Charaea sasajii Kimoto 1969
Creators: name: Bezděk, Jan
name: Lee, Chi-Feng
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Charaea
Charaea sasajii

description: Charaea sasajii (Kimoto, 1969)
(Figs 44, 64–69, 82, 90, 95–96)
Exosoma sasajii Kimoto, 1969: 46 (original description); Kimoto 1986: 57; Kimoto 1987: 189; Kimoto 1989b: 254; Kimoto 1991: 13; Takizawa et al 1995: 9; Kimoto & Chu 1996: 77 (catalogue); Kimoto & Takizawa 1997: 305 (key), 381. Taphinellina sasajii: Wilcox 1973: 451 (catalogue); Beenen 2010: 489 (catalogue).
Charaea sasajii: Beenen & Warchałowski 2010: 62 (catalogue).
Type locality. “Alishan, Chiayi Hsien”.
Type material examined. Paratypes: 2 ♂♂ (KMNH), “(TAIWAN) / Alishan / Chiai Hsien / 27.VII.1966 / H. Kamiya leg. [w, p] // PARATOPOTYPE [b, p] // Exosoma / sasajii / Kimoto, n. sp. [w, h]”.
Additional material examined. 292 specimens — TAIWAN: Chiayi County: 9 ♂♂ 4 ♀♀, Alishan, 2400 m, 5.–9.viii.1981, L. Y. Chou & S. C. Lin leg. (TARI); 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Alishan, 2400 m, 17.–20.viii.1982, K. C. Chou & C. C. Pan leg. (TARI); 1 ♀, Alishan, 22.ix.2009, M.-H. Tsou leg. (TARI). Hualien County: 10 ♂♂ 2 ♀♀, Tayuling, 6.–9.ix.1983, L. Y. Chou & K. C. Chou leg. (TARI); 9 ♀♀, Tayuling, 12.–15.ix.1980, K. S. Lin & C. H. Wang leg. (TARI); 4 ♀♀, Tayuling, Malaise trap, 10.–15.ix.1980, K. S. Lin & C. H. Wang leg. (TARI). Kaoshiang County: 1 ♂, Chungchihkuan, 10.–13.x.2012, L.-P. Hsu leg. (TARI); 1 ♀, Taoyuan, 1.vii.2009, M.-H. Tsao leg. (TARI). Nantou County: 1 ♀, Kanko [= Kuankao], 17.iv.1924, T. Shiraki leg. (TARI); 9 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀, Tsuifeng, 2300 m, 27.viii.1981, L. Y. Chou & S. C. Lin leg. (TARI); 11 ♂♂ 11 ♀♀, Tsuifeng, 2300 m, 12.–14.ix.1984, K. S. Lin & S. C. Lin leg. (TARI); 12 ♂♂ 14 ♀♀, Tsuifeng, 2300 m, 5.viii.1984, K. C. Chou leg. (TARI); 10 ♂♂ 10 ♀♀, Tsuifeng, 2300 m, 15.–16.viii.1984, K. C. Chou leg. (TARI, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ in NMPC); 1 ♂ 6 ♀♀, Sungkang, 2100 m, 15.–17.viii.1984, K. C. Chou leg. (TARI); 37 ♂♂ 16 ♀♀, Tsuifeng, 2300 m, 1.–3.viii.1981, T. Lin & W. S. Tang leg. (TARI); 4 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀, Yu-Shih, 1750 m, 4.viii.1981, T. Lin & W. S. Tang leg. (TARI); 3 ♂♂ 1 ♀, Tatachia, 20.vii.2009, C.-F. Lee leg. (TARI); 1 ♂ 3 ♀♀, Tatachia, 30.x.2009, C.-F. Lee leg. (TARI); 2 ♂♂, Meifeng, 2130 m, 18.vii.1979, K. C. Chou leg. (TARI); 4 ♂♂ 1 ♀, Meifeng, 2130 m, 18.vii.1979, K. S. Lin & C. H. Wang leg. (TARI); 1 ♀, Meifeng, 2130 m, 22.–29.vii.1979, Malaise trap (TARI); 1 ♂ 14 ♀♀, Meifeng, 2150 m, 26.viii.1980, K. S. Lin & C. H. Wang leg. (TARI); 8 ♂♂ 31 ♀♀, Meifeng, 2150 m, 28.–29.viii.1981, L. Y. Chou & S. C. Lin leg. (TARI); 1 ♂, Meifeng, 2150 m, 15.vii.1982, S. C. Lin & C. N. Lin leg. (TARI);1 ♀, Meifeng, 14.ix.2009, S. F. Yu leg. (TARI); 2 ♂♂, Meifeng, 2250 m, 31.viii.–2.ix.1982, L. Y. Chou & K. C. Chou leg. (TARI); 1 ♂ 2 ♀♀, Huakang, 12.ix.2010, C.-F. Lee leg. (TARI). Pingtung County: 2 ♂♂ 2 ♀♀, Peitawushan, 25.vi.2012, J.-C. Chen leg. (TARI). Taichung County: 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Wuleng, 25.vii.2010, M.-H. Tsou leg. (TARI). Taitung County: 1 ♂ 5 ♀♀, Motien, 5.x.2010, C.-F. Lee leg. (TARI, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ in JBCB); 3 ♂♂, Hsiangyang, 2.vii.2009, M.-H. Tsou leg. (TARI); 1 ♂ 2 ♀♀, Hsiangyang, 12.vii.2012, J.-C. Chen leg. (TARI). Yilan County: 1 ♂, Taipinshan, 1950 m, 26.–28.vii.1983, L. Y. Chou leg. (TARI).
