Ropalopus lederi LEDERI (GANGLBAUER 1882
Creators: name: Karpiński, Lech
name: Szczepański, Wojciech T.
name: Kruszelnicki, Lech
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cerambycidae
Ropalopus
Ropalopus lederi

description: ROPALOPUS LEDERI (GANGLBAUER, 1882)
(FIGS 1I, 3D, E, 5C, D, 6N, O, 7M, N, 8M, 9H, 10J, 11W, X, 12W, X, 13T, U, 15E, 16M, 17G; SUPPORTING INFORMATION, FIGS S1N, O, S 2N, O, S 3H, I, S 4H, S 5N, O, S 6O)
Rhopalopus lederi Ganglbauer, 1882, Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. 31[1881]: 747.
Type material examined: Lectotype (herein designated) male, with five labels: (1) TYPUS (red); (2) Novorossiysk 18 IV 78; (3) Rhopalopus Lederi Gangl.; (4) Lederi Cauc. Gglb.; and (5) L E C T O T Y P E, Rhopalopus Lederi Ganglbauer, 1882, des., 2019.
Synonyms
Rhopalopus nigripes Pic, 1926.
Distribution: The Caucasus and Crimea. It is present in southern Russia (Krasnodar Krai, Adygea), Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and southern Crimea (Fig. 20). Although it has been reported from Turkey by Löbl & Smetana (2010), which was repeated by Danilevsky (2019a), its occurrence there was revised by Sama (1996). The record from Merzifon (south-western Samsun) after Adlbauer (1992) refers to Ropalopus sculpturatus (Pic, 1931). Therefore, R. lederi is to date not known to occur in Turkey. The reference from Palestine by Plavilstshikov (1940) is certainly a mistake and must refer either also to R. sculpturatus or is an incorrect citing of a record of Ropalopus ledereri (Fairmaire, 1866). A mention by Plavilstshikov (1940) from northern Iran is particularly interesting, because it might refer to R. nataliyae and, if so, this or those specimen(s) should have been taken into consideration when describing the species.
Diagnosis: Ropalopus lederi is generally distinctive owing to its long and pronounced body pubescence (especially, hairs on the pronotum and basal part of the elytra; Figs 3D, E, 5C, D), relatively slender antennae and tarsi (Fig. 8M), pronotum that is rounded in males, and elytra with only slight metallic lustre. It can be distinguished easily from its closest relative, R. nataliyae, by the second antennal joint, which is almost spherical in R. lederi (Supporting Information, Fig. S3H) and clearly longer than wide in R. nataliyae (Supporting Information, Fig. S3G). The ventral side of the body (Fig. 16M) has a clearly visible yellowish pubescence, especially on the prothorax and mesothorax. According to Plavilstshikov (1940), the elytra are usually brown or dark brown, metallic, with a green, brown or purple lustre, and the legs are black or black–brown (f. typica), or red–brown to rusty (ab. separatus Pic). Body length: 9.0–23.0 mm.
Remarks: According to Plavilstshikov (1940), R. lederi inhabits deciduous and mixed forests, groves and orchards. Imagines are active from June to August. Although this author stated that the host plant remains unknown, a single pupa of this species was found in a maple trunk lying on the ground, most probably Trautvetter’s maple Acer heldreichii Boiss. & Heldr. subsp. trautvetteri (Medw.) E.Murray, in June by Miroshnikov (Lobanov, 2003). Moreover, Miroshnikov (2010) noted the low elevation above sea level of his newly discovered locations (Gelendzhik environs, Pshadsky Pass, 150 m a.s.l.; Seversky District, Ubinskaya village, ~ 200 m a.s.l.), contrasting with the findings of this species in the western Caucasus, where it is mainly known from highland regions. Owing to the significant discrepancy in the elevations of inhabited habitats and the certain incompatibility concerning morphology between the specimens that were studied and some of them illustrated and available on the Internet (such as antenna thickness and shape of pronotum), the existence in this region of two forms isolated by elevation (analogous to R. u. ungaricus and R. u. insubricus) cannot be excluded.
A l e c t o t y p e f r o m t h e f o r m e r c o l l e c t i o n o f L. Ganglbauer housed in NHMW is herein designated (Fig. 17G) to fix the name to a single specimen.
description: Published as part of Karpiński, Lech, Szczepański, Wojciech T. & Kruszelnicki, Lech, 2020, Revision of the Ropalopus ungaricus / insubricus group (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Callidiini) from the western Palaearctic region, pp. 1176-1216 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 189 on page 1204, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz154, http://zenodo.org/record/5721563