Lilioceris fouana Pic 1932
Creators: name: Xu, Yuan
name: Xiong, Yun
name: Liang, Hongbin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Lilioceris
Lilioceris fouana

description: Lilioceris fouana Pic, 1932 (Figs 7–8, 17, 24–25)   
 Crioceris fouanus Pic, 1932: 11 (China: Yunnan).   
 Lilioceris fouana: Gressitt & Kimoto, 1961: 48.   
 Material examined. Total 18 specimens. China: Gansu: 1♂, Kangxian, Qinghe Forest Farm / 1998.VII.14, Decheng Yuan coll.; 1♀, Wenxian / 1988.VII.20, Hongjian Wang coll.; Shaanxi: 1♂ (CCCC), Huxian, Huashuping, 1800 m, 2020.VI.19 J.T. Zhao coll; 1♀, Hanzhong, Liping township / 1958.V.16, Shimei Song coll.; Hubei: 1♂, Xingshan, Longmen He / 1993.VI.23, Wenzhu Li coll.; 1♀, Xingshan, Longmen He / 1994.V.08, Youwei Zhang coll.; Sichuan: 1♂, Luding, Xinxing township / 1800 m, 1983.VI.13, Shuyong Wang coll.; 1♂, Emei Shan / 1955.VI.26, Xingchi Yang coll.; 1♂, Emei Shan, 1100–2100 m, 1955.VI.20, Yunzhen Zi coll.; 1♀, Luding, Xinxing township / 1983.VI.13, Shuyong Wang coll.; Yunnan: 1♂, Gongshan, Bingzhongluo village / 2002.IV.26, Hongbin Liang & Weidong Ba coll.; 1♀, Lijiang, Yulongshan Nature Reserve / 2005.VI.27, Wenhua Lu coll., 1♂ (MHU), Lushui, Pianma township / 2004.V.9–11, Xiujuan Yang & Yushuang Liu coll.; 2♂, Wuding, Chadian, Changji Road, N25.74144, E102.30336 / 2296 m, 2020.VII.11 D1, Yuan Xu and Neng Zhang coll; 1♀ (MHU), Zhenyuan, Jiujia township / 2009.VIII.1–3, Jishan Xu & Jianxiong Zhang coll; 1♀ (MHU), Lushui, Pianma, 2004.V.9–11, Xiujuan Yang, Yushuang Liu coll.; 1♀ (MNHN), Yunnan fou / Type / fouana n sp / Type / SYNTYPE / Syntype Lilioceris fouanus (Pic, 1932) / MNHN Paris EC11741.   
Diagnosis. Femora and ventral surface of body black; antennomeres 5–10 twice as long as wide; pronotal disc a short longitudinal row of 3–5 small punctures; elytral punctures sparse throughout, large on basal half, slightly diminishing posteriorly, but not absent near apex; apex of mesoventral process strongly widened.  
Redescription. BL 5.5–6.5 mm, BW 2.5–3.0 mm. Head, antennae, legs and ventral side of body black, pronotum, scutellum and elytra brownish red.  
Head (Figs 7–8). HL/HW 1.3–1.6; vertex with a deep groove in middle, punctate laterally; occipit with a shallow furrow medially, sparsely punctate; gena punctate and setose; frontal tubercle glabrous, flat; frontoclypeal area triangular, disc with punctures and setae; labrum transverse, with long setae; antennae filiform, shorter than half of body length, antennomeres 1–4 nearly globular, 2 shortest, 5–10 cylindrical, twice as long as wide; antennomeres 1 and 2 sparsely pubescent and punctate, 3–11 densely pubescent and punctate.  
Pronotum (Figs 7, 17A). PW/HW 1.7–2.0, PL/PW 0.8–0.9; anterior angle protruding, posterior angle not protruding; sides constricted in middle; middle of disc with a longitudinal row of 3–5 small punctures; posterior transverse impression indistinct, anterior transverse impression and basal transverse groove absent. Scutellum triangular and pubescent.  
 Elytra (Fig. 7). EL/EW 2.0–2.3; sutural angle rounded; humeri protruding, humeral groove distinct, basal impression indistinct; intervals smooth; strial punctures sparse and large on basal half, diminishing posteriorly, but not absent, interspace between two neighboring punctures in a stria larger than that in L. neptis; scutellary striole with 4–6 punctures; epipleura with upper margin slightly raised, with a row of fine punctures laterally.   
Mesoventrite pubescent, apical portion of mesoventral process strongly widened, convex, tuberculate, horizontally connected with metaventrite (Fig. 17B). metaventral disc with a triangular setose patch near anterior margin (Fig. 17C); metepisternum densely pubescent.  
Abdominal sternite with sparse setae and punctures, transverse impressions distinct in sternites 2–5, with dense punctures and pubescence.  
Legs slender; tibiae with dense punctures, pubescence and two spurs; femora with dense pubescence on dorsal surface, with sparse setae on ventral surface, with middle area widened.  
Male genitalia (Figs 24A–D). Median foramen occupying 1/5 length of median lobe (Fig. 24A); apex of median lobe round (Fig. 24B); tegmen Y shaped and weak, basal piece of tegmen triangular and relatively broad, lateral lobes weakly scleritized, combined with second connecting membrane; internal sac membranous, with dorsal, median, and ventral sclerites weakly scleritized (Figs 24C–D), dorsal sclerite with straight extension (Fig. 24C).  
Female reproductive organs (Figs 25A–C). Tergites 8 and 9, sternites 8 and 9 of female sclerotized, posterior areas of tergite 8 and sternite 8 with setae, without apodemes, spiculum gastrale short, X shaped, strongly widened in distal part, apical margin truncate; vaginal palpi with dense setae, very short and cylindrical; spermatheca complicatedly folded.  
Distribution (Fig. 30). China (Gansu, Shaanxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan).  
 Host plant and habitat. This species feeds on Dioscorea sp. (Dioscoreaceae) according to the observation of the first author (XY) in Yunnan (Fig. 33). It is confined to west central China, at higher elevation (1800–2296 m) than other members of the species group. One collecting locality of L. fouana in Wuding County of Yunnan Province is situated in subtropical area. The vegetation is subtropical evergreen forest. The climate is characterized by distinct rainy summer and dry winter, annual temperature generally ranges 6 to 22°C. The forests are composed of tall trees, woody vines and epiphytes. The host plant Dioscorea sp. shares habitat with other plants such as Pinus yunnanensis (Pinaceae), Alnus sp. (Betulaceae), Eucalyptus sp. (Myrtaceae), Adiantum sp. (Pteridaceae), Abelia sp. (Caprifoliaceae), Ageratina sp. (Asteraceae), Artemisia sp. (Asteraceae) and Ficus sp. (Moraceae).   
 Remarks. The species is easy to recognize due to its small size, and complete but sparse punctures in each stria. It has been incorrectly placed in subgenus Chujoita Monrós, 1959 (Bezděk & Schmitt, 2017). According to our observation on the type specimen (Fig. 7), the species does not have obvious bulge on the elytral base, so it should be a member of subgenus Lilioceris Reitter, 1913.
description: Published as part of Xu, Yuan, Xiong, Yun & Liang, Hongbin, 2021, A review of the neptis species group of the genus Lilioceris (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Criocerinae), pp. 300-316 in Zoological Systematics 46 (4) on pages 305-307, DOI: 10.11865/zs.2021404, http://zenodo.org/record/7176018