Trachelophora Perroud 1855

Trachelophora Perroud, 1855 Trachelophora Perroud, 1855: 357 (original description); Thomson 1864: 35, 358 (key); Pascoe 1867: 440 (key), 451; Lacordaire 1872: 470 (key), 471; Breuning 1950: 321 (key), 350. Type species. Trachelophora curvicollis Perroud, 1855. Diagnosis. The genus Trachelophora is distinguished by the combination of the following characters: elongate-oval, robust body densely covered with posteriorly inclined pubescence. Head as wide as or slightly wider than prothorax; frontoclypeus broad, rectangular to subquadrate; frons with a narrow median groove extending nearly to clypeal base; head capsule distinctly deflexed. Eyes coarsely faceted and deeply emarginate. Antennae slender, distinctly longer than body; scape clavate; antennomere III ~ 2 × as long as scape; pedicel subquadrate. Pronotum elongate-transverse, coarsely punctate, bearing a distinct, strong subuliform lateral tubercle. Prosternal process broad, arched, and posteriorly expanded; mesosternal process anteriorly truncate; metasternum elongate. Elytra elongate, gradually narrowing toward apex, densely and coarsely punctate, with irregular basal punctation and prominent outer apical angles. Legs long, with linear femora; protibiae apically incurved and bearing two apical spurs, protibiae and mesotibiae each with antennal cleaners, mesotibial cleaner sulcate. Tarsi pentamerous; claws simple and narrowly divergent. Hind wings fully developed (Figs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). Male genitalia (Fig. 9): tegmen elongate, slender, symmetrical; phallobase broadened medially, narrowing toward both basal and apical ends (Fig. 9 C, I, O). In ventral view, lateral margins slightly convergent distally (Fig. 9 C, I, O); in lateral view, tegmen curved to weakly undulate (Fig. 9 D, J, P). Parameres elongate, slender, closely appressed medially; apices rounded, bearing dense, long apical setae; in lateral view flat, not undulate, slightly curved (Fig. 9 D, J, P). Median lobe flattened and parallel-sided in ventral view, tapering distally; apex narrow, rounded to subacute; surface smooth with faint internal folds; in lateral view elongate, curved, and apically narrowed (Fig. 9 E, F, K, L, Q – S). Remarks. Trachelophora shares with Notomulciber Blackburn, 1894 the following characters: mesosternal process truncate at its anterior margin; eyes emarginate; metasternum elongate; wings normally developed. However, the two genera can be readily distinguished by the structure of the legs: in Trachelophora, the legs are long with femora linear while in Notomulciber, the legs are of moderate length with clavate femora. Trachelophora also shares several diagnostic characters with Homonea Newman, 1842 and Mulciber Thomson, 1864, including the mesosternal process straight, tuberculate, or slightly inclined anteriorly; mesosternal process truncate at its anterior margin; prosternal process vertically truncate at its posterior margin; and antennae composed of eleven antennomeres. However, these taxa can be distinguished by the structure of the pronotum. In Homonea, each side of the pronotum bears a small but distinct latero-inferior tubercle situated near the anterior margin, a character absent in Trachelophora. In contrast, Mulciber lacks such a pronotal tubercle entirely, whereas Trachelophora possesses a distinct pronotal tubercle.