Chalcophorella (Stigmatophorella) orientalis : Obenberger 1924
Creators: name: Frank, David
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Chalcophorella
Chalcophorella orientalis

description: Chalcophorella (Stigmatophorella) orientalis Obenberger, 1924
(Figs 28–33, 46, 50)
Chalcophorella orientalis: Obenberger (1924): 14 (original description), 26 (Figs 3-b, 3-c); Obenberger (1926): 144 (catalogue); Richter (1952): 195 (noted).
Chalcophorella (Stigmatophorella) orientalis: Obenberger (1942): 7 (key, Fig. 1), 11 (catalogue); Cobos (1966): 311 (catalogue); Alexeev, Volkovitsh & Kabakov (1990): 81 (faunistic, catalogue); 1992: 388 (faunistic, catalogue); Kubáň (2006): 345 (catalogue); Bellamy (2008): 552 (catalogue); Ghobari, Kalashian & Nozari (2012): 236 [misidentification] (see ‘Remarks’); Ghahari, Volkovitsh & Bellamy (2015): 35 (catalogue); Kubáň (2016): 460 (catalogue).
Type locality. Original type locality ‘ Beludjistan: Sarawan’ here specified to: Pakistan, Balochistan Province, Sarawan [historical administrative division] (see ‘Remarks’).
Type material examined. LECTOTYPE (present designation): ♀, ‘Sarawan | Beludjistan [w, h] || TYPUS [r, p] || Stigmatophorella | orientalis | Type | Det. Dr Obenberger [w, h/p]’ (NMPC). Specimen was provided with an additional red printed label: ‘ LECTOTYPE ♀ | Chalcophorella | orientalis | OBENBERGER, 1924 | David Frank des. III. 2020 [date handwritten]’.
Additional material examined (5 ³³, 3 ♀♀). AFGHANISTAN: KANDAHÂR PROV.: Afghanistan, Kandahar Bakhtu, 1700m, O. Kabakov, 14.ix.1970, 1 ♀ (ZIN). KUNAR PROV.: Afghanistan, Konar W Barikot, 2000m, O. Kabakov, 19.vii.1972, 1 ♁ (ZIN). NURISTAN PROV.: O Afganistan, Nuristan, Bashgultal, 1100 m, 14.7.[19]52, J. Klapperich, 1 ♁ (MNCN). PAKISTAN: BALOCHISTAN PROV.: Baluchistan prov., Hazarganji Chiltan N.P. (10 km W of Quetta), 18.–19.vii.1998, L. Čížek & L. Černý leg. (2 ♁♁, 2 ♀♀ VKSC; 1 ♁ DFPC).
Redescription of lectotype. Moderately preserved ♀ specimen missing left antenna and right hind leg; all legs with partly broken and missing tarsi. Length 35.50 mm, width 13.00 mm, length/width ratio: 2.73.
Body generally black, basal third of elytra grey-brown with four black elytral principal, and several elytral minor reliefs.
Head black with some mouth parts brown. Antennae black, serrate from antennomere IV. Scape and pedicel black (scape with brown radicula), sparsely punctate and pubescent. Antennomere II ca. 2× shorter than I and III. Antennomere III triangular, V–X more trapezoidal than triangular, XI oval. Mandibles black; labrum brown with brown-black margin, densely pubescent. Maxillae and labium brown. Palpi maxillaries and palpi labiales brown to brown-black, very densely pubescent. Eyes large, oval. Frons 2.2× as wide as diameter of eye, impressed with weak medial sulcus, coarsely punctate, sparsely pubescent. Vertex less densely and less coarsely punctate.
Pronotum 1.5× as wide as long, widest at apical third, lateral margin with obvious angle at apical third. Anterior margin arcuate with very moderately protruding lobe, densely pubescent. Pronotal discal relief black, clearly bordered, narrowest at mid-length with weak and thin median carina, sparsely punctate, shiny. Sides of pronotum coarsely punctate, furrowed. Basal margin bisinuate. Pronotal basal relief not clearly bordered, merging with sculpture of pronotum.
Scutellum invisible.
Elytra with two elytral minor reliefs at basal margin of each elytron. Lateral margins smooth in entire length. Basal third grey-brown, coarsely punctate to finely furrowed, with two black, shiny, irregularly circular elytral principal reliefs on each elytron with outer larger than inner. There are also several black, shiny, very irregular, smaller elytral minor reliefs some of which merge with sculpture of elytra. Middle and apical third black, undulated, with irregular micropunctation. Elytral impressions grey-brown, sparse, small. Elytral ornaments grey-brown, small, with two or three inner shiny areas respectively. Epipleura horizontal, sparsely punctate and pubescent.
