Copelatus brivioi Rocchi, 1976

Hájek, Jiří & Sheth, Sayali D., 2024, A review of the Oriental Copelatus latipes complex, with the description of two new species (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Copelatinae), Zootaxa 5481 (1), pp. 119-130 : 123-125

Copelatus brivioi Rocchi, 1976

( Figs 3 , 11–12 )

Copelatus brivioi Rocchi, 1976: 177 .

Type locality. “Dinajpur, Bengla-Desh” [ Bangladesh, Rangpur Division, Dinajpur , ca. 25°37’N 88°38’E] .

Type material. Paratype ♂ ( PMNH), labelled: “ EAST PAKISTAN / Dinajpur / XI-70 Barbe’ [p] // Ex Pontificum Institutum / Missionum Exterarum, / Detroit, Michigan; 1984. / Purch. from Carlo Brivio [p] // PARATYPUS [p, pink label with black frame] // COPELATUS / BRIVIOI / N. SP. [hw] / Rocchi S. det 19 [p] 76 [hw] // YPM - ENT / 500554 [p]” .

Additional material examined. NEPAL: 1 ♂, Sudurpashchim Province, Kanchanpur District, [ca. 9 km SE] Mahandranagar [= Bhimdatta], Shuklaphanta Nature Reserve , Dsauda river , 28°53’51’’N 80°13’39’’E, 160 m, 1.vii.2017, A. Kopetz leg. ( ASCG) . INDIA: West Bengal: 2 ♂, Jalpaiguri District, Bagrakote , 200–300 m, 16.–22.xii.1985, B. Bhakta leg. ( NHMB, NMPC) .

Diagnosis. TL: 5.3–5.8 mm. Head dark brown, clypeus paler, reddish; pronotum dark brown, laterally reddish, pale colouration extending anteriorly; elytra brown blackish with yellowish sides laterally from dorsal stria 6, and with variable yellowish pattern consisting of: two small basal spots anteriorly from elytral striae 2 and 5 respectively, yellowish stripes in posterior half of elytra between striae 3–5, and yellowish stripe starting at 1/5 or 1/4 of elytral length between striae 5–6. Pronotum with coarse punctures laterally. Each elytron with six discal striae and one submarginal stria: stria 1 beginning approximately at 1/5 of elytral length, ending close to elytral apex; striae 2, 3 and 5 ending subapically; stria 6 shortest, ending at apical fifth; submarginal stria long, beginning at elytral mid-length and ending subapically at level of striae 2, 3 and 5 ( Fig. 3 ). Male longer spur on metatibia sinuate in apical third. Median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view ( Fig. 11 ) broad in basal 2/3; apical third sickle-shaped, regularly curved to obtuse apex; at 2/3 of its length with two distinct ‘teeth’ on ventral side—a broad rectangular proximal one, and a narrower, apically broadened and truncate distal one. Parameres with distinct lobe on inner margin ( Fig. 12 ). Female identical to male in habitus, punctation of elytra slightly coarser, disc of elytra laterally from stria 2 with striolae ( Rocchi 1976).

Distribution. The species was so far only known from the type locality in north-western Bangladesh; here we present new records from western Nepal and north-eastern India (West Bengal), all from a lowland strip south of the Himalayas ( Fig. 19 ).

Figures

FIGURE 19. Map of distribution of Copelatus latipes species complex.

FIGURES 3–6. Habitus of Copelatus latipes species complex. 3. C. brivioi (♂; West Bengal, India); 4. C. kopetzi sp. nov. (holotype ♂; Nepal); 5. C. lanxangensis sp. nov. (holotype ♂; Laos); 6. C. latipes (♂; Pahang, Malaysia). Scale bar 2 mm.

FIGURES 7–18. Male genitalia of Copelatus latipes species complex. 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17. median lobe in lateral (a) and ventro-lateral (b) view; 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18. paramere. 7–8. C. bezdeki (holotype; Maharashtra, India); 9–10. C. schereri (Sri Lanka); 11–12. C. brivioi (paratype; Bangladesh); 13–14. C. kopetzi sp. nov. (holotype; Nepal); 15–16. C. lanxangensis sp. nov. (holotype; Laos); 17–18. C. latipes (Pahang, Malaysia). Scale bar 0.5 mm.