Cephennodes oblongopunctatus, Jaloszynski & Nomura, 2008

Cephennodes oblongopunctatus View in CoL species group

Diagnosis. Externally unremarkable, lacking male secondary sexual characters; aedeagus of modified simonis form: in ventral view, median lobe drop-shaped but with apical portion of basal capsule strongly elongate and forming nearly rod-like projection; apical projection of median lobe in ventral view broadly T-shaped, its apex with two clearly defined distolateral corners developed as subtriangular lobe (in ventral view left one) and scythe-shaped projection (right one); parameres asymmetrical, each with three apical/subapical setae.

Species of this group are very difficult to identify. In many cases, the aedeagi are highly similar between species, but external characters (especially body size and proportions of body parts) differ markedly. Moreover, the shape of the aedeagal structures strongly depends on the orientation in mounting medium, and even a slight rotation can cause the aedeagus of the same specimen look different ( Figs 120, 122 and 123 View FIGURES 119–123 show such differences). Great care should be taken to compare specimens with the type material of previously described species, and to compare all measurements, punctuation pattern, proportions of antennomeres et cet., to avoid misidentifications.

This is a moderately species-rich group that currently includes 12 described species distributed in Nepal, Thailand and Japan: