Brachyrhynchus sp.

Brachyrhynchus sp.

( Fig. 3C–D View FIGURE 3 )

Material examined. South Korea: Gyeonggi-do: 2 ♂, 2 ♀, ‘ KwangNung, Pochon-gun, Kyonggi-do’ [= Gwangneung, Pocheon-si], 14–19.v.1992, leg. M.T. Chujo, identified by I.M. Kerzhner as Mezira taiwanica (NIBR) ; 8 ♂, 8 ♀, same locality, 14.vi.2021, leg. W. Kim & J. Oh ( SNU) ; 1 ♂, Yeoncheon-gun, Yeoncheon-eup, Jaein falls (38°05'03"N, 127°08'29"E), 10.vi.2008, leg. JD Yeo, MJ Jeon, HG Kim ( NIBR) GoogleMaps ; 1 ♀, Pocheon-si, Changsu-myeon, Gososung-ri , 17.vi.2022, leg. W. Kim ( SNU) ; 5 ♂, 1 ♀, Yeoju-si, Gangcheon-myeon, Bupyeong-ri (37°15'22.7"N 127°45'19.2"E), 06.vi.2021. leg. W. Kim ( SNU) GoogleMaps ; 2 ♀, same locality, 14.iv.2022, leg. Sunggum Sul ( SNU) GoogleMaps ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀, same locality, 17.vi.2023, leg. W. Kim ( SNU) GoogleMaps ; 1 ♀, Gwangju-si, Docheok-myeon, Sanglim-ri , SNU Taehwa experimental forest, 19.vi.2017, coll. Ri Yu ( SNU) ; 1 ♀, same locality, 18.vi.2014, leg. Kunhyong Park ( SNU) ; 1 ♂, Hanam-si, Cheonhyeon-dong , 37°31'33"N 127°14'01"E, H: 79m, 03.vi.2007, leg. S.W. Park ( SNU) GoogleMaps . Jeollanam-do: 1 ♂, Gwangyang-si, Ongnyong-myeon, Baekgye-ro , SNU Nambu university forests, 18.vi.2019, leg. Dohun Kim ( SNU) . Jeju-do: 2 ♀, Jeju-si, Jocheon-eup, Gyorae National Recreation Forest , 28.v.2022, leg. Jinbae Seung ( SNU) .

Distribution. Korea (Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, Jeollabuk-do, Jeollanam-do, Jeju-do).

Comments. This species was listed from the Korean fauna by Zoological Society of Korea (1968) as Mezira membranacea , and although occurrence records appear on regional faunal surveys ( Kim 1981) and catalogues ( Lee & Kwon 1991), no verifiable records exists until Lee & Kerzhner (1994) provided specimen information based on 70 individuals from Kwangneong (= Gwangneung, Pocheon-si) and Chunsung (= Chuncheon-si), which they identified as Mezira taiwanica Kormilev, 1957 (currently Brachyrhynchus taiwanicus ( Kormilev, 1957)) . While Zoological Society of Korea (1968) and Ju (1969) list Mezira membranacea (currently Brachyrhynchus membranaceus ( Fabricius, 1798)) , Kwon et al. (2001) summarized that at least Zoological Society of Korea (1968) ’s record pertains to B. taiwanicus . Ju (1969) ’s record from North Korea is likely erroneous given the circumtropical distribution of B. membranaceus ( Heiss 2001) .

We examined specimens that were identified by I.M. Kerzhner as B. taiwanicus during the revisionary work of Lee & Kerzhner (1994), and found that it differs from the original description by Kormilev (1957). All Korean specimens previously reported as B. taiwanicus in Lee & Kerzhner (1994), in addition to recently collected material, differ from the original description of Kormilev (1957) mainly on the following characters: lateral margins of the abdomen of both sexes gradually widened, then posteriorly tapered at posterior 1/3 of segment VI; male abdomen widest at posterior 1/3 of segment VI; larger and wider (> 1/3 of maximum abdomen width) male pygophore (see Figure 3D View FIGURE 3 ; Ahn et al. 2018: 114, under D. formosanus ). Since many species of Brachyrhynchus share similar morphological features and often are sexually dimorphic ( Kormilev 1957, Liu 1981), we suppose that the species currently known in South Korea as B. taiwanicus pertains to a congeneric species. Examination and comparison of specimens from neighboring regions would be needed to clarify the identity of this species.