Limernaea Thomson 1878

Limernaea Thomson, 1878 (Cerambycinae: Oemini) Sphagoeme Aurivillius 1893: 178; Martins et al. 2014: 601 (synonymy); Monné 2023a: 623 (catalogue) Note: see full references in Monné (2023a) and Tavakilian and Chevillotte (2023). Remarks. Martins (1997) redescribed Sphagoeme Aurivillius, 1893 and divided the species into two groups (translated): “The shape of the sides of the prothorax and the sexual punctation allow the species to be divided into two groups: Group I (S. sahlbergi) – presence of rounded gibbosity about middle, and sexual punctation on depressed areas, restricted to the sides of the prosternum; Group II (S. ochracea) – sides of prothorax uniformly rounded, and sexual punctation occupying the sides of the prosternum, sides of the prothorax, and sides of the pronotum.” He also commented about the mesotibiae (translated): “Mesotibiae cylindrical or with slight projection on posterior margin of apical third.” Martins (1997) included in Group I: Sphagoeme nigricollis Martins, 1973 (= S. picta Thomson, 1878); S. aurivillii Gounelle, 1909; S. acuta Martins and Galileo, 1994; S. paraensis Martins, 1977; and S. sahlbergi Aurivillius, 1893. In Group II, he included: Sphagoeme lineata Martins, 1981; S. ochracea Fisher, 1927; and S. suturalis Martins, 1977. Still according to Martins (1997), females of S. suturalis are exceptions in Group II because they have the lateral tubercles of the prothorax well marked. However, the use of this feature to separate the species into two groups is doubtful because the sides of the prothorax are somewhat variable in females of some species. For example, in females of S. ochracea, the sides of the prothorax may be distinctly rounded from anterolateral to posterolateral angles (Fig. 2A) or the central region may be distinctly angled (Fig. 2E). Martins et al. (2014) synonymised Sphagoeme with Limernaea Thomson, 1878. Martins et al. (2014) also synonymised Sphagoeme nigrotibialis with Limernaea picta Thomson, 1878. Before Martins et al. (2014), Limernaea was included in Hesperophanini (see Martins and Galileo 2003) and Sphagoeme in Oemini (see Martins 1997). The argument was that, because the two species are synonymous and the redescription of Sphagoeme by Martins (1997) agrees perfectly with that of Limernaea picta, Sphagoeme was a junior synonym of Limernaea. We suspect that Limernaea species belong to two genera, but the feature separating them would be the shape of the mesotibiae and metatibiae: with distinct projection on dorsal surface of apical third (Figs. 1E, 2D), which includes the type species of Sphagoeme, S. sahlbergi; or without projection on the mesotibiae and metatibiae, which includes the type species of Limernaea, S. picta (Fig. 1A–C). However, a more detailed study would be needed to eventually reinstate Sphagoeme. Although not mentioned by Martins (1997), in the species with distinct projection on the mesotibiae, the metatibiae also have a slight projection on the dorsal surface of the apical third. The species with a projection on the mesotibiae and metatibiae are: Limernaea acuta (Martins and Galileo, 1994); L. aurivillii (Gounelle, 1909); L. lineata (Martins, 1981); L. ochracea (Fisher, 1927); L. sahlbergi (Aurivillius, 1893) (Fig. 1D–E); and L. suturalis (Martins, 1977). The species without projection on the mesotibiae and metatibiae are: L. paraensis (Martins, 1977); L. picta; and L. premarginata (Dalens and Touroult, 2014).