Zopherus granicollis granicollis Horn 1885

Zopherus granicollis granicollis Horn

Zopherus granicollis Horn, 1885:160.

Zopherodes induratus Casey, 1907a:39 [new synonymy].

Zopherodes californicus Casey, 1907b: 466 [new synonymy].

Zopherodes prominens Casey, 1924:305 [new synonymy].

The elytra of this robust species are typically coarsely tuberculate, the tubercles closely spaced and more or less contiguous at their bases. The pronotum is coarsely and densely, frequently granulately punctured, and the punctures of the head are coarse, deep, and closely spaced. The dorsal surface is dull in luster.

This, the nominate subspecies, inhabits the mountains of southern California, and northern Baja California. I have seen only one specimen from Arizona and one from Nevada (Casey’s type of Z. induratus from Las Vegas). An interesting and rather uniform series of 14 specimens from Death Valley National Monument was studied. These appear to be somewhat intermediate between this and the following subspecies (ventriosus), the elytral tubercles being a little smaller and more widely spaced. The lateral elytral tubercles, however, are not transversely elongated as in typical ventriosus. I have seen this same condition in series in which most individuals were coarsely tuberculate and had assumed that it represented older specimens in which the elytra were eroded. This cannot be the case with the Death Valley specimens since they were reared from pine roots (Pinus monophylla) by W. H. Tyson and pinned immediately. More finely sculptured specimens of this species may be separated from Z. uteanus by the more robust body proportions and the coarsely and densely punctured clypeus.

MEASUREMENTS.—Length 12.6–20.5 mm; width 4.4–7.4 mm.

TYPES.—Zopherus granicollis Horn. Holotype (ANSP 3922), California; a square yellow label indicating “northern part of Lower California.”

Zopherodes induratus Casey. Holotype (USNM 46359), Julian, California. The unique type is a typical specimen of granicollis; the only noteworthy feature is the lack of a cephalad-projecting spur on the ventral abdominal callus. This is unusual but not unprecedented since I have seen several other specimens with the same modification.

Zopherodes californicus Casey. Holotype (USNM 46357), Cal [ifornia]. In the unique type specimen, the elytral tubercles are eroded and form transverse, wavy plicae, a variation not uncommon in Z. granicollis.

Zopherodes prominens Casey. Holotype (USNM 46360), Las Vegas, Nevada, 26 May 1905, Tom Spaulding. This specimen, also a unique, falls well within the range of variation in this subspecies, the pronotal punctures having perhaps a sparser arrangement than usual.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED.—126 from the localities that follow. UNITED STATES. ARIZONA: Yuma County. CALIFORNIA: Claremont, Cleghorn Canyon, Crestline, Crystal Lake, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Death Valley National Monument, Fillmore, Herron Hill, Hesperia, Idyllwild, Joshua Tree National Monument, Julian, Lake Arrowhead, Littlerock, Mount Wilson, Newhall, Palm Springs, Pasadena, Potrero, Providence Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa Mountains. NEVADA: Las Vegas. MEXICO. BAJA CALIFORNIA: Ensenada, Rumorosa, 2 miles south of El Toro (Sierra Juarez). Specimens have been collected in every month except November and December.