Prismognathus nigricolor Boucher 1996
Creators: name: Huang, Hao
name: Chen, Chang-Chin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Lucanidae
Prismognathus
Prismognathus nigricolor

description: Prismognathus nigricolor Boucher, 1996
(Figs. 28, 30, 112, 144–145, 173, 204, 224–233, 235)
Prismognathus nigricolor Boucher, 1996: 70 [type locality: Chinese Gaoligong, China-Myanmar frontier], Fig. 1, head; Fig. 5, antenna; Fig. 10, mesotibia of male; Fig. 13, male genitalia.
Material examined. MYANMAR: 1 3 (MNHN, figs. 28, 227–228), holotype, labeled as “Chaine GAOLIGONG front. Sino-Birm. 2000m. vol. VII.95 J.H.BOUSQUET/ collection S. BOUCHER/ HOLOTYPE / PRISMOGNATHUS nigricolor HOLOTYPE male S. Boucher det. 96”; 1 Ƥ (MNHN, figs. 112, 229, 231, 233), paratype, labeled as “Chaine GAOLIGONG front. Sino-Birm. 2000m. vol. VII.95 J.H.BOUSQUET/ collection S. BOUCHER/ PARATYPE / PRISMOGNATHUS nigricolor PARATYPE female S. Boucher det. 96/ MUSEUM PARIS ”. CHINA: Yunnan: 1 3 (CCCC), Nujiang, Lushui County, Yaojiaping (on route between Lushui and Pianma), 25.VII.2005, Ben-Yong Mao & Ji-Shan Xu leg.; 3 3, 1 Ƥ (CLYB), Nujiang, Gongshan, 18–19.VIII.2011, Ying-Bing Li leg.
Identification. Only one male and one female are known in the type series collected by Mr. Bousquet. The type locality, as described by Boucher (personal communication), is actually in Myanmar and a few kilometers away from the Chinese town of Pianma. The specimens from northern Myanmar figured in last publications (Nagai 2000a, Fujita 2010) can not belong to this species, because of the markedly larger antennal club; they may belong to an undescribed species. This species was recently rediscovered by some Chinese collectors from Pianma area, only a few kilometers away from the type locality, and Gongshan area, with the small, the medium-sized and the large males and the females collected together by light traps. The male holotype is proved to be a small form, and the large form of this species is somewhat similar to P. davidis in external features.
The recently collected small male specimen (Fig. 226) from Gongshan is nearly identical with the holotype (Fig. 227) of P. nigricolor in all the external features; its male genitalia (Fig. 145) are generally identical with those of the holotype (Fig. 144) except for a wider flagellum apex (Fig. 173); it is obvious that the flagellum apex of the holotype was damaged as it is very short and not enlarged at all. A medium-sized male (Fig. 225) and a large male (Fig. 224) are also dissected for a comparison and they show no differences from the small male in genitalia.
The recently collected female specimen (Figs. 230, 232) is only slightly different from the paratype (Figs. 231, 233) in the length-width ratio of the pronotum; however such variation is commonly found in the Prismognathus species.
Diagnosis. The large and medium-sized males of P. nigricolor are similar to those of P. davidis, but can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: 1) outer margin of the mandible less sinuate; 2) the gap between the ventral subbasal teeth and the median teeth of the mandible markedly larger.
The small males of P. nigricolor are similar to P. shani (described below) and the small males of P. davidis, P. klapperichi and P. dauricus, but can be distinguished from all of them by a markedly larger gap between the ventral subbasal teeth and the median teeth of the mandible. The male flagellum apex of P. nigricolor is nearly as wide as that of P. d a v i d i s, wider than that of P. s h a n i, P. k l a p p e r i c h i and P. dauricus.
The females of P. nigricolor are similar to those of P. triapicalis by having a narrow and sharp tip of canthus, but can be distinguished by the black appearance of the body, the shorter intermandibular projection and the larger hemisternite in female genitalia. The females of P. nigricolor can be distinguished from those of P. davidis, P. shani and P. alessandrae by having a narrower and sharper tip of canthus.
Taxonomic notes. The male genitalic differences between P. nigricolor and P. davidis are hardly recognized, but the female genitalic differences between the two species are well marked in size of the hemisternite and length of the spermathecal and spermathecal duct. Therefore it is reasonable to treat P. nigricolor as a valid species.
Distribution. Western Yunnan (Pianma, Gongshan); northeastern Myanmar (area close to Pianma, western Yunnan).
description: Published as part of Huang, Hao & Chen, Chang-Chin, 2012, A review of the genera Prismognathus Motschulsky and Cladophyllus Houlbert (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Lucanidae) from China, with the description of two new species, pp. 1-36 in Zootaxa 3255 on page 9, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.280626