Oopterus palmai, Larochelle & Larivière & Larochelle & Larivière, 2017

Larochelle, Larivière, Marie-Claude, Larochelle & Larivière, 2017, Synopsis of the tribe Zolini in New Zealand (Coleoptera: Carabidae), Insecta Mundi 2017 (594), pp. 1-110 : 34-35

Oopterus palmai new species

Fig. 37 , 83 , 139

Holotype: male ( NZAC) labeled: “ New Zealand MK (typed) Temple Stream Ohau Valley 11 April 2010 (typed) / Under log, mountain beech forest (typed) / JOHN NUNN (typed) / [male symbol] / HOLOTYPE [male symbol] Oopterus palmai Larochelle & Larivière, 2017 (red label; typed).” Paratype: one female (NZAC) from the same locality as the holotype, bearing a blue paratype label.

Description. Body length 5.3–5.7 mm. Head, pronotum, elytra, and abdomen mostly piceous black; apex and base of head reddish; base of pronotum reddish; lateral margins and suture of elytra reddish; abdomen yellowish laterally and apically; antennae, palpi, and legs reddish; antennal segment 1 (scape) pale yellowish; femora piceous black. Microsculpture strong and isodiametric on head, obsolete and moderately transverse on pronotum, strong and very transverse (with microlines) on elytra. Iridescence absent on head and pronotum, very strong on elytra. Very shiny, without metallic luster. Head. Labrum moderately transverse, subtruncate anteriorly. Antennae submoniliform, moderately long: segment 1 (scape) moderately long, about 2x longer than its maximum width. Frontal furrows wide, deep, subparallel. Eyes moderately convex; two setiferous punctures on inner side of each eye. Tempora not inflated. Mentum: medial tooth entire, acute apically, moderately shorter than lateral lobes. Paraglossae membranous, prominent, about as long as ligula. Thorax. Pronotum moderately convex, impunctate, wrinkled apically and discally, strongly transverse, widest about middle; apex subtruncate; anterolateral angles poorly developed, rounded; anterior bead incomplete, obsolete medially; sides moderately rounded, not sinuate posteriorly; lateral grooves absent; a single setiferous puncture on each side (posteriorly); posterolateral angles subrectangular; posterolateral carinae absent; laterobasal foveae ill-defined, impunctate, shallow, moderately wide, not prolonged forward, double; base emarginate, about as wide as pronotal apex and elytral base. Legs. Moderately long. Elytra. Moderately convex, ovate, widest about middle. Basal margin incomplete, reaching about stria 4. Shoulders obtuse. Sides strongly rounded. Scutellar striole present. Striae 1–4 complete, shallow, finely punctate; striae 5–7 incomplete, obsolete. Interval 3 with three setiferous punctures. Recurrent stria long, sharp, directed apically toward stria 5. Subapical seta present. Intervals depressed. Sutural apices rounded. Abdomen. Last visible sternum (sternum VII): male with two apical ambulatory setae; female with four apical ambulatory setae. Aedeagus. Lateral view ( Fig. 83 ): strongly arcuate, narrowed in apical half; base strongly biconvex dorsally; middle narrowed from base to apex, moderately convex dorsally, almost straight ventrally, with dorsal membranous area very wide and moderately long; apex triangular, slightly concave dorsally and ventrally, with extreme tip narrow and long. Dorsal view: narrow, asymmetrical (ostium of membranous area deflected to right); apex straight; basal orifice narrow, closed anteriorly, moderately distant from membranous area. Parameres with seven apical setae.

Material examined. 24 specimens ( JNNZ, NZAC).

Geographic distribution ( Fig. 139 ). South Island: CO–Rock and Pillar Range, Six-Mile Creek. MK – Lake Ohau. Ohau Range, Ohau Ski Field. Ohau Valley, Temple Stream.

Ecology. Montane, subalpine, alpine. Epigean. Dry forests (beech); fellfields. Shaded or open ground. Nocturnal; hides during the day under logs and stones. Gregarious.

Biology. Seasonality: December, March–April. Predacious (based on mouthpart morphology).

Dispersal power. Subapterous (incapable of flight). Moderate runner.

Collecting techniques. Lifting logs and stones.

Remarks. This species is named after our friend and colleague Ricardo L. Palma (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington) for his special help and encouragement in our entomological studies, and for his many years (1991–2016) as curator of entomology at the Museum of New Zealand. Oopterus palmai is morphologically close to O. monticola . In addition to diagnostic characters of the male genitalia, O. palmai has the following distinguishing features: pronotum with sides moderately rounded, not sinuate posteriorly, posterolateral carinae absent, laterobasal foveae ill-defined; elytral striae 5–7 poorly developed, incomplete. Both species inhabit southern areas of the South Island: O. palmai occurs in the Central Otago (CO) and Mackenzie (MK) regions, while O. monticola is known only from Central Otago (CO, Rock and Pillar Range).

Figures

Figures 35–38. Dorsal habitus. 35) Oopterus arthurensis new species. 36) O. corvinki new species. 37) O. palmai new species. 38) O. monticola new species. Scale line = 1 mm.

Figures 82–89. Aedeagi, lateral. 82) Oopterus corvinki new species. 83) O. palmai new species. 84) O. monticola new species. 85) O. strenuus. 86) O. clivinoides. 87) O. mohiensis new species. 88) O. frontalis. 89) O. punctatus new species.

Figures 136–141. Species distribution maps. 136) Oopterus nanus new species. 137) O. nunni new species. 138) O. ocularius. 139) O. palmai new species. 140) O. patulus. 141) O. punctatus new species.