Lacon delagrangei
Creators: name: Kundrata, Robin
name: Mertlik, Josef
name: Németh, Tamás
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Elateridae
Lacon
Lacon delagrangei

description: Lacon delagrangei (Buysson, 1891)
(Figs 3–6, 10, 11, 14, 18, 194)
Adelocera delagrangei Buysson, 1891: 134.
Lacon delagrangei: attributed to Fleutiaux (1926: 93) by Hayek (1973: 14, 62) [although not explicitly mentioned in Fleutiaux (1926)].
Type material. Lectotype, female, „ Syrie, Amanus [Turkey, prov. Akbes, Nur Mountains], C.D. 1891, Adelocera delagrangei nov. sp. (Buyss.)“ (MNHN) (Hayek 1973: 62). Not found despite thorough search in the MNHN collection.
Type locality. Turkey: prov. Akbes, Nur Mountains.
Material examined. Lebanon, 1 female, „n. Libano [Lebanon], caza Aakkar, Ain Yaaqoub, 750 c. (alla luce), 20–24/6/2009, L. Saltini leg.” (PCGP); Turkey, 1 female, „ Turkey mer., prov. Mersin, 10 km N of Mersin, 30. 6. 1999, leg. Pavel Vítek “ (PCJM).
Other material reported from Levant. Israel, 1 ex., „Israel, Panyas, 15.VI.2002, V. Kravchenko, light trap “ (PCGP); 1 ex., „Israel, Panyas, 16.V.2003, V. Kravchenko & V. Chikatunov, light trap “ (PCGP). Reported by Platia (2010); not examined in this study.
Comparative remarks. This species is similar to L. ladae Mertlik & Dušánek, 2006. Both species are easily recognizable from their Levantine congeners by the large body covered with distinct golden thick setae (Figs 3–8, 14, 15). Lacon delagrangei is usually larger (15.5–18.0 mm vs 13.0–16.0 mm in L. ladae), has darker elytra (reddish brown to black vs ferrugineous in L. ladae), pronotal median furrow inconspicuous (wide and deep in L. ladae), and whole dorsum covered by golden thick setae (frons, posterior portion of pronotum and scutellar shield with thin silver setae in L. ladae).
Diagnostic characters. Female (Figs 3–6, 10, 11, 14, 18). Body 15.5–18.0 mm long and 4.3–5.0 mm wide (type: 17.5 mm long, 5.0 mm wide; Buysson (1891: 134)). Body moderately shiny, black, with mouthparts, apices of serrated antennomeres, knees, and last tarsomeres reddish brown, elytra reddish brown to brown or black; dorsally densely covered with golden setae (including scutellar shield); epipleura with golden and silver setae, ventral parts with mostly silver and some golden setae, all moderately long and thick. Antenna moderately long, reaching about 2/3 of pronotal length. Antennomere III 1.1 times as long as antennomere IV, median antennomeres serrate, about 1.2–1.3 times as long as wide. Pronotum 1.1–1.2 times as long as wide, sides widely rounded, with posterior angles slightly divergent, disk with uneven surface, densely covered with rough, deep punctures, intervals between punctures much smaller than a diameter of puncture. Scutellar shield about 1.45–1.55 times as long as wide, widest anteriorly, with anterior margin almost straight. Elytra 2.4 as long as wide, and 2.45–2.55 times as long as pronotum, with punctures of equal size. Sclerites of bursa copulatrix as in Fig. 18.
Male unknown. Immature stages unknown.
Distribution. Israel, Lebanon, Turkey (Fig. 194).
Literature. Buysson (1891: 134): original description [as Adelocera]; Schwarz (1906: 11): catalogue [as Adelocera]; Schenkling (1925: 9): catalogue [as Adelocera]; Hayek (1973: 62): revision; Mertlik & Dušánek (2006: 155): comparison with other species; Cate (2007: 100): catalogue; Mertlik & Platia (2008: 3): catalogue; Gülperçin & Tezcan (2010: 3): catalogue; Platia (2010: 25): distributional note; Tarnawski et al. (2018: 15): catalogue; Németh (2019: 129): catalogue.
description: Published as part of Kundrata, Robin, Mertlik, Josef & Németh, Tamás, 2019, Unexpected diversity of Lacon Laporte, 1838 (Coleoptera: Elateridae: Agrypninae) in the Levant: revised species concepts, new species, and an identification key, pp. 401-449 in Zootaxa 4679 (3) on pages 406-407, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4679.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3471061