Austrocyphon noctua, Zwick, Peter, 2013

Zwick, Peter, 2013, Australian Marsh Beetles (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) 4. Two new genera, Austrocyphon and Tasmanocyphon, Zootaxa 3706 (1), pp. 1-74 : 59-60

Austrocyphon noctua , sp. n.

( Figs. 197–199 )

Type material. Holotype: ♂, 12.47S 132.51E, Baroalba Creek Springs, N.T., 19 km NE by E of Mt. Cahill, 28.x.72, at light, E.Britton. Paratypes: NT: 1♂, same data as holotype. 1♂, 12.52S 132.50E Koongarra, N.T., 15 km E of Mt Cahill, 24.v.73, E.G.Matthews (all ANIC); 1♂, The Amphitheatre Nitmiluk N.P., N.T., 16 Mar 1995 Pyrethrum Monteith & Janetzki ( QMSB, T169590).

Habitus. BL 2.0– 2.1 mm, BL/BW ~1.7. Similar to A. papilio in shape, contrast between dark elytra and lighter pronotum more striking. One specimen with indications of two darker transverse bands across elytra, details not recognized. Head and pronotum with fine granular punctures.

Male. T8 a transverse short plate with long thin inwardly curved apodemes. Bare except irregular long setae near caudal margin. S8 Y-shaped, no pilosity.

T9, S9, tegmen and parameres similar to A. papilio .

Penis with slender pala, front edge upcurved. Width almost doubles near midlength where the parameroids form a parallel plate with broadly rounded apex with many sensory pores. From the edge of the pala extend straight keels onto this plate. Trigonium a long parallel finger with narrow, irregularly spinose tip. No centema. The trigonium conceals an approximately triangular small foramen in the fused parameroids.

Female. Not known.

Notes. Very similar to A. papilio , but penis strikingly different. No other species has a trigonium larger than the foramen above it. Replacement of the centema by irregular spicules is a trait mainly observed in species of the A. crinitus -group. The similarity may indicate convergence, or that the present groups are artificial.

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition, the nominate genus of the noctuid moths, to allude to the close relationship with A.papilio , also named after a Lepidoptera genus.

Figures

FIGURES 197 – 199. Austrocyphon noctua sp. n., male. 197, T 8 and S 8; 198, single sclerite of T 9 in different orientations.; 199, penis. Same scale for all.