Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2022 | 14(8): 21720–21726

 

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7058.14.8.21720-21726

#7058 | Received 06 January 2021 | Final received 12 May 2022 | Finally accepted 16 May 2022

 

 

 

New state records of longhorn beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from Meghalaya, India

 

Vishwanath Duttatray Hegde 1, Sarita Yadav 2, Prerna Burathoki 3  & Bhaskar Saikia 4

 

1,2,4 North Eastern Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Risa Colony, Shillong, Meghalaya 793003, India.

3 3rd Mile, Upper Shillong, Meghalaya 793005, India.

1 hegde67@yahoo.co.in (corresponding author), 2 saritayadavzsi18@gmail.com, 3 prerna.burathoki.8@gmail.com, 4 bhaskarsaikia7@gmail.com

 

 

 

Editor: Anonymity requested.       Date of publication: 26 August 2022 (online & print)

 

Citation: Hegde, V.D., S. Yadav, P. Burathoki & B. Saikia (2022). New state records of longhorn beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from Meghalaya, India.  Journal of Threatened Taxa 14(8): 21720–21726. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7058.14.8.21720-21726

 

Copyright: © Hegde et al. 2022. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for the facilities, and B. Kariyanna for confirmation on some species identity. We acknowledge Meghalaya Forest Department to carry out faunistic survey in Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, Ri-Bhoi District vide letter O.O. No. 30 dated 13th July, 2015. Thanks are also due to the staff of North Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong for their constant help.

 

 

 

Abstract: We report the range extension of 11 species of Cerambycidae fauna into Meghalaya, northeastern India, based on our studies on the unidentified specimens of longhorn beetles deposited in the National Zoological Collection of the Zoological Survey of India, Shillong. These 11 species under 11 genera, nine tribes, and three subfamilies increases the known Cerambycidae diversity in Meghalaya from 81 species to 92 species.

 

Keywords: Additional distribution records, Mawsmai cave, Nongkhyllem, northeastern India, Shillong.

 

 

 

The longhorn beetles (Family Cerambycidae) are one of the most spectacular insect groups due to their strikingly long antennae and colourful elytra. However, the records of longhorn beetles from northeastern India are very poor, despite the region being located in the confluence of two biodiversity hotspots (the Himalaya and the Indo-Burma), with probably many species yet to be documented from this region. Our knowledge on the Indian longhorn beetles are largely enhanced by the works of Kariyanna (2016) and Kariyanna et al. (2017). The earliest known work on the cerambycid beetles of Meghalaya dates back to Breuning (1938). However, since then, no further addition was made to our knowledge on this group of insects from the State. It was in the 21st century that voluminous work on the cerambycid fauna of Meghalaya was made by Mukhopadhyay & Biswas (2000) where they reported 71 species. So far, a total of 81 species under 53 genera of 28 tribes under three subfamilies are known from the State of Meghalaya (Mitra et al. 2016).

Herein, we examine the cerambycid beetles specimens deposited in the National Zoological Collections (NZC) of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Shillong, Meghalaya

 

Material and Methods

The Cerambycidae specimens present in the backlog collections of ZSI, Shillong are identified. The identification is based on the morphological characters. Classification and the distribution records were followed after Kumawat et al. (2015) and Kariyanna et al. (2017), respectively. The specimens are photographed using a Nikon D300s DSLR camera and registered in the NZC of ZSI, Shillong. The museum catalogue numbers are provided under the respective species account. The known distribution ranges of these identified species are also mentioned. The collection details of the specimens are arranged in the following order: number of specimen(s) denoted as ex., collection location, date of collection, collector’s name, museum catalogue number of ZSI, Shillong.

 

Results

Family Cerambycidae

Subfamily Cerambycinae

Tribe Callidiopini

1. Stenodryas apicalis (Gahan, 1893) [Image 1E]

1893. Nyphasia apicalis Gahan, The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, London, Series 6, 11(65): 378

1984. Stenodryas apicalis Holzschuh, Entomologica Basiliensa, 9: 347.

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills, 3rd Mile, Upper Shillong, 02 June 2020, P. Burathoki, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-224.

