Table Of ContentElytra,Tokyo,24(1):113-124,May15,1gg6
TheGenusAtheme11us(Coleoptera,Cantharidae)
oftheRyukyuIslands,SouthwestJapan
Yuichi OKUsHIMA
KurashikiMuseumofNatural History,Chuo2-6-1,
Kurashiki-shi,OkayamaProf.,710Japan
Abstract Three new species of the genus Athemelius are described and
illustrated fromIshigaki-jimaandIriomote-jimaof theRyukyu Islands, under the
namesAyaeyamanus,A hanatan11andA.ueha1・aensis,respectively.Akeyisprovided
toall theAthemelhlsspeciesfromtheRyukyus.
WITTMER (l972) established thegenus Atheme11usand transferred Pseudo-
absidia ryukyuanaWITTMER, 1970, to lt. In theoriginal description, the latter
species was regarded as an “incertae sedis'' in thegenus Pseudoabsidia. This
hasbeentheonlyspeciesofAtheme11usknown fromtheRyukyus,andnothing
hasbeenaddedtothegenussincethen.
Recently,IhadanopportunitytoexaminethreeremarkableAtheme11usspecies
fromtheYaeyamaIslandsoftheRyukyus.Afteracarefulexamination, ithas
becomeclear that they must benew to science. They will bedescribed in the
present paper.
AllthefourspecjesofthegenusAtheme11ushithertoknownfromtheRyukyuS,
jncludjngthethreenewspecies,aresummarizedinakey.AllarerecO「declf「om
theYaeyamaGroup,andtherearenorecordofAtheme11usfromother island
groupsoftheRyukyusup to thepresent.
IwjshtoexpressmyheartythankstoDr.Shun-IchiUENooftheNational
(Nat. Hist), Tokyo, for hiscritical readingof theo「i9ina1
scjence Museum
manuscrjpt, to Dr. Masataka SATo of Nagoya Women's UniVe「Sity and D「・
KatsuyoshjIsHDIAofMeijoUniversityfortheirkindadviceonthePresentStudy,
andtoallthecollectorswhosupportedmewithspecimens.
Genus AthemellusWITTMER
s t ﾍeme/fu wIT R, lg72,Ent.Arb. Mus. Frey,23:123-l24. (TypeSpecies: tile'tie//uSmaCuff-
thoraxWITTMER,1972,byoriginaldesignation)
ll4 YuichiOKUSHIMA
Theforty_onespecieshithertoknownofthegenusAtheme11usa「e「coO「decl
fromRussja,Japan,Tawi an,China,JavaandBorneo.Manyspecieshavebeen
descrjbedfromTajwanandthesouthernpartofChina.0nlythespeciesf「omthe
RyukyuIslandsofSouthwestJapanaredealtwithinthispaper.
Athemellusryukyuanus(WITTMER)
[Japanesename:Yaeyama-futairo-joukai]
PseudoabsidiaryukyuanaWITTMER,1970,Mem. Fac. Educ. KagawaUniv.,(II),(192):23, figs.1-2.
Atheme/1us'yukyuanus:WITTMER, l972,Ent.Arb.Mus.Frey,23:124. - SATo,1985, Coleopt.
JapanCol.,Osaka,3:114,pi t8,fig 27. - IsHIDA,1986,Trans.Shikokuent.Soc.,17:205.
Notes. ThisspecieswasdescribedbyWITTMER(1970)on thebasisofthree
specimens from Iriomote-jima Is. After that, SATo (1985) cited not only
Iriomote-jima Is but also Ishigaki-jima Is as thedistributional rangeof this
species, and illustratedan individualshowingadifferent colour type from the
specimensusedintheoriginaldescription.
