Physodactylus fischeri Fleutiaux 1940
Creators: name: Rosa, Simone Policena
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Elateridae
Physodactylus
Physodactylus fischeri

description: Physodactylus fischeri Fleutiaux, 1940   
 (Figs. 19 F-G, 35E)   
 Physodactylus fischeri Fleutiaux, 1940c: 166; Blackwelder, 1944: 292.   
 Redescription (male, Fig. 35E): Integument bright, head with frons black, gradually lighter posteriorly with the same color of pronotum at base, prothorax reddish-brown, antenna, elytra and ventral abdomen black, ventral pterothorax and legs dark brown; pilosity brown. Total length 17.0 mm; elytral base 1.03x as wide as prothorax, elytra 2.98x longer than pronotum. Frons slightly concave, frontal carina not produced; antenna reaching the half length of pronotum; antennomere IV 1.05x as wide as long, V-VII 1.20x wider than long; VIII-X 1.0-1.1x as wide as long; XI oval 1.28x longer than wide. Pronotum 1.28x wider than long, lateral sides rounded convergent from posterior angles to anterior margin; anteromedian margin weakly produced; posterior angles short, convex, parallel; lateral carina dorsally visible only on posterior third, absent on anterior half; disc with punctures 2-3 diameters apart, larger and denser on lateral and anterior borders. Lamellae of pro- and mesotarsomeres I smaller than the others, absent or minuscule on metatarsomere I. Elytra subparallel on anterior 2/3 then tapering to apex; striae with large and small dense punctation, indistinct on apical region where the punctation is mixed; interstices convex and rugose, scarcely punctate; apical striae with punctures larger than those of pronotal lateral border. Abdomen with ventrites 2-4 concave laterally, 1-4 evenly covered with decumbent, moderately long pilosity, setae of ventrite 1 as long as those of ventrite 2. Pregenitalic segments and aedeagus covered with stout dark-brown setae. Sternite VIII with posteromedian margin emarginate, anterior sclerotization 0.28x the total width of sternite; sternite IX with apex rounded.   
 Aedeagus (Figs. 19F, G): Phallobase 0.52x the total length of aedeagus, 1.27x longer than wide, length ratio between lateroposterior and median parts 11.5; paramere with ventral surface partly sclerotized, anteromedian margin with a long median sclerotized strip convergent anteriad; penis with basal strut 0.27x its total length, articulated to the parameres by a translucent membrane; ventral sclerite linear.   
 Holotype: [Bahia, Brasil], [TYPE], [Physodactylus fischeri Fleut., COLLECTION FLEUTIAUX type], [Muséum Paris, Collection E. Fleutiaux], [LECTOTYPE], [Physodactylus fischeri Fleut., J. Chassain det. 05], male (MNHN).   
 Distribution: BRAZIL. Bahia.   
 Remarks: The apex of the prosternal process was not examined. Physodactylus fischeri is recognized by the following combination of characters: antennae reaching the posterior half of pronotum, lateral pronotal carina absent on anterior half, elytral striae densely punctate and indistinct on apical region and pilosity of the ventrites 1-4 subequal.
description: Published as part of Rosa, Simone Policena, 2014, Phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Physodactylinae (Coleoptera, Elateridae), pp. 217-292 in Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo) (São Paulo) 54 (18) on page 262, DOI: 10.1590/0031-1049.2014.54.18, http://zenodo.org/record/12641367