Diagnostic Characters: Small sized (L 14 mm, B 5 mm); red-brown in colour; eyes large; antenna 11 segmented, longer than body, segment 3–6 with acute spine; pronotum globular, longer than broad; elytra elongated, slender; femur abruptly bulged at apex, tarsal claw less than 900 angle.

Distribution: India (Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, & West Bengal) and Nepal.

 

Tribe Cerambycini

2. Trirachys holosericeus (Fabricius, 1787) [Image 1B]

1787. Ceramryx holosericeus Fabricius, Mantissa Insectorum sistens eorum species nuper detectas adiectis characteribus genericis, differentiis specificis, emendationibus, Observationibus. 1. C.G. Proft, Copenhagen: 135.

2017. Trirachys holosericeus Vitali et al. Les Cahiers Magellanes, N.S. 26: 46.

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills, Mawsmai Cave, Cherrapunjee,   01 November 2011, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-40.

Diagnostic Characters: Medium sized (L 27 mm, B 7 mm); chocolate brown in colour; antennae apical portion broken. Pronotum with irregular folds and heterogeneous sparse punctures dorsally & lateral to median elevation with very coarse longitudinal folds; elytra long and slender; femur flat.

Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, & Meghalaya); China; Indonesia; Laos; Myanmar; Thailand; Sri Lanka; and Vietnam.

 

3. Xoanodera regularis Gahan, 1890 [Image 1C]

1890. Xoanodera regularis Gahan, The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, London, Series 6, 5 (25): 52.

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, Mawsmai Cave, Cherrapunjee, 01 November 2011, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-36.

Diagnostic Characters:  Medium sized (L 20 mm, B 7 mm); antenna 11-segmented; pronotum is as long as broad, with one thorn laterally. Elytra greyish in colour with streaks of brown shades near the scutellum and roundish dark spots mid-dorsolaterally.

Distribution: India (Assam, Meghalaya, & West Bengal); Cambodia; China; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; and Vietnam.

 

Tribe Xystrocerini

4. Xystrocera globosa (Olivier, 1795) [Image 1D]

1795. Cerambix globosus Olivier, Imprimerie de Lanneau, Paris, 4: 27

1834.  Xystrocera globosa  Audinet-Serville, Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, Paris, 1(3): 70

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, Mawsmai Cave, Cherrapunjee, 01 November 2011, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-38; 02 exs. Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, ZSI Campus, Shillong   17 May 2017, I. Imam  Coll. Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-39.  

Diagnostic Characters:  Medium sized (L 24 mm, B 6 mm); antenna 10-segmented, spur on the first sengment; pronotum globular with dark coloured border dorsally, centrally brown; elytra long and elongated, brown in colour with a single dark colour longitudinal stripe on each elytra; femur bulged.

Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, & West Bengal); Australia; Egypt; Hawaiian France Is.; Indonesia; Japan; Madagascar; Malaysia; Mauritius; Myanmar; the Philippines; Puerto Rico; Sri Lanka; and Thailand.

 

Subfamily Lamiinae

Tribe Apomecynini

5. Apomecyna histrio (Fabricius, 1793) [Image 1A]

1793. Lamia histrio Fabricius, Entomologia systematic emendata et aucta. 1(2). Hafniae Impensis Christ Gottl Proft, Copenhagen: 288.

1960. Apomecyna (Apomecyna) histrio Breuning Verlag des Museums G. Frey, Tutzing bei München, 3: 131

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, Shillong, Risa Colony, 27 August 2020, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-223.

Diagnostic Characters: Small sized (L 10 mm, B 3 mm); dark brown in color; head roundish; antenna 11 segmented, 3rd and 4th segment large; pronotum cylindrical, with a mid dorsal line of whitish spots; elytra elongated, covered in dense longitudinal punctures, decorated with yellow spots.

Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, & West Bengal); Australia; China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Laos; Mongolia; Pakistan; the Philippines; and Russia.

