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The new Salagubang fan page in Facebook

Salagubang, your online resource on Philippine Coleoptera has a new fan page in Facebook! I’ve just added several images of beetles from my site and more to come. Click on the image at the left to go to the fan page.

Check it out! Better still, be a fan!

Undescribed Pachyrrhynchus sp., female, model

Undescribed Pachyrrhynchus sp., male, model

A few years ago, I was able to do a beetle entomological collection at the northeastern part of the Zamboanga Peninsula and, while the collection wasn’t too great, there were some species that are not only new to my collection but, most likely, and I’m pretty sure about it, new to Science.

First is a beautiful Pachyrrhynchus sp. that at first glance the spots looks like those of P. erichsonni WATERHOUSE 1841 but heavily punctured and colored reddish purple. But what delighted me more was the presence of a mimic!

Undescribed Metapocyrtus sp., male, mimic

Undescribed Metapocyrtus sp., female, mimic

Like many Pachyrrhynchus species, present also was a smaller Metapocyrtus species that was found on the same plant where I collected the former.

Other than it’s size, the elytral pattern isn’t as faithful but it does have an iridescent color that is almost the same as with it’s model.

Undescribed Pachyrrhynchus sp., female

Undescribed Metapocyrtus sp., female

I have collected only once on the lower flanks of Mt. Matutum, South Cotabato a few years ago and it was in this mountain where I was able to get two almost similar species of Pachyrrhynchini, both undescribed. The first one is a Pachyrrhynchus sp. and the second is its mimic Metapocyrtus. It was rather unusual since these two species were collected on a few trees in a clearing that clearly used to be forest.

The resemblance is striking. Except for the greener color of the Metapocyrtus sp., the stripes match well with the Pachyrrhynchus species mimic.

Nemophas ramosi SCHULTZE 1920, new status

My thanks to Francesco Vitali who sent me his paper co-authored with Vitali Nagirnyi entitled Nemophas ramosi SCHULTZE, 1920 A Forgotten Philippine Species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) which tackles the long overdue status revision of this species which has been, according to the authors, erroneously synonymized and treated by Breuning. This paper, published by Lambillionea, corrects this and gives a new key to the genus.

Initially described by W. Schultze of the Bureau of Science in Manila as N. rosenbergii ramosi in 1920 as published in the Philippine Journal of Science entitled Eight Contribution to the Coleoptera Fauna of the Philippines, the two authors find enough unique physical markings to separate it from N. rosenbergii RITSEMA 1881 which is found in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The paper lists 16 species of which three occur in the Philippines:

• Nemophas ramosi SCHULTZE 1920 (Mindanao)
• Nemophas subterrubens SCHULTZE 1924, and (Samar)
• Nemophas subcylindricus AURIVILLIUS 1927 (Mindanao and Luzon)

Curiously, the genus is found only on three inter related faunal regions in the country: Luzon, Samar/Leyte subregion and Mindanao.

Undescribed Pachyrrhynchus sp. from Bukidnon, model

Undescribed Metapocyrtus sp. from Bukidnon, mimic

In the hinterlands of Bukidnon province, island of Mindanao, at the lower elevations of the Kitanglad Mountain Range is an undescribed Pachyrrhynchus sp. with its Metapocyrtus sp. mimic that is also new to Science but undescribed. The similarities are startling and both are found in the same small area feeding on the same plants. However, the former is a little bit larger than the model.