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Graphosoma semipunctatum
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Graphosoma semipunctatum interruptum. Specimen
photographed in Santiago del Teide (Tenerife,
Spain) on October 8, 2008. Specimen with clearly
separated 8 black spots on the pronotum. In
addition, the connexivum is partly orange-red
(not entirely black). This phenotype is very
close to the typical semipunctatum phenotype.
Graphosoma
semipunctatum interruptum. Specimen photographed
in Santiago del Teide (Tenerife, Spain) on
October 8, 2008. Specimen similar to the typical
semipunctatum phenotype, but with a tendency for
a pairwise fusion of the 8 black pronotal spots.
Graphosoma
semipunctatum interruptum. Specimen photographed
in Santiago del Teide (Tenerife, Spain) on
October 8, 2008. More typical phenotype for
interruptum: the posterior center pronotal spots
are fused with the two black marks at the
posterior edge of the pronotum.
Graphosoma
semipunctatum interruptum. Specimen photographed
in Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife, Spain) on
October 7, 2008. The tendency for fusion of the
black pronotal elements is further enhanced: the
central black elements are almost fully fused.
Note the totally black connexivum.
Graphosoma
semipunctatum interruptum. Specimen photographed
in Santiago del Teide (Tenerife, Spain) on
October 8, 2008. In this phenotype the central
black pronotal elements are fully fused.
Graphosoma
semipunctatum interruptum. Specimen photographed
in Santiago del Teide (Tenerife, Spain) on
October 8, 2008. This is the darkest phenotype
that I have found: the central pronotal black
elements are fully fused and the posterior
lateral black spots are fused to the central
stripe, as well. Note that the black elements
are very broad in general and the connexivum is
completely black.
Subspecies
(1) Graphosoma semipunctatum semipunctatum
(Fabricius, 1775)
(2) Graphosoma semipunctatum interruptum (A.
White, 1839)
Many authors regard the taxon interruptum (from
the Canary Islands) as a subspecies or variety
of Graphosoma semipunctatum. However, some
authors accept interruptum as a separate
species. I have studied a large number of
specimens of interruptum from several localities
on Tenerife and have found specimens that are
clearly different in coloration from typical
semipunctatum. This fact, together with the
geographic isolation on a remote archipelago,
argues for species status. However, I have also
found several interruptum specimens (see also
figures below) that are phenotypically very
close to typical semipunctatum, and therefore
semipunctatum and interruptum form a continuous
spectrum of phenotypic variation without clear
separation. Thus, I argue that the interruptum
populations are not yet fully genetically
separated from the continental semipunctatum
populations, probably because of the young age
of the interruptum taxon. In my opinion, the
status as subspecies better reflects its nature
of a population in the state of genetic
separation, and I therefore list it as a
subspecies of Graphosoma semipunctatum. The only
constant difference between the two subspecies
is, that in interruptum the black markings are
generally thicker than in semipunctatum.
Only the nominate subspecies has been reported
from Germany.
Original
description
Synonyms
Synonymy of Graphosoma
semipunctatum semipunctatum:
Cimex semipunctatus Fabricius, 1775
Scuterella
semipunctata (Fabricius, 1775)
Graphosoma
semipunctatum (Fabricius, 1775)
Graphosoma
semipunctatum semipunctatum (Fabricius, 1775)
Graphosoma wilsoni
A. White, 1839
Scuterella semipunctata persica Ferrari, 1874
Graphosoma
semipunctatum decipiens Ferrari, 1892
Graphosoma
semipunctatum pallidum Bergevin, 1909
(infrasubspecific)
Graphosoma
semipunctatum melanicum Bergevin, 1909
(infrasubspecific)
Graphosoma
semipunctatum subaequale Horvath, 1909
Graphosoma
semipunctatum anceps Horvath, 1909
Graphosoma
semipunctatum furciferum Royer, 1909
Graphosoma
semipunctatum incompletum J. M. Fuente, 1918
Graphosoma
semipunctatum uniseriatum J. M. Fuente, 1918
(infrasubspecific)
Graphosoma
semipunctatum contexta Hoberlandt, 1939
Graphosoma
semipunctatum confluens Hoberlandt, 1939
Graphosoma
semipunctatum balcanica Hoberlandt, 1939
Graphosoma
semipunctatum confuta Hoberlandt, 1939
Identification
Distribution
This species occurs in southern and south
eastern Europe, northern Africa, and Asia. The
subspecies Graphosoma
semipunctatum interruptum only occurs on the
Canary Islands. The species is not currently
reported from Germany, but there are older
reports from southern Germany (Bayern).
Biology
This page has been updated on April 1, 2013
This site is online since May 31, 2005
Copyright © by Nikola-Michael
Prpic-Schäper. All rights reserved.
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