 

Tribe Batocerini

6. Batocera horsfieldi (Hope, 1839) [Image 1F]

1839. Lamia horsfieldii Hope, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, 1: 42.

1948. Batocera horsfieldi m. flavicans Breuning, Bulletin du Musée Royal d’Histoire Naturelle de Belgique, Bruxelles, 24(38): 15.

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, ZSI Campus, Shillong   17 May 2017, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-47;  01 ex. Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, Mawsmai Cave, Cherrapunjee, 01 November 2011, B. Saikia Coll. Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-49.

Diagnostic Characters: Body large, broad and robust (L 54 mm, B 20 mm); antenna 11-segmented, 3rd the longest; pronotum is as long as broad with a pair of thorn on lateral side, a pair of prominent yellow marks in the middle; scutellum tongue shaped, whitish in colour; elytra slaty-grey in colour, anterior portion with dark dots and whitish patches, mid to posterior portion with irregular and large whitish patches.  

Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, & Sikkim); China; Japan; Korea; Myanmar; Nepal; and Vietnam.

 

Tribe Dorcaschematini

7. Olenecamptus indianus (Thomson, 1857) [Image 2G]

1857. Authades indianus Thomson, Archives Entomologiques, Paris, 1: 192

1943. Olenecamptus indianus Breuning & Itzinger, Attidella Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milano, 82: 48.

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, Ri-Bhoi district, Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, Forest IB, Lailad, 10 May 2017, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-50.

Diagnostic Characters: Body slander and elongated (L 24 mm, B 5 mm); antenna 11-segmented. 3rd segment the largest. Body brown in color with irregular yellow patches on the elytra. Pronotum longer than broad.

Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, & West Bengal); China; Japan; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; Sri Lanka; and Vietnam.

 

Tribe Lamiini

8. Anoplophora stanleyana Hope, 1839 [Image 2H]

1839. Anoplophora stanleyana Hope, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, 1: 43.

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, Ri-Bhoi district, BSI Experimental Garden, Barapani, 04 August 2020, V.D. Hegde Coll. Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-218.

Diagnostic Characters: Body large, robust and (L 40 mm, B 15 mm ), antenna 11-segmented, 3rd segment the longest, segments of antenna pale blue with black apical portion; protonotum with a pair of thorns placed laterally; elytra large and robust, dark in colour marked with irregular shaped bright ocean-blue coloured spots.

Distribution: India (Nagaland, Meghalaya, Sikkim, & West Bengal); Bhutan; China; Indochina; Myanmar; and Vietnam.

Remark: Kariyanna et al. (2017) included Assam under its distribution as they included Naga Hills as one of the known localities. However, post the bifurcation of erstwhile Assam, Naga Hills now comes under the state of Nagaland. As such, there is no further report of this species from Assam.

 

9. Sarothrocera cf. lowii White, 1846 [Image 2I]

1846. Sarothrocera lowii White, The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, London, Series 18, 7 (116): 47.

Material examined: 02 exs., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, Mawsmai Cave, Cherrapunjee, 01 November 2011, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-52.

Diagnostic Characters: Medium sized (L 22 mm, B 11 mm), light brown in color; scutellum tongue shaped; pronotum broader with spur on the lateral side; antenna 11 segmented and serrated.

Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh & Meghalaya); Malaysia; Myanmar; and Thailand.

 

Subfamily Prioninae

Tribe Aegosomatini

10. Baralipton maculosum Thomson, 1857 [Image 2J]

1857. Baralipton maculosum Thomson, Archives Entomologiques, Paris, 1: 342.

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, Mawsmai Cave, Cherrapunjee, 01 November 2011, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-41; 02 exs. Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, ZSI Campus, Shillong, 04 June 2017, I. Imam, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-42.

Diagnostic Characters: Large and elongated body (L 41 mm, B 12 mm); antenna 11-segmented, 3rd  segment the longest. The terminal part of each antennal segment is marked with black; pronotum broad, covered with yellowish-brown pubescence and a pair of prominent black triangular shape in the middle, lateral sides of the pronotum with a thorn. Elytra brown in colour with two pairs of dark brown patches, longitudinal ridges.

Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Sikkim, & West Bengal); China; Laos; Myanmar; Thailand; and Vietnam.

Remark: Kariyanna et al. (2017) included Assam under its distribution as they included Patkai Mts. as one of the known localities. However, post the bifurcation of erstwhile Assam, Patkai Mountains now comes under the state of Nagaland; although Mitra et al. (2017) have reported this from Assam.        

 

Tribe Prionini

11. Prionomma atratum (Gmelin, 1790) [Image 2K]

1790. Cerambyx (Prionus) atratus Gmelin, Caroli a Linné Systema Naturæ per Regna tria Naturae, Classis V. Insecta. 1 (4). 13th Edition. G.E. Beer, Leipzig: 1818.

1910. Prionomma (Prionomma) atratum Lameere, Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, Bruxelles, 54(8): 280.

Material examined: 01 ex., India, Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills district, Mawsmai Cave, Cherrapunjee, 01 November 2011, B. Saikia, Reg. No. I/COL/NERC-43.

Diagnostic Characters: Body large and robust (L 42 mm, B 17 mm); antennae broken; pronotum broad with a pair of medially raised bulge and a mid-dorsal groove, laterally a pair of thorns; scutellum tongue shaped; elytra dark brown, longitudinal ridges present.

Distribution: India (Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, & Tamil Nadu) and Sri Lanka.

 

Discussion

Kariyanna et al. (2017) reported 1,536 species of longhorn beetles from India including 592 species from northeastern India. In Meghalaya, only 81 species of longhorn beetles were recorded prior to this report, wherein we are reporting 11 new records of longhorn beetles from the State. Hence, with this finding, the current cerembycid fauna of Meghalaya stands at 92 species. Despite being an economic pest, there is a general lack of research thrust in this group of insects as highlighted by the limited number of known species from the Region and as well as from the State. 

Kariyanna et al. (2017) included Assam under the distribution range of Baralipton maculosum and Anoplophora stanleyana. A perusal of the report by Kariyanna et al. (2017) reveals that B. maculosum is known from Patkai Mountains while A. stanleyana is known from Naga Hills, due to which Assam was erroneously included in their distribution range, as both the locations were a part of the erstwhile undivided Assam. However, with the bifurcation of the erstwhile Assam which had resulted in the creation of Nagaland State in 1963, the new state included both Patkai Mountains and Naga Hills within its jurisdiction; hence, the occurrence of these above species in Assam is erroneous.

The specimens reported herein were collected from four localities: forest near Mawsmai Cave in Cherrapunjee (=Sohra) and some forests patches of Shillong, both the areas located in East Khasi Hills District, Umiam, and Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary and around, in Ri-Bhoi District of the State. The State being largely a producer of different varieties of fruits, especially citrus fruits, there is a high probability of occurrence of many undocumented species of longhorn beetles. Further extensive surveys, particularly into the protected areas of the State has the potential to enhance our knowledge on the diversity of this group of beetles.

 

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References

 

Breuning, S. (1938). Novae species Cerambycidarum VI. Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstage von Professor Dr. Embrik Strand, Riga 4: 180–392.

Kariyanna, B. (2016). An analysis of the species diversity and distribution of agriculturally important longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae: Coleoptera) from India. M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis, Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Raipur, Faculty of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, 351–588pp.

Kariyanna, B., M. Mohan, R. Gupta & F. Vitali (2017). The checklist of longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from India. Zootaxa 4345(1): 001–317.  https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4345.1.1

Kumawat, M.M., K.M. Singh & V.V. Ramamurthy (2015). A checklist of the ong-horned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India with several new reports. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(12): 7879–7901. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o4007.7879-901

Mitra, B., P., Das, U. Chakraborti, K. Mallick & A. Majumder (2016). Longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae: Coleoptera) of Meghalaya with eight new records, The Journal of Zoology Studies 3(4): 39-47.

Mukhopadhyay, P. & S. Biswas (2000). Insecta: Coleoptera: Cerambycidae. Fauna of Meghalaya, State Fauna Series. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata 4(5): 41–67.