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| Gametis polita Seshima & Yoshida, 2025 |
Abstract
A new species of the flower chafer genus Gametis Burmeister, 1842, Gametis polita Seshima & Yoshida, sp. nov., is described from Tarama-jima Island and Minna-jima Island in the Miyako Islands, southwestern Japan, which was formerly misidentified as Gametis forticula (Janson, 1881). This is the first new species of the subfamily Cetoniinae sensu stricto described from Japan in approximately half a century. Using molecular and morphological evidence, we conclude that the genus Gametis comprises three species in Japan: G. forticula (Janson, 1881), G. polita sp. nov., and G. ishigakiana (Nomura, 1959), which was formerly treated as a subspecies of G. forticula. In addition, G. forticula miyakoana (Nomura, 1959) and G. forticula yonakuniana (Nomura, 1959) are transferred to subspecific status under G. ishigakiana.
Coleoptera, Cetoniini, cryptic species, molecular phylogeny, taxonomy, the Ryukyus
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| Gametis polita sp. nov.: 1–7, male (holotype); 1–2, habitus, dorsal (1), and ventral views (2); 3, mesosternal process, ventral view; 4, pygidium, dorsal view; 5, parameres, lateral view; 6, parameres, dorsal view; 7, right protibia, anterior view. 8–11, female (paratype); 8–9, habitus, dorsal (8) and ventral views (9); 10, right protibia, anterior view; 11, color variation, dorsal view. Scale bars = 5 mm (1–2, 8–9, 11); 1 mm (4–7, 10); 0.5 mm (3). |
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| Live specimens of Gametis, dorso-lateral view. 28–29, Gametis polita sp. nov., 28, habitus, 29, punctures on elytra; 30–31, Gametis forticula, 30, habitus, 31, punctures on elytra; 32–33, Gametis ishigakiana ishigakiana, 32, habitus, 33, punctures on elytra; 34–35, Gametis ishigakiana yonakuniana, 34, habitus, 35, punctures on elytra. |
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| Habitat of Gametis polita sp. nov., Tarama-jima Island (type locality). Photo by Fubito Aizawa. |
Gametis polita Seshima & Yoshida, sp. nov.
[Japanese name: Hisui-koao-hanamuguri]
YÛHI SESHIMA and TAKAHIRO YOSHIDA. 2025. Taxonomic Study of the Flower Chafer Genus Gametis Burmeister, 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) in Japan, with A Description of A New Species from Tarama-jima Island and Minna-jima Island, the Miyako Islands, southwestern Japan. Zootaxa. 5706(1); 79-92. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5706.1.5 [2025-10-09]
