Heterocerus fausti Reitter 1879
Creators: name: Sazhnev, Alexey S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Heteroceridae
Heterocerus
Heterocerus fausti

description: Heterocerus fausti Reitter, 1879 (Figs. 1, 2B, 3)
Heterocerus fausti Reitter, 1879: 546 stat. nov.
Type locality. Azerbaijan: Baku.
Type material examined. Syntypes: “ Heterocerus Fausti Rtt ” [Reitter's handwriting], “Caucasus” [red label], “к.
А. Яковлева” [cоllеctiоn оf А. Jаcоvlеv—in Russiаn], 2♂♂ (ZISP); “Bаku Fаust.”, gоldеn squаrе plаtе, “ Heterocerus Fausti Reitt. ” [Reitter's handwriting], 2♀♀ [one specimen without head] (ZISP).
Additional material examined. 9 exs. TURKMENISTAN. Balkan Region (Velayat): Uzun-Ada (now the territory of Hazar Nature Reserve), 15.04.1895, leg. Varentsov, 7 exs. (ZISP); Turkmenbashi (Krasnovodsk), 0 6.1900, leg. P. Maksimovitsh, 1 ex. (ZISP); Esenguly, 3.07.1932, unknown collector, 1 ex. (IBIW).
Diagnosis. Body size 3.8–5.0 mm. Body moderately elongated, dorsal-ventrally compressed (Fig. 1). Males and females do not differ. Aedeagus as in Fig. 3.
Heterocerus fausti is similar in body form and drawing of elytra on Heterocerus parallelus but can be easily distinguished by the shape of its aedeagus (Fig. 4A–B) and smaller size.
Redescription. Color. Ground color is yellow or red-yellow; a combination of black-brown blotches on the pronotum, and brown blotches of elytra and abdomen form a characteristic pattern. Head and labrum are black-brown. Antennae completely yellow. Pronotum is black-brown with a more or less wide yellow edging on the sides and narrow yellow stripe along the front edge. Scutellum is black-brown. Drawing of elytra characteristic of flexuosus species-group sensu Charpentier (1965). Yellow pattern of each elytron normally forms edging, S-shaped basal mark, M-shaped medial mark, apical spot and suture stripe. Dark pattern of the elytra brownish almost blending with the yellow background. Prosternum black-brown with yellow episternae and yellowish front margin. Mesepisternum and metepisternum blackbrown. Abdomen black-brown with yellow pattern in form of edging. Legs, except dark metacoxa, yellow.
Head. Clypeus transversal, widely incised on the front edge. Antennae 11-segmented with 7-segment club. Hairs whitish. Puncturing uniform.
Thorax. Pronotum not bordered basally; slightly narrower or comparable in width with base of elytra in females, and slightly wider than elytra base in males. Hairs on the disc are double: comprise dense, short, pressed, and long and standing hairs; whitish. Puncturing very dense, fine and uniform.
Elytra covered with erect hairs; hair length is comparable with the length of few first spines of mesotibia; hairs slightly longer along sides and near the elytral apex; hairs whitish.
Legs of structure typical for family, covered with whitish hairs. Claws of tarsus noticeably longer or equal to the last tarsomere (Fig. 2).
Abdomen. Abdomen covered with whitish hairs. Postmetacoxal lines absent.
Remarks. The records of Heterocerus fausti for Uzbekistan (Jacobson, 1913; Zaitsev, 1946) are not confirmed. Specimen from Uzbekistan (Qamashi) signed of F.A. Zaitsev as “ Heterocerus fausti ” is Heterocerus heydeni Kuwert, 1890.
Ecology. The long claws are probably an adaptation to the psammophilous way of life.
Distribution. Pre-Caspian Region including Caucasus: Azerbaijan, West Turkmenistan (Fig. 5).
description: Published as part of Sazhnev, Alexey S., 2018, Redescription of Heterocerus fausti Reitter, 1879, bona species (Coleoptera, Heteroceridae), pp. 597-600 in Zootaxa 4441 (3) on pages 597-600, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4441.3.12, http://zenodo.org/record/1301560