Zalophia Casey, 1912

Zalophia Casey, 1912 View in CoL

Type species. Zalophia funebris Casey, 1912 View in CoL (monobasic).

Zalophia Casey 1912: 333 View in CoL , 335; Monné 1994: 80

Redescription. Form moderate sized, slightly tapered posteriorly. Head with front short, declivous in middle, mid-cranial sulcus narrow, deep, extending from postclypeus to anterior margins of upper eye lobes; pubescence moderately dense; genae prominent, anterior margins of lower eye lobe separated from base of mandibles; palpi short, subequal, last segment ovate, not expanded, apices truncate, sides vaguely impressed; mandibles with apices simple; eyes moderately large, finely faceted, upper lobe small, well separated, lower lobe large; antennal tubercles prominent, divergent; integument between tubercles deeply impressed; antennae elongate, 11-segmented, basal antennomeres I–V short, stout, cylindrical, densely clothed with short, suberect setae, scape conical, 11 th antennomere slender with apical fourth to third vaguely appendiculate. Pronotum tapered apically, broader than long, narrower than base of elytra at humeri, sides broadly rounded or tuberculate on basal half, disc densely clothed; prosternum with intercoxal process level with coxae, apex abruptly declivous behind, procoxal cavities wide open behind; mesosternum with intercoxal process prominent, protuberant above coxae, abruptly declivous and excavate anteriorly; posterior margins with sides vaguely overlapping mesocoxae. Scutellum triangular, attenuate apically, longer than wide to as long as wide. Elytra each with two longitudinal glabrous ivory-like vittae; apices sinuate truncate with outer angle unarmed or angulate, sutural angle minutely dentate. Legs moderately short; metafemora falling far short of elytral apices in both sexes; metatarsomere I subequal to tarsomeres II and III combined. Abdomen normally segmented. The following species are included in Zalophia : Z. funebris (Bates) and Z. auricomis (Chemsak and Linsley) new combination.

Discussion. Zalophia Casey can be distinguished from other Sphaenothecus -like trachyderines by the combination of the following characters: (1) head and pronotum densely clothed with long, pale, erect setae ( Fig. 44–49 View Figures 40–51 , 56–61 View Figures 52–64 ); (2) front that is declivous with prominent and divergent antennal tubercles ( Fig. 46 View Figures 40–51 , 58 View Figures 52–64 ); (3) antennomeres I–V that are cylindrical, short, stout, and densely clothed with suberect setae ( Fig. 27, 28 View Figures 24–28 , 65, 66 View Figures 65–68 ); (4) mesosternal intercoxal process that is protuberant above mesocoxae ( Fig. 49 View Figures 40–51 , 61 View Figures 52–64 ); (5) each elytron with a broad, glabrous, subsutural longitudinal yellowish vitta almost attaining apex ( Fig. 50 View Figures 40–51 , 62 View Figures 52–64 ), and a narrow submarginal vitta beginning behind humerus ( Fig. 51 View Figures 40–51 , 63 View Figures 52–64 ); and (6) apices of elytra that are sinuate truncate with outer angles unarmed and obtusely angulate ( Fig. 50 View Figures 40–51 , 62 View Figures 52–64 ). Zalophia can be differentiated from Sphaenothecus by the non-carinate mesofemora, and from Lophaliamorpha new genus and Lophalia by the densely clothed head, antennae and pronotum, subsutural ivory vitae on elytra that almost attains apices, and submarginal vittae that begins behind the humeri. The subsutural costae of Lophaliamorpha and subsutural ivory vitae of Lophalia ends well short of attaining the elytral apices. The submarginal costae or the ivory submarginal vitae of Lophaliamorpha and Lophalia , respectively, starts at the base of each elytron below the humerus. Lophaliamorpha has divergent and prominent antennal tubercles, and elytron with exterior angle unarmed as in Zalophia but the pronotum is sparsely pubescent ( Fig. 35 View Figures 32–35 ), and the antennomeres are slender, elongate and clothed with minute, dark, depressed setae ( Fig. 68 View Figures 65–68 ). Lophalia has a glabrous, sparsely clothed integument, outer angles of elytral apices that are distinctly dentate, front that is convex with integument between antennal tubercles flat or feebly impressed, and antennomeres that are slender ( Fig. 67 View Figures 65–68 ).

Casey (1912) did not provide any etymology for the name Zalophia . However, “ Zalophus ” (as in Zalophus Gill ) is a genus name for the small eared seals, which is a compound word formed from two components in New Latin, za-, and -lophus (from Greek lophos or “crest”) (Merriam-Webster 2024). Therefore, the name Zalophia may be derived from “ za- ”, an intensive or augmentative prefix sometimes used in forming modern scientific words to emphasize the character or quality which means “very”, and lófos or lophos (λόφος)(crested or hill), referring to the “very crested” or “very ridged” mesosternum. The “ -os ” ending of “ Zalophos ” can then be changed to a Latinized ending “ -ia ” to form a taxonomic name of feminine gender.