Taxonomic, nomenclatural, distributional and biological study of the genus Agrilus (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

Abstract

One hundred sixty eight taxa of the genus Agrilus (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) mostly from the Palearctic and Oriental regions are studied and their taxonomic, nomenclatural, distributional or biological data are updated. The following new taxonomic or nomenclatural acts are proposed. The status of four taxa is changed: Agrilus grandiceps hemiphanes Marseul, 1866 is changed from subspecies to species Agrilus hemiphanes stat. nov.; Agrilus lopatini Alexeev, 1964 is changed from species to subspecies Agrilus araxenus lopatini stat. nov.; the specific name hermineus Abeille de Perrin, 1907 is removed from the synonymy of A. lineola as a name of subspecies Agrilus lineola hermineus revalidated name, stat. nov.; Agrilus validiusculus Semenov, 1891 is changed from species to subspecies Agrilus transversesulcatus validiusculus stat. nov.. The following fifteen new synonyms are proposed: grusinus Obenberger, 1917 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890); hassani Théry, 1930 syn. nov. (synonym of A. proteus Abeille de Perrin, 1893); ieiunulus Obenberger, 1936 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus validiusculus Semenov, 1891); italicus Obenberger, 1920 syn. nov. (synonym of A. cyanescens Ratzeburg, 1837); juxtasuturalis Abeille de Perrin, 1897 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890); niveosignatus Obenberger, 1914 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus validiusculus Semenov, 1891); panchlorus Abeille de Perrin, 1897 syn. nov. (synonym of A. curtulus Mulsant & Rey, 1863); perparvus Obenberger, 1918 syn. nov. (synonym of A. roscidus Kiesenwetter, 1857); philippovi Alexeev, 1965 syn. nov. (synonym of A. vaginalis Abeille de Perrin, 1897); populneus Schaefer, 1946 syn. nov. (synonym of A. suvorovi Obenberger, 1935); rosei Niehuis & Bernhard, 2005 syn. nov. (synonym of A. viridis Linné, 1758); shamyl Obenberger, 1922 syn. nov. (synonym of A. lineola hermineus Abeille de Perrin, 1907); suturisignatus Obenberger, 1924 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890); tetrastichus Obenberger, 1924 syn. nov. (synonym of A. fissifrons Fairmaire, 1849) and tifliscus Obenberger, 1936 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890). Agrilus grandiceps Kiesenwetter, 1857 is a dubious name of unknown taxonomic concept due to lack of the primary type. The following twenty-seven lectotypes of nominal taxa are designated: A. affectans Obenberger, 1923; A. alacris Kerremans, 1896; A. fidjiensis Obenberger, 1924; A. grusinus Obenberger, 1917; A. hassani Théry, 1930; A. hermineus Abeille de Perrin, 1907; A. hypericicola Abeille de Perrin, 1893; A. ieiunulus Obenberger, 1936; A. limoniastri Bedel, 1886; A. mephistopheles Abeille de Perrin, 1897; A. morio Kerremans, 1895; A. beauprei mourguesi Schaefer, 1954; A. nigrivestis Abeille de Perrin, 1897; A. niveosignatus Obenberger, 1914; A. panchlorus Abeille de Perrin, 1897; A. perparvus Obenberger, 1918; A. proteus Abeille de Perrin, 1893; A. roscidus Kiesenwetter, 1857; A. rumanicus Obenberger, 1924; A. shamyl Obenberger, 1922; A. subroscidus Obenberger, 1924; A. suturisignatus Obenberger, 1924; A. suvorovi Obenberger, 1935; A. fidjiensis tetrastichus Obenberger, 1924; A. tifliscus Obenberger, 1936; A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890 and A. validiusculus Semenov, 1891. Additionally, the geographical range or host plant data are updated or revised for many taxa. The North American Agrilus bilineatus (Weber, 1801) is recorded from a single record from Turkey which is the first introduction of a Nearctic Agrilus to the Palearctic fauna.