Iexaminedthirteenspecimensof thiscantharid fromIriomote-jimaIs and
sixteenspecimensfromIshigaki-jimaIs.Inalltheformerspecimens,theheadand
pronotumarebrownexcept foryellowishapicalhalfofhead,andalmostblack
elytron fringedwithyellowishbrown. Inall thelatterspecimens,thehead and
P「onotumareorangeyellow, andeachelytroniswhollyblack. However, Iwas
unabletorecognizeanyotherdifferencethanthecolourbetweenthespecjmens
f「om the two Populations. Therefore, I have concluded that the two types of
Co1ou「patternsmerelyshowageographicalvariationwithinthesamespecjes
Specimensexamined. Ishigaki-jimaIs.,Ryukyus:1?,1?,Mt.0moto_dake,
5~9-IV-1974,T.KINOSHITAleg;19,Mt.0moto-dake,1-VI_1974,M.SAT01eg;
1 , Mt. OmOto-dake, 1-III-1976, S. SUZUKI leg; I , Mt. emote_dake,
6-IV-1981,T.0HMOToleg;1 Arakawa,9-IV-1981,T.ITOleg;1 Yonehara,
16-IV-l981, K. BABAleg;3 , , emote, 7~ l2-IV-l982; 1g, Mt. B,anna_dake,
30-IV-1985,T.ITCHleg;2 ,Yonehara,31-III-1987,M.MINAMIleg;1 ,Mt
OmOto-dake,2-V-1989,Y.0KusHIMAleg;2
,Mt. 0moto_dake,16_Iv_lgg1
T・HANATANIle9.Iriomote-jimaIs.,Ryukyus:1
,Sonai, l3_Iv_1g6g,M cHUJ0
Ie9・ (holotype); Ie, Ueha「a, 10~15-IV-1974, T. KINosHITA
leg; l
Nakama-9aWa,3-IV-l977, N. NIsHIKAwA leg; l ,
0htomj, 8_V_1' g86, M.
MINAMI Ie9・; Ie, Maryudo-no-taki, 26-m-1987,, M. MINAMI leg; 1
KanPi「a-no-taki,27-III-1987,M.MINAMIleg;1
Kanpjra_no_takl, 8_v_1g87,
T・ IZAWA le9・; 3 , Ie, Kanpira-no-taki, 29-III,-1990, H
KoJIMA leg; Ie,
KanPi「a-no-taki,27-III-1991,Y.0KUsHMIAelg;1e,0htom_jrjndo,15_III_1gg3,
Y. 0KUSHIMA leg.
ePOSZfO「y fileSpecfmens examzKed The holotype js preserved jn the
CollectionoftheBio1o9ica1Laboratory,NagoyaWomen'sUniversjty
The other
'/Ie'lie//11.1'o「theRyukyuIslands
ll5
PeCimenS 「eCOrded above are preserved in thecollections of theBiological
abc「ate「y,Na9oyaWomenS' UniversityandtheKurashjkjMuseumofNatural
History.
ist「fbuZfOn.Ryukyus(Ishigaki-jmi aIs.,Irjomote_jjmaIs)
AthemellusJ,,aeyamanusOKusHMIA,sp
nov
[Japanesename:Yaeyama-kuro-joukai]
(Figs.1-5)
Male.Head,Pronotum,scutellumandelytradarkbrowntoblackwithfajnt
dulllustre;lateralareasbeforeeyes,andmouthpartsyellowishbrownexcept for
Fig. 1. At/1emelhis aeyamanusOKusHIMA,sp nov., . (Scale: 2.0mm)
Yuichi OKUSHIMA
116
apicalpartsofmandbi leswhjcharereddishyellow;antennaeda「kb「ownexcept
foryellowishbrownbasalpartof1stse9ment;coxae,trOChante「Sandfeme「a
ofalllegspaleyellow,buttheapicalpartofeachfemurisdarkb「own;tibiae
andtarsiyellowishtodarkbrown,hindelgspalerthaninfo「eandmiddlele9S;
prosternumyellow;meso_andmetasterna,andabdominalsterniteSyellowishto
Body closely covered with fineyellowish pubescence; antennae
dark brown
jntermjngeldwjthsomebrownbristlesinadditiontoprimarypubescence;elyt「a
jntermingledsparselywithyellowishbristlesandsomebrownbristlesinaddition
toprjmarypubescence;apicalmarginofclypeusandlateralmarginsofP「onOtum
fringedwithyellowishbristles; legscoveredwithyellowishbristles.
