Forum Entomologi Italiani

Greece,Crete,Omalos
size 10.5mm

Hi there, from this picture I can't see if 6°-7° antennal joint are lighter at the base.
Anyway, I seem it's very likely a female of Paracorymbia picticornis Reitter, 1885

Cheers, Clickie

Yes.6-7 antennal segments are lighter at the base.
And can't it be Stictoleptura pallens???

apex of elytra

According to the original description P. picticornis it is distinguished from S. pallens principally by the apex of 6th and 7th antennomere yellow, but according to Reitter this character is not visible without a microscope, because the yellow is not as extended as in P. maculicornis or P. hybrida but limited to the articulation between the antennomeres. So, basically, if we trust the original description the species is distinguishable for a yellow area between the segments (whatever this means) and for the apical margin of the pygidium that is deeply triangular (if my translation is ok) in picticornis and straight in pallens.

This species was synonymized and then re-established in the Catalogue, as always without a word of explanation, because catalogues became a way to express the author's opinion and change nomenclature without making a minimal effort, instead of being a simple collection of the current state of the art, as it should be. As a result, we have a species that is now valid, but we don't know why.
I would be very curious to see material from Greece and Crete: according to Reitter, this species is found both in mainland Greece and in Crete. Probably it's just infraspecific variation, but to be sure I would need to check quite a lot of specimens.

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