Sinodrepanus falsus (Sharp, 1875)

Oniticellus falsus Sharp, 1875: 52 (original description)

Drepanochirus falsus: Boucomont & Gillet, 1921: 19

Cyptochirus falsus: Boucomont & Gillet, 1927: 103; Paulian, 1945: 128

Drepanocerus falsus: Janssens, 1953: 36, 37; Balthasar, 1963: 62, 66; Biswas & Chatterjee, 1985: 151 (probably to be ascribed to S. schoenfeldi new species); Sewak, 2003: 253, 283 (to be ascribed to S. schoenfeldi new species ?); Sewak, 2006: 219

Sinodrepanus falsus: Simonis, 1985: 98, 103, 104; Kabakov & Napolov, 1999: 73; Ochi et al., 2004: 355; Bezděk & Krell, 2006: 157; Krikken, 2009: 9, 14, 21; Kabakov & Shokhin, 2014: 58; Mittal & Jain, 2015: 393; Bezděk, 2016: 174; Montanaro, 2021: 585

Type locality: Laos.

Type material examined. Holotype, ♀ (MNHN): Laos / Mouhot [wc, line 1 hb, line 2 pb] // Oniticellus / falsus / Type D.S. [wc, hb except “Type” pb] // Ex Musaeo / D. Sharp 1890 [wc, pb] // MUSÉUM PARIS / 1952 / COLL. R. OBERTHÜR [wc, pb] // A. Janssens det. 1953 / Drepanocerus / falsus Sharp ♀ / Type [wc, hb except “A. Janssens det. 195” pb] // TYPE [rc, pb] // HOLOTYPE [rc, pb] // HOLOTYPE / Sinodrepanus / falsus (Sharp) [wc, pb] // MNHN / EC8103 [wc, pb] .

Additional material examined (37♂♂, 20♀♀). China: S Yunnan province, Xishuangbanna, Guangpin environment, 0km [sic!] N Jinghong, 1000m, 19–27.i.2003, S. Murzin legit [1♂, PMOC] ; S Yunnan province, Jinghong, 9–14.vii.1990, R. Červenka legit [2♂♂, NMPC] . Laos: Xayaboury province, Hongsa environment, 19°40–44’N 101°20’E, 550–750m, 2–3.vii.2010, D. Hauck legit [1♀, JSCS]; Paklay, viii.1917, R.V. de Salvaza legit [1♂, BMNH]; Louangphrabang, Thong Khan, 19°35’N 101°58’E, ~ 750m, 11–21.v.2002, Vit Kubáň legit [10♂♂ & 6♀♀, NMPC]; Phongsaly province, Ban Sano Mai environment, 21°21’N 102°03’E, ~ 1150m, 19–26.v.2004, Vit Kubáň legit [2♂♂, NMPC]; Xayaboury province, Pak Lay env., 18°13’N 101°22–24’E, 12–13.vii.2010, David Hauck legit [4♂♂, 2♀♀, NMBS; 2♂♂, 1♀, JSCS] . Thailand: Ban Tao Phan, 11.iii.1918 [likely Ban Phan Tao in Chiang Mai province; 1♂, BMNH]; Chiang Mai province, Chiang Dao, Chiang Dao Hill Resort environment, 19°33’28.37”N 99°4’34.20”E, 2–11.vii.2019, Vishnyakov Alexey legit [1♂, GMOC] ; Chiang Mai province, Chiang Dao, 19°33’28”N 99°4’34”E, 14.vi.2017, Prosvirov legit [1♀, GMOC] ; Chiang Mai province, Chiangdao Hill Resort, 19°33’29.19”N 99°04’33.34”E, 1-15.vii.2019, Ustinov V. legit [2♂♂, GMOC] ; 100km N Chiang Mai, Chiang Dao hill Resort, 20-30.VI.2008, S. Murzin legit [1♂, PMOC] ; Loei province, Na Haeo biological station, cow dung, 5–12.v.2001, Constant & Grootaert legit [4♂♂, 6♀♀, RBINS] ; Loei province, Na Haeo, zebu dung, 18.v.2003, J. Constant & K. Smets legit [2♂♂, 2♀♀, RBINS]; Umphang river, 16°07’N 99°00’E, 1000m, 28.iv– 6.v.1991, Vit Kubáň legit [4♂♂, 1♀, NMPC] .

Diagnosis. Sinodrepanus falsus can be distinguished from other species by the characters provided by Montanaro (2021). Additionally, this species is rather distinctive for having a particularly uneven body surface, with strong pronotal carinas that delimit well-marked spaces on the pronotum, recalling those of the genus Cyptochirus Lesne, 1900 —see also Simonis (1985) and Simonis & Zunino (1980). See also the dichotomous key provided below.

Description: see Montanaro (2021).

Variation. Body size ranges from 7.2 to 9.8 mm. No other significant variation was observed.

Verified distribution. China (Yunnan), Laos, Thailand (Fig. 4). Kabakov & Napolov (1999) recorded S. falsus from Vietnam, considering S. exsul as a synonym of it. Kabakov & Shokhin (2014) recorded S. falsus from China (Sichuan). These records should be reassessed to understand the true identity of such species. See also the “ Indian Sinodrepanus: an overlooked diversity?” section for more distributional comments.

Ecology. Some specimens were collected in cow and zebu dung.

Etymology. Latin adjective meaning “deceived”, “tricked”; by extension “false”, “untrue”. It is probably referred to the cryptic appearance of this species, shared with all other Sinodrepanus, that camouflages these beetles within dung and other fibrous substrates.