Forum Entomologi Italiani

Hi all, I have some Protaetia specimens collected this year that I really can't say for sure what they are
The specimens from the first row has more or less white stripes on the elytra, so they are P. cuprea metallica ? And the specimen from the second row has no white spots on the elytra, so they are P. cuprea obscura ?
Also I know that P. cuprea metallica is no more a subspecies of P. cuprea, it is a species on it's own right. Anyone has the paper about this?

Pleaseeeee help !

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alexandrupintilioaie(AT)gmail.com

There is a mix between C. aurata and Protaetia sp.

In my opinion, they are hybrids between Protaetia cuprea metallica and P. cuprea obscura, that demonstrates metallica is just a subspecies of cuprea.

_________________
Ciao
Adrian

I cannot spot any obvious C. aurata, and I agree that they should be placed either in P. cuprea obscura or P. cuprea metallica. Specimens looking like a mix (hybrid) of these two taxa are present also in Italian Alps and prealps.

However, the definition of these two taxa is far from being clear.
Which are the type locality of each taxon? (not a a retoric question, I have never dealt with)
Which are the diagnostic characters of each of them? Based on Baraud, they should be parted since from the beginning of the key by the presence/absence of the white spot on the knee. But this character - in my opinion - deserve a sound re-evaluation. For example, it should be missing from P. cuprea from Italian peninsula (traditionally referred to P. cuprea cuprea), while it is often present. You can see several examples also in our forum:
viewtopic.php?f=164&t=41819
viewtopic.php?f=164&t=45301
viewtopic.php?f=164&t=36815
viewtopic.php?f=164&t=24822
viewtopic.php?f=164&t=13881
viewtopic.php?f=164&t=14382
viewtopic.php?f=164&t=19544

The 3rd specimen in the middle of the top line seems to have an mesosternal apophysisof C. aurata (but it could just be an impression ?).

And between metallica and cuprea, in France, it isn't clear too...

And is bourgini clearly identifiable?
I have little material of this taxon, but it doesn't seems much characterized.

It is just an impression because of the picture ....all specimens are Protaetia

_________________
alexandrupintilioaie(AT)gmail.com

I agree, no Cetonia aurata in this pile. Just look at the elytra in the dorsal view.

_________________
Ciao
Adrian