Aphanocephalus Wollaston 1873
Creators: name: Szawaryn, Karol
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Discolomatidae
Aphanocephalus

description: Key to Australian species of Aphanocephalus Wollaston
1. Elytra appearing glabrous, covered with minute hairs (Figs 7A, J, 8C)........................................... 2
-. Elytra distinctly hairy (Figs 7E, I, 8E), hairs sometimes short but clearly visible (Figs 7C, D)......................... 4
2. Body length around 1.5 mm, Christmas Island............................................. A. lawrencei sp. nov.
-. Body length over 2 mm, Queensland ...................................................................... 3
3. Body black, each elytron with a single rounded red-orange macula (Figs 5B, C, 6D, 7B), pronotum with anterior margin bordered (Fig. 1D)............................................................... A. bimaculatus Grouvelle
-. Body dark brown with lateral sides of pronotum and lateral rim around elytra paler (Figs 5D, 8C), pronotum not bordered anteriorly................................................................................ A. nitidus Lea
4. Elytra black or dark brown with two or three pairs of distinct, sub-oval red or orange maculae........................ 5
-. Elytra uniformly brown, brown with paler areas or with various yellow-orange patterns, but never with clear sub-oval maculae............................................................................................ 8
5. Elytra with three pairs of red-orange maculae (Figs 6E, 7G)...................................... A. haeckeri John
-. Elytra with two pairs of red-orange maculae (Figs 7C, 8A, 9K)................................................ 6
6. Body surface with short, appressed hairs (Fig. 7C, D).................................... A. blackburni nom. nov.
-. Body surface distinctly hairy, with hairs moderately long and sub-erected (Figs 8B, 9J)............................. 7
7. Body outline elongate-oval, elytral margin broadly explanate, anterior macula forming angled shape (Figs 6C, 8A), (Brisbane, Wiangaree -Northern New South Wales)..................................................... A. leai nom. nov.
-. Body outline more rounded, elytral margin narrow, anterior macula transverse oval (Fig. 9K), Cape York (Northern Queensland)............................................................................. A. weiri sp. nov.
8. Elytral lateral margin with distinct row of pseudopores, elytra surface rugose (Figs 1H, 9F)..... A. queenslandicus sp. nov.
-. Elytral lateral margin without pseudopores, elytral surface smooth.............................................. 9
9. Elytra entirely dark brown to black without maculae, sometimes with just humeral area paler (Figs 8C, E, H)........... 10
-. Elytra light brown or rufous (Figs 7E, I, 8G, I, 9A), sometimes dark brown to black but then always with distinct yellow pattern (Fig. 8L)......................................................................................... ... 12
10. Body outline elongate oval, flattened in lateral view (Figs 9C, D)......................... A. punctulatus (Blackburn)
-. Body outline more round oval (Figs 8E, 9H), distinctly spherical in lateral view (Figs 8F, 9I) …...................... 11
11. Body outline almost rounded, pronotum dark brown with just lateral margins paler (Figs 8E, F), Western Australia ......................................................................................... A. occidentalis sp. nov.
-. Body outline more round-oval, pronotum orange to light brown with large central, transverse oval dark brown macula (Figs 9H, J), Southern Queensland, Northern New South Wales ........................................ A. slipinskii sp. nov.
12. Pronotum entirely rufous to light brown, body outline regularly rounded (Figs 7E, 9A)............................. 13
-. Pronotum dark brown with only lateral sides paler (Figs 7I, 8G, J–L), body outline frequently appearing polygonal especially in the posterior end of elytra (Figs 7A, 8J) sometimes more rounded, if pronotum entirely pale then always body outline polygonal (Fig. 8I)........................................................................................... 14
13. Pronotum covered with punctae of two sizes, coarse punctae present in posterior corners of pronotum, elytra with larger, non-setiferous punctae regularly intermixed with smaller setiferous ones, Northern parts of Australia ...... A. potamophilus Lea
-. Pronotum covered with punctae of single size, elytra with larger, non-setiferous punctae distributed only in lateral parts, while smaller setiferous are evenly distributed, South Australia ....................................... A. calderi sp. nov.
14. Elytra rufous-orange with single dark brown to black macula on lateral side in middle of each elytron.................................................................................................... A. kukuyalanji sp. nov.
-. Elytra brown to dark brown (sometimes black) with distinct yellowish-white to yellow pattern with two o-shaped maculae in humeral and posterior areas, and single s-shaped macula in discal area........................ A. pallidipennis sp. nov.
description: Published as part of Szawaryn, Karol, 2025, Revision of the Australian species of Aphanocephalus Wollaston (Coleoptera: Discolomatidae), pp. 401-440 in Zootaxa 5632 (3) on pages 409-410, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5632.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15372416