The Longicorn Tribe Atimiini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)

Abstract

The systematic position of the Atimiini has long puzzled the Coleopterist. Atimia presents such a strong Lamiine facies that Haldeman, who erected the genus, associated it with Saperda. Lacordaire (1869), observing the absence of the essential Lamiine groove on the anterior tibiae, placed Atimia in the Cerambycine series near Smodicum. This arrangement appeared unsatisfactory to LeConte (1873) who shifted the genus to a position roughly between the Clytine and Lepturine series. Gahan (1908), when searching for a connection between the Lepturine and Lamiine groups of longicorns, selected Atimia as a possible link. A few years later Webb (1912), solely on the basis of larval characters, associated the genus with Asemum. Leng (1920), apparently following Aurivillius (1912), placed the Atimiini toward the end of the Cerambycine series near the Clytini, separating it rather widely from both the Asemini and Lepturini. A careful examination of the external characters of the adults (including wing venation) and the larvae has convinced the writer that Webb's treatment of the group was by far the most satisfactory and that the Atimiini should be regarded as a tribe of the subfamily Aseminae.