Scientiae biologicae

Six species of the Holarctic genus Lathrobium Gravenhorst, 1802 are described and illustrated: L. austere sp. nov. (North Vietnam: Cao Bãng Prov.); L. tsukubanum sp. nov. (Japan: Honshu: Ibaraki Pref.); L. converrens sp. nov. (Japan: Shikoku: Ehime Pref.); L. aperiens sp. nov. (Japan: Shikoku: Ehime Pref.); L. toonicum sp. nov. (Japan: Shikoku: Ehime Prov.); L. bigladiosum sp. nov. (Japan: Honshu: Fukui Pref.). Additional records of six species are reported from China and Japan. The genus is now represented in the Old World by as many as 620 species, 131 of which have been recorded from Japan. An updated checklist of the Lathrobium species of Japan is provided.

Lobrathium moreanum sp. nov. (Greece: Pelopónnisos: Menalo Oros), a close relative of L. multipunctum (Gravenhorst, 1802), is described and illustrated. Lobrathium gallienii (Fagniez, 1917), previously a synonym of L. multipunctum, is revalidated. Additional records of seven species from Turkey, Iran, and China are reported. The genus is now represented in the Palaearctic region by 153 species.

Ochthephilus championi (Bernhauer, 1926) and and O. nigerrimus (Cameron, 1941) are sibling species, distinguishable only by slight aedeagal characters. They are currently treated as distinct, however, recent evidence suggests that the type materials of the two nominal taxa may refer to the same species. The single type specimen of the older name is a female and therefore its identity remains in question. In lack of sufficient distributional information and any new material, also with poor knowledge of variability due to extremely small sample size no nomenclatural action is taken now.

Five new species of Tropicus Pacheco, 1964: T. banari sp. nov., T. eliskae sp. nov., T. mikolaseki sp. nov., T. nastenkae sp. nov., T. tobiasi sp. nov., and one new species of Heterocerus Fabricius, 1792, H. lenkae sp. nov., all from Bolivia, are described, illustrated and compared with similar species. Tropicus bartolozzii Mascagni, 1994, T. trifidus Skalický, 2007 and T. tuberculatus Pacheco, 1964 are reported from Bolivia (Department of Santa Cruz) for the first time. Distributional notes on Bolivian Heteroceridae are provided.

Two species of Steropes Steven, 1806 are newly described from China: S. lateralis sp. nov. and S. sinensis sp. nov. (both Fujian Province).

An informal Anthelephila caeruleipennis species-group is established for seven species of Anthelephila Hope, 1833 and a key to their identification is provided. A new species, Anthelephila incisa sp.nov., is described from Myanmar. A new synonymy, Anthelephila viridipennis (Krekich-Strassoldo, 1931) (= Formicomus lindbergi Bonadona, 1960, syn.nov.), is proposed. Lectotypes are designated for Formicomus antiquus Krekich-Strassoldo, 1919 and F. viridipennis Krekich-Strassoldo, 1931.