A checklist of Plateros Bourgeois, 1879 from Africa, with description of new species (Coleoptera: Lycidae)

Abstract

makes it possible to further contribute to the knowledge of the genus of this region. In the present paper Plateros burgeoni (Pic, 1924), P. curtus (Bourgeois, 1905) and P. nigricauda (Bourgeois, 1910) are illustrated, sixteen new species are described, and a list of Plateros of the Afrotropical region is provided. Material and Methods The studied specimens were pinned or glued on cardboard plates. For a detailed examination they were relaxed in water; then the detached ultimate abdominal segments were treated for several hours in 10% KOH at room temperature, the extracted genitalia were placed in microvials with glycerin for photography, then glued back on cardboard plates. MSP-1 zoom stereoscopic dissecing microscope with x8-x80 magnification range was used. Photographs were taken with Canon EOS 6D camera and Canon MP-E 65 mm lens.

A review of Plateros Bourgeois, 1879 of Indochina (Coleoptera: Lycidae)

“…The median lobe of the aedeagus is also fairly variable, from symmetric (e.g., Figs 87, 89) to slightly asymmetric (e.g., Figs 101, 107) to slightly spiral (e.g., Figs 137, 177) and corkscrew-like (e.g., Figs 169,179,181). The latter, corkscrew-like structures are characteristic of only oriental Plateros and seem to be absent in other regions, although extremely asymmetric and slightly spiral forms have been recorded in other major hotspots of the genus, i.e., in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America [Kazantsev, 2011;2018]. In most cases the corkscrew-like aedeagi are correlated with ramose antennae (e.g., Figs 58, 59); however, species with longest antennal rami (e.g., Figs 44, 61) tend to have only slightly twisted aedeagi (e.g.,(177)(178), while some species with conspicuously corkscrew-like median lobes have only dentate antennae (e.g., Figs 62-63).…”