Ventral side black, with brown or bronze punctation at sternum. Hypomeron sparsely, irregularly, coarsely and bronze punctate, not pubescent. Prosternum more densely punctate than hypomeron, punctures smaller than punctures on hypomeron, sparsely pubescent in punctation. Prosternal process subparallel-sided, 1.7× as long as wide, sparsely punctate, sides smooth, polished and nearly impunctate. Meso- and metanepisternum sparsely, coarsely punctate, pubescent in punctation. Abdominal ventrites centrally sparsely punctate, shiny, laterally densely punctate, with short and recumbent pubescence.
Legs black, moderately densely and coarsely punctate, pubescent. Tibia with two apical ventral spurs, without carinae. Tarsi without punctation, densely pubescent.
Variation. Body ♁♁ (n = 5) length: 25.75–30.75 mm, width: 9.25–11.00 mm, length/width ratio: 2.76–2.88; ♀♀ (n = 4): length: 28.50–35.50 mm, width: 10.25–13.00 mm, length/width ratio: 2.59–2.80. Amount of elytral minor reliefs variable but always minimum one relief at basal margin of each elytron. Anterior third of elytra from grey with bluish metallic reflections to grey-brown. Elytral ornament varies from only very small line to ‘W’-shaped but never large, grey to grey-brown. Aedeagus (n = 3) length: 5.64–6.77 mm, width: 1.54–1.63 mm, length/width ratio: 3.66–4.15. Penis oval, apex of parameres truncate (Fig. 46).
Differential diagnosis. Chalcophorella (S.) orientalis can be easily distinguished from C. (S.) escalerae and C. (S.) quadrioculata by two (exceptionally one) elytral minor reliefs at basal margin of each elytron and invisible scutellum. For additional characters see Key to species.
Biology. In the locality Pakistan, Balochistan Province, Hazarganji-Chiltan National Park, [30°3′0′′N, 66°53′16′′E] (Fig. 33) imagoes were found on Pistacia sp. (L. Černý & L. Čížek, pers. comm April 2020).
In Pakistan imagoes were found on larger branches in crowns of Prunus armeniaca (H. M̹hle, pers. comm. June 2020).
Alexeev et al. (1990) mentioned one specimen in Afghanistan, Kunar Province, Barikot on a trunk of pipal tree (Ficus sp.) in mountain mixed forest, and one dead specimen in Afghanistan, Kandahar Province, Bakhtu in a trunk cavity of Pistacia.
Distribution. Afghanistan, Pakistan (see ‘Remarks’) (Fig. 50).
Remarks. Obenberger (1924) did not specify explicitly how many specimens he had at his disposal when describing Chalcophorella orientalis nor mentioned any depository. He mentioned only a single length and width measurement ‘Long.: 35 mm. Lat.: 13 mm.’ which is almost identical with length and width of a specimen from NMPC (35.50 × 13 mm), where Obenberger’s collection is deposited. This specimen has also a locality label with the same data as in the description (Sarawan, Beludjistan) and also Obenberger’s handwritten determination label marked ‘Type’. Therefore the specimen from NMPC is designated as a lectotype in order to conserve the status of this taxon and avoid any further misinterpretations.
The locality label of lectotype as well as the description mention only ‘ Beludjistan: Sarawan’ without country specification. There is Saravân as a city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran or Sarawan as a tribal area in Ba-lochistan Province, Pakistan. While the Sarawan, Pakistan was well known for several centuries as a division of the former princely state of Kalat (1666–1955) and can be found in many old maps, the city Saravân, Iran is relatively modern town which does not occure in old maps (Dizak [Dezak] was a capital city of this district until 1930). The area Sarawan, Pakistan lies approximately between the towns Quetta (north), Kalat (south), Nushki (west) and Sibi (east). There was also a city named Sarawan in this area. The city appears in some old maps ca 160 km west of Kalat but in modern maps it does not (oldmapsonline.org; en.wikipidia.org). Also others specimens of this species are known from this area but none from East Iran. Therefore the type locality is specified to: Pakistan, Balochistan Province, Sarawan [historical administrative division].
Ghobari et al. (2012: 236) mentioned C. (S.) orientalis from Iran, Kurdistan Province (Sanandaj-Abidar, 15.06.2011). I studied this specimen and it belongs to the species C. (S.) escalerae as another specimen with the same collecting data which had been determined (and mentioned) as C. (S.) escalerae in Ghobari et al. (2012: 236) (see also ‘Remarks’ of C. (S.) escalerae).
Because all mentions about C. (S.) orientalis in Iran relate to the two specimens mentioned above, no specimens are known from Iran until now. The nearest localities of C. (S.) orientalis are ca 500 km east of Iran.
description: Published as part of Frank, David, 2020, Revision of the subgenus Stigmatophorella of Chalcophorella (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Chrysochroinae), pp. 451-482 in Zootaxa 4895 (4) on pages 470-472, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4895.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4358612