Head slightly shorter than width; disc almost flattened between eyes and
depressedalongtheapicalmarginofclypeusandlateralareasbeforeeyes;apical
marginofclypeusarcuate, and itscentrenot indented;eyeslarge,globularand
stronglyprominent;antennaeattainingtoapicalthirdofelytra;1stsegmentclavate,
2ndshort,3rdto11thsubcylindrica1,eachsegmentof4thto10th(or to11thin
some individuals) with longitudinal groove on inner side, relative lengths of
antennalsegmentsasfollows:22:10:23.5:29:30:30:30.5:29.5:28:24.5:28.5.
Pronotumsubquadrate,0.79times(intheholotype;range0.79-0.83)aswide
ashead,1.12(1.10-1.13) timesaslongaswide;anteriormarginstronglyarcuate,
posterior margin weakly arcuate; lateral margins slightly scooped out, but
subpara1le1inbasal parts; anterior anglesangulately rounded; posteriorangles
rectangular,with rounded corners; discswollen, especially in theposterior
so
area,slightlydepressedalongtheanteriormargin,andstrongly depressedalong
theposterior margin, antero-1atera1areas hollowed;medic-longitudinal furrow
distinct inposteriorhalfanddisappearinginanteriorhalf.Scutellumtriangular
with roundedapex.
Elytraconjointly1.42(l.40-1.46)timesaswideaspronotum,3.61(3.51-3.63)
timesaslongaswide, thesidessubparalle1;discdistinctly,closely and rugosely
punctate,eachelytronprovidedwithtwovaguecostae.
Apexofpresternalprocessconcave.Mesosternumslightlyconvexalongthe
medianline.Relativelengthsofhindtarsalsegmentsasfollows:58:37:30:28:31.
Malegenitalia: ventral processof each lateral lobestraight and slightly
expandedterminally;eachlateralprocessofmedianlobebentdorsad,withpointed
apex;apical marginofdorsalplateofeach lateral lobedistinctlyemarginateat
thelateralside(Figs 2-4).
Lengthofbody:8.47mm(in theholotype;range7.66-8.47); lengthofhind
tibia:2.46(2.10-2.46)mm.
Female. Bodysomewhat longer andwider than in themale. Eyesnot so
prominentasinthemale.Antennaealittleshorterandlackingagrooveoneach
segment.Pronotum0.83-0.92timesaswideashead,1.00-1.07timesas longas
wide. Elytraconjointly134-1.41timesaswideaspronotum,3.23-3.53timesas
longaswide. Eighthabdominalsternitewithadeepnotchoneachsideanda
Atheme11usoftheRyukyuIslands
117
l
Figs. 2-5. Atheme11usyaeyamanusOKUsHIMA,sp nov. - 2-4, Malegenitalia(2,ventral
view;3,lateralview;4,dorsalview);5,8thabdominalstemiteinfemale.(Scale:0.5mm)
shallow hollowat thecentreof terminal margin; discprovidedwith apair of
foveaein frontof theterminalmarginofmiddlelobe(Fig 5).
Lengthofbody:8.l7-9.39mm;lengthofhind tibia:2.32-2.56mm.
Type series. Holotype: , Mt. 0moto-dake, Ishigaki-jima Is., Ryukyus,
28-II-l992, T. HANATANI leg. Allotype: ,same locality as for theholotype,
20-II-1994,T. SHIMIzu leg. Paratypes: 19,samelocalityas for theholotype,
6-III-1993, Y. 0KUsHIMA leg;2 ,samelocalityasfor theholotype,14~15-
m-1993, T. HANATANI leg; Ie,same locality as for theholotype, 8-III-1995,
K. MATSUMOTO leg; 19, Nagura, Ishigaki-jima Is., Ryukyus, 21-II-1994, T.
SHIMIzu leg; 2 , Maryudo-no-taki, Iriomote-jima Is., Ryukyus, 9-III-1993,
Y. 0KUSHIMAleg.
Distribution.Ryukyus(Ishigaki-jimaIs.,Iriomote-jimaIs).
