The Lichenophanes Lesne, 1899 of the Palaearctic and Oriental Regions (Coleoptera, Bostrichidae)

TL;DR

This paper describes a new beetle species and a new subspecies from the Palaearctic and Oriental regions and clarifies the taxonomy of related species.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new species and a new subspecies of Lichenophanes beetles and revises the classification of existing species.

Findings

A new species, Lichenophanes juxtaorientalis, was identified in Cyprus and Crete.

A new subspecies, Lichenophanes varius turanicus, was described for specimens in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean.

L. carinatus was reinstated as a distinct species, separate from L. carinipennis.

Abstract

This paper presents a description of a new Western-Palaearctic species of beetles of the horned powderpost beetle family. The new species is found in the eastern part of the Mediterranean subregion and has been identified in Crete, Cyprus, and also the eastern part of Syria. Morphological analyses showed that the specimens of L. varius occurring in Crete, Cyprus, and the Middle East significantly differ from the specimens inhabiting the continental part of Europe. In connection with the above, it was suggested that a new subspecies be created for L. varius. Also, while analyzing the morphology of L. carinipennis specimens from East Asia, some differences were noted between those coming from the Oriental and those from the Palaearctic parts. In this case, tropical specimens were reinstated as a separate species. To sum up, in the Western Palaearctic, there are three species and one subspecies; in the Eastern Palaearctic, there is one species; and in the Oriental area, there is also one species of the genus Lichenophanes. All the species are presented in color macrophotographs, and maps showing the distribution of particular species are also included. The final part of this paper includes keys for the identification of the studied species.

This paper includes a review of the Palaearctic and Oriental species of the genus Lichenophanes Lesne, 1899. It contains a description of the new species, Lichenophanes juxtaorientalis n. sp., which occurs in Cyprus and Crete. A new subspecies, Lichenophanes varius turanicus n. subsp.—occurring in Crete, Cyprus, and the Middle East—was separated from the species Lichenophanes varius (Illiger) and described. Moreover, this paper characterizes L. carinatus (Lewis) n. stat., which had been treated as a synonym of L. carinipennis (Lewis). Two maps present the geographic distribution of particular species, and the final part of this paper contains keys to identify them.

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