Exocelina ransikiensis Shaverdo, Panjaitan & Balke, 2016

Shaverdo, Helena, Wild, Michael, Sumoked, Bob & Balke, Michael, 2017, Six new species of the genus Exocelina Broun, 1886 from Wano Land, New Guinea (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Copelatinae), ZooKeys 665, pp. 93-120 : 99

7. Exocelina ransikiensis Shaverdo, Panjaitan & Balke, 2016

Exocelina undescribed sp. MB1269: Toussaint et al. 2014: Supplementary figs 1-4, Tab. 2.

Exocelina ransikiensis Shaverdo, Panjaitan & Balke, 2016d: 104, figs 1-6.

Type locality.

West Papua: Manokwari Regency, approximately 10 km NW from Ransiki, Kali Way, 01°25'03"S; 134°01'49"E.

Type material studied.

Holotype: male "West Papua, ca. 10 km NW Ransiki, Kali Way, 1300 m, 01°25'03"S, 134°01'49"E, 03.III.2007", "HolotypUS Exocelina ransikiensis sp. n. des. H. Shaverdo, R. Panjaitan & M. Balke, 2016" [red] (MZB). Paratypes: 6 males, 2 females with the same label as the holotype and additionally with red labels "PARAtypUS Exocelina ransikiensis sp. n. des. H. Shaverdo, R. Panjaitan & M. Balke, 2016" (CASk, NHMW, ZSM). 1 male "West Papua, old road Ransiki to Anggi, 1160 m, 01°25'53.6"S, 134°02'45.6"E, Balke (BH 03)", "M.Balke 1269" [green] (ZSM).

Additional material.

West Papua: 3 males "Indonesia: Papua Barat, Manokwari to Kebar, forest stream, 302m, 3.xi.2013, -0.80058566 133.33216397, Balke (BH023)", one male with an additional label "M.Balke 6185" [green text] (NHMW, ZSM). 4 males, 2 females "Indonesia: Papua Barat, Kebar to Aibogar, forest stream, 644m, 4.xi.2013, -0.85339769 132.87133633, Balke (BH024)", one male with an additional label "M.Balke 6188" [green text] (NHMW, ZSM). 1 male "Indonesia: Papua Barat, Fumato, forest stream, 820m, 5.xi.2013, -0.90427148 132.71981431, Balke (BH027)" (ZSM). 1 male "Indonesia: Papua Barat, Tamrau Mts N of Kebar, forest stream, 750m, 7.xi.2013, -0.783199 133.072143, Balke (BH033)" (ZSM). 4 males "Indonesia: Papua Barat, Tamrau Mts N of Kebar, forest stream, puddles, 1050m, 7.xi.2013, -0.774519 133.069929, Balke (BH034)" (NHMW, ZSM). Papua: 1 female "Indonesia: Papua, Road Nabire-Enarotali KM 108, 140m, 23.x.2011, 03 30.258S 135 54.840E, Balke (PAP16)", "M.Balke 7235" [green text] (ZSM). 1 female "Irian Jaya: Nabire distr., road Nabire-Ilaga, km 54, 03°29'517"S 135°43'913"E, 750m, iv.1998 M. Balke leg." (NHMW).

Diagnosis.

Small, with oblong with subparallel sides to broadly oval habitus; coloration red to dark brown; dorsal surface with strong punctation and microreticulation, matt; pronotum with distinct lateral bead; male antennomeres simple; male protarsomere 4 with large, thick, strongly curved anterolateral hook-like seta; median lobe slightly tapering in ventral view and with curved apex in lateral view; paramere without notch on dorsal side, with thin, sparse, inconspicuous setae. For the complete description, please see Shaverdo et al. (2016d).

Notes on morphological variability.

Recently discovered beetles from the western part of Manokwari Regency show distinct differences in the size, body shape, and coloration from those of the type series. They are larger: TL-H 3.25-3.7 mm (representatives of the type series: TL-H 2.85-3.2 mm) and have darker coloration: dark brown, with paler anterior margin of the head and sides of the pronotum. Very interesting is the variability of the body shape: the beetles from Ransiki and Nabire are oblong, with subparallel sides, the beetles from the Tamrau Mountains (localities BH023, BH033, and BH034) also have this body shape but they are distinctly larger, whereas the beetles from Kebar-Aibogar have a more rounded habitus, which is distinctly broadly oval in the specimen from Fumato. That represents almost gradual change of the body shape from oblong, parallel-sided in the east to broadly oval in the west. No variability has been found in the shape of the median lobe and paramere, or in the surface sculpture. Therefore, at present, we treat all new material as E. ransikiensis bearing in mind that more material is needed for a final conclusion.

Distribution.

West Papua: Manokwari Regency and Papua: Nabire Regency (Fig. 19).