Notes. Thisnewspeciessomewhat resemblesA ryukyuanus(WITTMER,1970)
fromIriomote-jimaIs.,butcaneasilybedistinguishedfromthelatterbythedark
brown headandpronotum, widedorsalplateofeach lateral lobe of the male
genitalia,anddeepnotchoneachsideoftheterminalmarginofthe8thabdom-
inal sternitein female.
YLIlichi OKUSHIMA
118
Athemelhlshallatanii OKUSHIMA,SP nov.
[Japanesename:Hanatani-joukai]
(Figs 6-10)
Male.Eyes,cephalicarea,pronota1marking,scutellumandbothSidesof
eachelytrondarkbrowntoblack;antennae,maxillaryandlabialpalpi,feme「a,
tibiae, tarsi,meso-andmetasterna,andabdominalsternitesalmostdarkbrown;
mandiblesyellowbut theapicalpartsarereddishbrown; fronsyellowishbrown
to brown; vertex to lateral areas before eyes, circumference of pronotum,
longitudinal stripeoneachelytron,prosternum,coxae, trochanters,basalparts
offemora,andclawsyellow.Bodycloselycoveredwithfineyellowishpubescence;
antennaeandelytrawithintermingledsparseyellowishbristlesandsomebrown
Fi9・ 6. At1/e'ne/1us1/anatanliOKusHIMA,sp nov., .(Scale:10mm)
1/Ie///e11usoftheRyukyuIslands
119
ones in addition toprimarypubescence; apicalmargin of clypeus and lateral
ma「9mSOfP「onOtumfringedwithyellowishbristels;legscoveredwjthyellowish
bristlesintermingledwithsomebrownbristles.
HeadSli9htlyShorterthanwidth;centralareaofdiscfdjntlyhollowed,and
deP「eSSedalon9theapicalmarginofclypeusand in lateral areas beforeeyes;
apicalma「9inofclypeusarcuatewithitscentrefaintlyindented;eyesnotsolarge,
91obula「andSli9htlyprominent;antennaeattainingbarelytothemiddleofelytra,
1stSe9mentclavate,2ndshort,3rdto11thsubcylindrica1,allantennalsegments
lackinggroove,relativelengthsofantennalsegmentsasfollows:17:10:15:16:
17:16:15:14:14:13:16.
Pronotumsubquadrate,0.92times(intheholotype;range0.82_0.96)aswide
ashead, 1.04(1.00-1.16)timesaslongaswide;anteriorandposteriormargins
weaklyarcuate;lateralmarginsfeeblysinuate;anterioranglesrounded;posterjor
anglesobtuse;discswollen,especiallysointheposteriorarea;antero-1atera1areas
hollowed;medic-longitudinal furrowdistinct inposteriorhalfanddisappearing
inanteriorhalf;dorsal blackmarkinglarge,constrictedjust before themiddle
andratherbroadbehindlt.Scutellumtriangularwithroundedapex.
Elytraconjointly1.33(1.32-1.49)timesaswideaspronotum,3.37(3.08-3.65)
timesaslongaswide,thesidessubpara1le1;disccloselyandrugoselypunctate.
Apexofpresternalprocessconcave.Mesosternumslightlyconvexalongthe
medianline.Relativelengthsofhindtarsalsegmentsasfollows:23:15:10:10:13.
Malegenitalia:ventralprocessofeachlateral lobeexpandedterminally,the
tip bending inside,thebasalpart broad andextending inwardsonto theventral
side;eachlateralprocessofmedianlobeshortwithpointedapex;dorsalplateof
each lateral lobenarrowedtowardsthetip,theapexrounded (Figs 7-9).
Lengthofbody:4.60mm(in theholotype; range4.03-5.23); lengthofhind
tibia:1.32(1.17-1.52)mm.
Female. Body somewhat longer andwider than in the male. Eyes not so
prominentasinthemale.Antennaealittleshorterthaninthemale.Discofhead
almostflattened.Colouroflegspalerthaninthemale.Pronotum0.91-1.04 times
aswideashead,0.96-1.12timesaslongaswide.Elytraconjointly130-1.52times
aswideaspronotum,2.96-3.56timesaslongaswide.Eighthabdominalsternite
providedwithtwodistinctprominencesatthecentreofterminalmargin(Fig.10).
