Trachelophora niasica Aurivillius 1923

Trachelophora niasica Aurivillius, 1923 Fig. 4 A – I Trachelophora niasica Aurivillius, 1923: 465 (original description, type locality: Island Nias, Indonesia); Breuning 1950: 321 (key), 351. Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ (NHRS), Ins. Nias. (printed with black ink on a rectangular white label) / 9467 E 92 + (printed with black ink on a rectangular blue label) / Type (printed with black ink on a rectangular white label) / NHRS - SLJB 000000601 (printed with black ink on a rectangular white label) / Staudinger (printed with black ink on a rectangular white label) (Fig. 4 A – E). Additional material examined. 1 ♂, RMNH (RMNH.INS.1487404, Fig. 4 F, G) / J. D. Pasteur, Insula Nias / Trachelophora niasica Aurivillius det. Fahri et al. 2023 / Museum Leiden; 1 ♂, NMB (Fig. 4 H, I). Diagnosis. (holotype, based on quality photographs, and modified from the original description) Male relatively large, 28.0 mm, with an elongate, robust body uniformly pale brown to yellowish brown, densely clothed with fine ochraceous to yellowish-brown recumbent pubescence. Head coarsely punctate, with a distinct median groove, deep on frons and shallow on vertex; antennal tubercles well developed. Antennae slender, scape moderately thickened. Pronotum subcylindrical, slightly longer than wide, with a strong lateral spine on each side; disc densely punctate and pubescent. Elytra elongate, basally parallel-sided and gradually narrowed apically, densely punctate to granulate, clothed with fine recumbent pubescence becoming locally sparser in diffuse discolateral areas, exposing the dark-brown integument and producing an irregular mottled appearance. Legs with clavate femora; venter uniformly pubescent. Remarks. The combination of a subcylindrical, laterally spinose pronotum, distinct frontal median groove, and elongate elytra with diffuse discolateral areas of sparser pubescence exposing the dark-brown integument readily distinguishes this species from all congeners. Distribution. This species is known only from Nias Island, the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, where it appears to have a restricted distribution (Aurivillius 1923; Breuning 1950).