Description. Measurements. Males: 2.7–3.3 mm, females: 3.1–3.7 mm. Dorsal side oval, moderately convex. Body, legs and antennae completely metallic greenish- or bluish-black, knees sometimes paler, abdomen yellow, sometimes ventrite I with infuscate base.
Male (Fig. 82). Anterior part of head impunctate, almost glabrous, fine setae visible at anterior margin of clypeus and laterally on nasal keel. Interantennal space 1.25 times as wide as transverse diameter of antennal socket. Interocular space 2.5 time as wide as transverse diameter of eye. Antennae filiform, 0.70 times as long as body, length ratio of antennomeres equals 8-4-5-6-7-7- 7-7-7-8-11.
Pronotum lustrous, 1.30 times as broad as long, widest in anterior third, covered with very fine punctures. Anterior margin straight, lateral margins almost straight and parallel in basal two third, anterior third convergent, posterior margin widely rounded. Border of anterior margin visible only in lateral parts, lateral and posterior margins with moderate border. Anterior angles swollen, rectangular, posterior angles obtusangulate, with pointed tip. All angles with setigerous pore bearing long pale seta, additional short setae visible on lateral margins of pronotum.
Elytra 1.65 times as long as wide and 0.70 times as long as body.
Protarsomere I and mesotarsomere I slightly wider. Length ratio of protarsomeres I, II, III and V equals 6-5-4- 7, of metatarsomeres I, II, III and V equals 9-6-4-9.
Last ventrite with widely trapezoidal emargination and with two very short incisions (Fig. 67).
Aedeagus symmetrical, short, apex straight or slightly concave (Fig. 64). Internal sac as in Fig. 90.
Female. Body more convex and more oval than in male. Interantennal space 1.85 times as wide as transverse diameter of antennal socket. Interocular space 2.15 time as wide as transverse diameter of eye. Antenna 0.65 times as long as body. Last ventrite transverse, widely rounded (Fig. 69). Pygidium subtriangular with rounded apex (Fig. 68). Protarsomere I and mesotarsomere I narrower than in males. Sternite VIII subtriangular with anterior margin widely rounded, tignum slender, twice longer than sternite VIII (Fig. 66). Spermatheca: nodulus gradually continuing to cornu, cornu widely C-shaped, proximal spermathecal duct wide basally, almost straight and than abruptly narrowed (Fig. 65).
Distribution. Taiwan.
Biology. Part of the specimens were collected on the flowers of Miscanthus floridulus (Labill.) Warb. ex K. Schum. & Lauterb (Poaceae).
Differential diagnosis. This is the smallest Taiwanese species (2.7–3.7 mm). It is similar to Ch. houjayi sp. nov., which is larger (3.8–5.3 mm) and has a more oval body shape. Both species can be separated by the shape of the aedeagus (Figs 64, 101). Females of Ch. sasajii are almost indistinguishable from smaller females of Ch. houjayi sp. nov. based on external characters. Differencies can be found in the shapes of spermatheca and sternite VIII (Figs 65, 66, 102, 103).
description: Published as part of Bezděk, Jan & Lee, Chi-Feng, 2014, Revision of Charaea (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae) from Taiwan, pp. 1-39 in Zootaxa 3861 (1) on pages 19-21, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3861.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/287074