Lengthofbody:4.34-5.75mm; lengthofhindtibia:1.09-1.47mm.
Type series. Holotype: , Mt. 0moto-dake, Ishigaki-jima Is., Ryukyus,
1-III-1990,Y. 0KUsHIMA leg. Allotype: ,samedataasfor theholotype.Para-
types: Ishigaki-jimaIs.,Ryukyus:8 6 ,samedataas for theholotype; 1
, ,
Mt. 0moto-dake, 6-III-l990, Y. 0KUsHIMA leg; 4 2 Mt. 0moto-dake,
, ,
7-III-1990, Y. 0KUsHIMA leg; I , 5 , Mt. 0moto-dake, 15-III-1990, Y.
OKUsHIMAleg;2 Takeda-rindo, ll-II-1991,T. KIsHIMoTo leg; 20 12
, , ,
Mt. 0moto-dake, 25-II-1991, T. HANATANI leg;2 5 Mt. 0moto-dake,
, ,
20-III-1991, Y. 0KUsHIMA leg; 2 , Ie, Mt. 0moto-dake, 21-III-1991, Y.
l20 Yuichi OKUsHIMA
Figs. 7-10. AthemeuushanatamiOKUsHIMA,sp nov. - 7-9,Malegenitalia(7,ventral
view;8,lateralview;9,dorsalview);10,8thabdominalsterniteinfemale.(Scale:0.5mm)
OKUsHIMA leg; 1e, Mt. Omoto-dake,28-II-1992, T. HANATANI leg; 2 1
, ,
Mt.0moto-dake,29-II-l992,M.HIRADATEleg;19,Mt.0moto-dake,3-III-l992,
S.NIRAsAwAleg;1e,Mt. 0moto-dake,3-m-1993, Y. 0KUSHIMAleg;1 Mt.
,
Omoto-dake,13-III-1993, K.MATSUMOTOleg;12 12 Mt. 0moto-dake,
, ,
13~l4-III-l993, T. HANATANI leg; lg, Mt. 0moto-dake, 21-III-l993, Y.
OKUsHIMAleg;1 ,1g,Mt.0moto-dake,20-II-1994,T.SHIMIZUleg;5 5
, ,
Nagura, 21-II-1994, T. SHIMlzU leg; 19, Mt. 0moto-dake, 6-III-1995, K.
MATSUMOTO leg; Ie, Mt. 0moto-dake, 6-III-1995, H. SATo leg; I Mt.
,
Omoto-dake, 7-III-1995, K. MATSUMOTO leg; 2 2 Mt. 0moto-dake,
, ,
7-III-1995, H. SATo leg. Iriomote-jima Is., Ryukyus: l Maryudo-no-taki,
,
9-III-l993,Y. 0KUsHIMAleg; le, 0htomi-rindo, l2-III-1993, Y. 0KUsHIMAleg;
2 , source of Urauchi-gawa, 16-II-1994, T. SHIM1zu leg; I Takana,
,
18-II-1994,T.SHIMIzUleg;1 ,19, 0htomi-rindo,19-II-l994,T.SHIMIzuleg;
l ,4 , Maryudo-no-taki, 12-III-l995, Y. 0KUsHIMA leg.
At/1e,ne11usoftheRyukyuIslands l21
Distribution.Ryukyus(Ishigaki-jimaIs., Iriomote-jimaIs).
Notes. Thisnewspeciesisclosely related toA.pictusWITTMER,1983 from
Taiwan, butcaneasilybedistinguished fromthelatter by havinga largeblack
markingonthepronotum,blackelytrawithyellowstripes,andlongdorsalplate
ofeach lateral lobeofthemalegenitalia.
ThespecificnameisgiveninhonourofMr.TatsuoHANATANI forhisoffer
ofinterestingmaterial.
AthemellusueharaensisOKUsHIMA,sp nov.
