Megadrypta, Sciaky & Anichtchenko, 2020

Sciaky, Riccardo & Anichtchenko, Alexander, 2020, Taxonomic notes on the tribe Dryptini Bonelli, 1810 with description of a new genus and species from China (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Dryptini), Zootaxa 4731 (4), pp. 522-530 : 525

Megadrypta nov. gen.

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Type species Megadrypta mirabilis sp. n. by monotypy.

Etymology. Prefix “ Mega -“ refers to the unusual large size of the only known species, and Drypta to the nominotypical genus of the tribe.

Diagnosis. This new genus can be easily distinguished from all the other known genera by the combination of: pronotal lateral bead well marked (fig. 12), tarsal claws smooth, completely reduced humera and hind wings, smooth stylomere ( fig. 4 ) and presence of 7 to 8 periscutellar pores on elytra; pronotum very elongate, constricted near anterior margin and near base, with elevated median part along median line, antennae rather short, with antennomere 1 nearly as long as the sum of antennomeres 2–7 together.

Systematic notes. The systematic position of this genus is in our opinion near the genera Nesiodrypta and Prionodrypta . These three genera, in fact, share two important characters, namely the lateral margins of pronotum completely beaded and the stylomere much longer and more curved, with at most one small setae on each side, beyond the claws completely smooth. The occurrence of these two characters seem to us to suggest a true relationship among these three genera. Jeannel alone (1949) had noticed the relationship between Nesiodrypta and Prionodrypta , not followed by any subsequent author. The discovery of Megadrypta is certainly unexpected, but this genus seems to fit into the group, possibly of Gondwanian origin, including the other two above-mentioned genera.

Figures

FIGS. 4–8. Stylomere structure of: 4—Megadrypta mirabilis gen. n. sp. n.; 5—Nesiodrypta waterhousei (Oberthür, 1881); 6—Prionodrypta lugens (Schmidt-Goebel, 1846); 7—Drypta lineola W. S. MacLeay, 1825; 8—Dendrocellus australis (Peringuey, 1896).