Wittmeroquasimus ocellatus ( Dolin, 1993 )

Parekar, Harshad & Patwardhan, Amol, 2025, Annotated catalogue of the click-beetle subfamilies Hemiopinae, Hypnoidinae, Lissominae, Negastriinae, Tetralobinae, and Thylacosterninae (Coleoptera: Elateridae) of India, Zootaxa 5679 (2), pp. 151-203 : 192

Wittmeroquasimus ocellatus ( Dolin, 1993)

Quasimus (Wittmeroquasimus) ocellatus Dolin, 1993: 195 (original description; published type locality: Bhutan); Korneev & Cate, 2005: 20 (type catalogue); Cate, 2007: 191 (catalogue; “ India ”).

Wittmeroquasimus ocellatus ( Dolin, 1993) : Schimmel & Tarnawski, 2009: 117 (transferred to Wittmeroquasimus ).

Type Locality. Bhutan: Charee ** (likely Cheri, Thimphu Valley ) .

Type Depository. Holotype, M ( NHMB).

General Distribution. Bhutan *, China ( Schimmel & Tarnawski 2011a).

Remark. Cate (2007: 191) added “ India ” as a locality for this species in his catalogue.The original description also does not mention India as part of the species’ distribution. As no relevant literature with material-based records from India could be found, this species is not considered to occur in India.

Distributional Analysis

( Figures 7–12 and Table 1)

The present catalogue compiles records of six subfamilies, 19 genera, and 104 species of Elateridae from India. Of these, 82 species were originally discovered and described from India, while 22 species have been subsequently recorded. Furthermore, 53 species (~51% of the total) are recognised as endemic to India. The country comprises 28 states and eight Union Territories (UT), encompassing four major biodiversity hotspots. Among these, 18 states (64%) and three UTs (~38%) show the presence of at least one of the six subfamilies discussed in this catalogue (see Table 1).

West Bengal emerges as the only state with representatives of five subfamilies. Three states — Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand —and one UT, Puducherry, show the presence of three subfamilies. In terms of both generic and species composition (see Table 1 and Figs. 7–12 ) , West Bengal is the most diverse, with 11 genera (58%) and 27 species (26%). Sikkim ranks second with 10 genera (53%) and 21 species (20%), followed by Uttarakhand with 10 genera (53%) and 19 species (18%). Odisha, Ladakh , and Uttar Pradesh show the lowest diversity, each with only one genus and one species.

Hemiopinae is the most widely distributed subfamily, present in 15 states (~54%), followed by Negastriinae , found in 14 states (50%). Notably, Negastriinae is the only subfamily recorded from three UTs (~38%). Thylacosterninae is restricted to a single state, while Tetralobinae occurs in two states.

Biogeographically, Hemiopinae ( Fig. 7 ) is primarily distributed in the Himalayan region and the Western Ghats, two of India’s four biodiversity hotspots, with no records from central and northwestern India. Hypnoidinae ( Fig. 8) appears to be confined exclusively to the Himalayas. Within Lissominae ( Fig. 9 ), the tribe Lissomini is restricted to southern India in the southern Western Ghats, while Protelaterini is distributed in the Himalayas. In Negastriinae ( Figs. 10 , 11 ), both tribes, Negastriini and Quasimusini , are found in the Himalayas and the Western Ghats, with additional records from the southern Eastern Ghats. Tetralobinae and Thylacosterninae are known only from the northeastern Himalayas in India.

This catalogue highlights that 10 states and five UTs currently lack distributional data for the six subfamilies of Elateridae covered in this study. These data gaps strongly suggest the need for future research to further document the distribution, diversity, and ecology of Indian Elateridae .

Figures

FIGURE 7. Distribution of species of the subfamily Hemiopinae in India. Records of Hemiops nigripennis Candèze, 1893 and Legna rufa (Lacordaire, 1857) from the Karavali Stretch, Karnataka, are not considered here due to the lack of precise locality information.

FIGURE 9. Distribution of species of the subfamily Lissominae in India. Records of Lissomus mastrucatus Gerstaecker, 1860 and Lissomus quirsfeldi Cobos, 1963 from the Nilgiri Hills are considered under the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve for the purpose of visualising their occurrence.

FIGURE 10. Distribution of species of the tribe Negastriini (subfamily Negastriinae) in India. The record of Arhaphes luteipes Candèze, 1897 from the Karavali Stretch, Karnataka, is not considered here due to the lack of precise locality information.

FIGURE 11. Distribution of species of the tribe Quasimusini (subfamily Negastriinae) in India. Records of Miquasus convexicollis (Dolin, 2001) and Quasimus indicus Dolin, 2001 from the Nilgiri Hills are considered under the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve for the purpose of visualising their occurrence.