, 13.V.2008 D. Gianasso leg. / ex larva Salix sp. 3.IV.2011 (DGCC); 1 3, IRAN, Kurdistan province, Sanandaj-Noshor, 15.06.2010, H. Ghobari leg. / garden, blue pan-trap (MKCY).
Bionomy and distribution. Anthaxia magnifica is an extremely rare, endemic Iranian taxon. For a long time this species has been known only from its topotypical locality, in northern Iran, but I have recently examined a further male collected in the Kurdistan province. According to its West Irano-Sub Caspian distributional pattern I tentatively assign A. magnifica to the endemic S-W Asiatic chorotype (Vigna Taglianti et al. 1999). The female holotype was collected in the western part of the Elburs range, during the third Czech-Iranian Entomological Expedition (Bílý 1983), by beating branches of Salix. Also from Salix, after many years of unsuccessful research carried out in the topotypical locality, D. Gianasso recently managed to rear a pair of specimens (first host plant record), one of which is the herein described male. According to our observations, larval development occurs in medium sized branches and takes at least two years. As happens with other species with a similar bionomy, during its extended growth, the larva becomes highly detectable, and is potentially exposed for a long period of time to attacks by birds of the Picidae family, or by a wide range of parasitoid Hymenoptera, that may heavily reduce the number of individuals achieving a full development. As already commented elsewhere in this study, species of this group are known not to be flower-visitors, but the male of A. magnifica from Kurdistan was surprisingly attracted to a blue-coloured pan-trap.
With regard to the flight period of this species, the two bred specimens emerged in the first days of April, actually in conditions not comparable to their natural environmental conditions. The male from Kurdistan was collected in mid June, while the holotype was found in mid July, being most probably a late emerging female, as by this time, specimens of other west-palaearctic species of this group have almost disappeared. Anthaxia mancatula, another species of the same group, was reared and collected on Ulmus sp. in the same topotypycal locality, and was observed to emerge from mid April to mid June. It is possible to hypothesize a situation similar to the one that occurs in southern Europe, where A. manca is the first to emerge, usually in mid April, followed by A. senicula a few weeks later.
Other species of Anthaxia that were obtained from the same samples of Salix are: Anthaxia (Cratomerus) diadema ssp. shelkovnikovi Obenberger, 1940, Anthaxia (Cratomerus) krueperi Ganglbauer, 1885 (new species for Iran and first host plant record) and Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) ursulae Niehuis, 1989 (first host plant record), and species from other Buprestidae genera were: Agrilus sp., Trachypteris picta ssp. picta (Pallas, 1773) and the rare Lamprodila iranica (Obenberger, 1952) (first host plant record), which develops under and within the thick bark of the trunk of old trees.
description: Published as part of Baiocchi, Daniele, 2013, The Anthaxia (Anthaxia) manca (Linnaeus, 1767) species-group in Iran, with description of a new species and a new synonymy (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), pp. 455-481 in Zootaxa 3613 (5) on pages 466-473, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3613.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/247248