Apiocephalus yangmingae, Xie, 2025

Xie, Guanglin, 2025, Review of the genus Apiocephalus Gahan, 1898 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) with description of a new species, ZooKeys 1226, pp. 77-85 : 77-85

Apiocephalus yangmingae sp. nov.

Chinese common name: 阳明头花天牛 Fig. 3

Description.

Holotype, female. Body length 13.5 mm (from the front of mandible to elytral apex), humeral width 4.5 mm. Body dull yellowish-brown to black, clothed with greyish-white, greyish-yellow to golden yellow pubescence. Head black, clothed with greyish-yellow pubescence, which is thicker and denser on frons, upper half of genae and sides of the vertex; pubescence on sides of the vertex predominantly golden, forming two longitudinal stripes from antennal insertions to occiput. Pronotum black, clothed with dense greyish-yellow pubescence on sides (including lateral spines) and provided with a golden yellow longitudinal pubescent stripe on either side of midline, connected anteriorly but not reaching basal margin posteriorly; the remainder clothed with rather sparse greyish-yellow pubescence. Scutellum blackish-brown, clothed with greyish-white pubescence. Elytra dark brown, clothed with rather thin greyish-yellow to golden pubescence, and adorned with patches of relatively dense greyish-white pubescence; each elytron with a narrow transverse band at extreme base (golden near scutellum), extending inwards slightly behind humerus, then bending obliquely forward, forming an irregular ring; a broad transverse band behind middle, of which anterior boundary indistinct, posterior edge with five faintly visible spots of dense pubescence, each side containing a region of less greyish-white pubescence; an irregular transverse band before apex and a tuft of greyish-white setae at marginal angle. Underside mostly clothed with dense and non-uniformly greyish-yellow pubescence, prosternum nearly glabrous except for intercoxal process; abdominal ventrites with a glabrous blackish-brown spot on each side. Legs mostly dull yellowish-brown, clothed with greyish-yellow pubescence.

Head prolonged and distinctly narrower than pronotum, featuring a median groove from antennal insertions to upper eye lobes; eyes obviously protruding outward; labrum twice as wide as long, emarginate on apical margin; genae slightly shorter than eye diameter; terminal segment of maxillary palpus prolonged spindle-shaped, with truncate apex. Antennae slightly longer than body, with the distal segment extending beyond the elytral apex; scape long, nearly reaching apical margin of pronotum, and strongly thickened apically; antennomere 3 about as long as antennomere 4 and shorter than antennomere 5. Pronotum slightly shorter than width between lateral spines; apical margin remarkably narrower than basal margin; sides conspicuously constricted at about apical fifth, with lower portion near apical edge distinctly expanded laterally; median spines well developed, blunt apically; disc coarsely and shallowly punctate, with four protuberances, of which the anterior pair before middle are rather low, the posterior pair behind middle are strongly raised, and also with several vague short longitudinal ridges near centre. Scutellum ligulate, slightly concave apically. Elytra about two times as long as width across humeri, subparallel-sided, and arcuately convergent to apices on apical fifth; apices truncate, squarish at outer angles, rounded at inner angles; disc quite uneven, especially at base and apex; surface with extreme base granular-punctate, basal half deeply and closely punctate, apical half more shallowly and sparsely punctate; each elytron provided with an indistinct longitudinal costa. Prosternal process strongly arcuate, narrowed between procoxal cavities, then steeply sloped backwards and dilated apically. Legs long and slender; metafemora not reaching the elytral apex; metatarsomere 1 shorter than the remaining combined.

Male. Unknown.

Type material.

Holotype, China • female ( YZU); Shaanxi, Yangxian (洋县), Huayang town (华阳镇), Hongshiyao village (红石窑村); 33°38'24"N, 107°29'24"E; alt. 1317 m; 8 May 2018; Guanglin Xie leg.

Distribution.

China: Shaanxi.

Etymology.

The new species is named in honour of Ms Zhou Yangming, the author’s mother, a traditional Chinese woman known for her gentle nature, intelligence, manual dexterity and family values. She passed away in 2022 while the author was visiting the Natural History Museum in London.

Diagnosis.

This new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the more exposed dorsum of the head and pronotum, both featuring golden yellow longitudinal stripes, more elongate pronotal lateral spines, and different elytral markings.

Remarks.

The new species was collected on an unknown flower, suggesting a flower-visiting habit.

Figures

Figure 3. Holotype of Apiocephalus yangmingae sp. nov., female a – d habitus of adult e – i terminalia a, e, i dorsal view b, f, h ventral view c lateral view d lateral view of the pronotum e, f sternite VIII g tignum h, i ovipositor c, d taken after remounted. scale: 1 mm (e – i).