[Japanesename:Yaeyama-tatesuji-joukai]
(Figs.11-14)
Male.Frons,cephalicarea,pronotalmarking,scutellum,bothsidesofeach
elytron, legs,pro-,meso-andmetasternaandabdominalsternitesdarkbrownto
black;eyes,antennae,maxillaryandlabialpalpialmostdarkbrown;mandibles
reddjshbrown; vertexto lateral areasbeforeeyes, circumferenceofpronotum,
longitudinalstripeoneach elytron,marginsof legjoints,and clawsyellowto
yellowishbrown.Bodycloselycoveredwithfineyellowishpubescence;antennae
andelytrawithsparseyellowishbristlesintermingledwithsomebrownbristlesin
additiontoprimarypubescence;apicalmarginofclypeusandlateralmarginsof
pronotum fringedwithyellowishbristles; legscoveredwithyellowish bristles
intermingledwithsomebrownbristles.
Headslightlyshorter thanwidth;centralareaofdiscfaintlyhollowed,and
depressed along theapicalmargin ofclypeus and in lateral areas beforeeyes;
apjca1margin ofclypeusarcuatewith itscentrefaintly indented; eyesnotso
large,globularandslightlyprominent;antennaeattainingtothemiddleofelytra,
1stsegmentclavate,2ndshort,3rdto11thsubcylindrica1,allantennalsegments
lackinggroove,relativelengthsofantennalsegmentsas follows:17:10:14:16:
17:17:15:15:13.5:13:16.
pronotumsubquadrate,0.92times(intheholotype;range0.91-0.92)aswide
ashead, 1.07(1.06_1.07) timesaslongaswide;anteriorandposteriormargins
weaklyarcuate;lateralmarginsfeeblysinuate;anterioranglesrounded;Posterior
anglesobtuse;discswollen,especiallysointheposteriorarea;antero-latera1areas
hollowed;medic-longitudinal furrowdistinct inposteriorhalfanddisappearing
jn anterior half; dorsal black marking large, rather broad behind the middle.
Scutellumtriangularwithroundedapex.
Elytraconjointly1.46(1.43-1.46)timesaswideaspronotum,3.02(2.93-3.02)
tjmesaslongaswide, thesidessubpara11e1;disccloselyandrugoselypunctate.
Apexofpresternalprocessconcave.Mesosternumslightlyconvexalongthe
medianline.Relativelengthsofhindtarsalsegmentsasfollows:l9:12:10:10:l2.
Malegenjtalja:ventralprocessofeachlatera11obealmoststraightandslightly
bendjngjnwards;eachlateralprocessofmedianlobeshortandhardlyappa「ent
122 Yuichi OKUsHIMA
Figs. ll-14. Atheme11usueha・laensls OKUsHIMA, sp nov. - 11-13, Male genitalia (11,
ventralview;12,lateralview;13,dorsalview); l4,8thabdominalsterniteinfemale.(Scale:
0.5mm)
in lateral view;dorsalplateofeach lateral lobenarrowed towards thetip, the
apexsomewhatpointed (Figs. l1-13).
Lengthofbody:5.67mm(in theholotype;range5.02-5.67); lengthofhind
tibia:1.63(1.53-1.63)mm.
Female. Bodysomewhat longer and wider than in themale. Vertex dark
brown toblack. Eyesnotsoprominentas inthemale. Antennaealittleshorter
than in themale.Pronotum0.98-1.05timesaswideashead,0.90-1.05timesas
longaswide. Elytraconjointly 143-1.47timesaswideaspronotum,2.92-3.03
times as long as wide. Eighth abdominal sterniteprovided with two distinct
prominencesat thecentreofterminalmargin,withthesideswidelyconcave(Fig.
l4).
Lengthofbody:5.80-6.29mm; lengthofhindtibia:1.53-1.65mm.
Type series. Holotype: Mt. Uehara-yama, Iriomote-jima Is., Ryukyus,
,
11-III-1995,Y.0KuSHIMAleg. Allotype:9,Hirakubo,Ishigaki-jimaIs.,Ryukyus,
6-m-1990, Y. 0KUSHIMA leg. Paratypes: 19,samedataas for theallotype;
