Hydroglyphus gujaratensis ( Vazirani, 1973 )

Hájek, Jiří & Wewalka, Günther, 2009, New and little known species of Hydroglyphus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) from Arabia and adjacent areas, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (1), pp. 93-102 : 96-99

Hydroglyphus gujaratensis ( Vazirani, 1973)

( Figs. 2, 7–10 )

Guignotus gujaratensis: VAZIRANI (1973) : 297 (original description); VAZIRANI (1977a): 33 (catalogue); VAZIRANI (1977b): 55 (new records; Gujarat).

Hydroglyphus gujaratensis: BISTRÖM (1988) : 13 (new combination); NILSSON (2001): 123 (catalogue).

Type locality. ‘ India: Gujarat, Jamnagar’.

Material examined. INDIA: RAJASTHAN: 15 JJ 17 ♀♀, Mandawa [ca. 28°03′N, 75°08′E], 1.x.1997, P. Pucholt leg. ( GWCW, NMPC) ; 4 JJ 1 ♀, NW of Dungarpur , 23°52′N 73°41′E, ca 250 m a.s.l., along river, 1.-2.vii.2006, Z. Kejval leg. ( NMPC) . IRAN: HORMOZGAN: 2 ♀♀, 2 km W Abkuhi , 25°30′N, 58°56′E, sea shore, 13.-14.iv.2000, J. Hájek & M. Mikát leg. ( NMPC) . OMAN: 3 ♀♀, 40 km E Badiya, Wadi Bani Kalil [Khalid], puddle near road, 12.ii.1998, G. Wewalka leg. ( GWCW) ; 1 J, 30 km W Sur , river, 20.ii.1998, G. Wewalka leg. ( GWCW) ; 1 J, 40 km NW Sur, Wadi Tiwi , 20.ii.1998, G. Wewalka leg. ( GWCW) .

Redescription. Habitus oblong oval. Pronotum broadest at basal third, very slightly cordiform. Sides of pronotum rounded. Angle between pronotum and elytra distinct.

Measurements: Length 2.5–2.9 mm, width 1.1–1.3 mm.

Colour. Body colouring testaceous to ochraceous; head posteriorly to eyes, pronotum basally between striae, and elytra basally between striae, along suture and in the apex darkened; elytra on the disc with variable dark markings as depicted in Fig. 2 .

Surface sculpture. Head finely microsculptured; punctuation fine, rather sparse, posteriorly lacking behind eyes; anterior margin of head rounded, medially slightly straightened; frontolateral depressions shallow. Pronotum finely microsculptured with fine, almost regularly distributed punctures and recumbent setae; striae fairly strongly impressed. Elytra shiny, microsculpture sporadic and very indistinct; finely and fairly densely punctate, with recumbent setae; basal striae preserved as rather short and deep impressions; sutural line distinct from close to base to apex. Epipleura finely punctured. Ventral surface with fine, sparse, irregularly distributed punctures; shiny, microsculpture almost lacking. Metacoxal lines almost straight, anteriorly slightly divergent.

Male. Pro- and mesotarsi slightly broadened. Median lobe in ventral view slender, attenuating regularly to apex ( Fig. 7 ). In lateral view, median lobe broad in basal two thirds, then sinuous, attenuating to very thin, long apex ( Fig. 8 ). Parameres seemingly with only two segments ( Fig. 9 ).

Female. Similar to male in habitus. Antennomeres 3–10 moniliform, distinctly wider than longer ( Fig. 10 ). Pro- and mesotarsi narrow. Microsculpture on elytra more distinct than in male.

Comparative notes. Hydroglyphus gujaratensis is very similar to H. flammulatus ( Sharp, 1882) , and both species were collected together in Rajasthan. Nevertheless, H. flammulatus is slightly smaller (2.1–2.5 mm), pronotal striae do not continue on the elytra, elytral markings are usually more extensive, and the male genitalia are differently shaped (cf. VAZIRANI 1969: Fig. 15a ). Both species have moniliform antennae in females but antennomere 10 in H. gujaratensis is as broad as long and distinctly trapezoidal, whereas in H. flammulatus it is prolonged and C-shaped ( Fig. 11 ).

Collection circumstances. Specimens from Mandawa were collected at light (P. Pucholt, pers. comm.), while specimens from Dungarpur were collected individually in shallow pools with clay bottom near the river ( Fig. 13 ) (Z. Kejval, pers. comm.). Two females from Iran were collected in shallow brackish pool near the sea shore. Specimens from Oman were found partly in puddles in wadis and in pools with rich vegetation near rivers.

Distribution. Hydroglyphus gujaratensis seems to be continually distributed in lowland areas along the Arabian Sea from the eastern Arabian Peninsula to north-western India ( Fig. 15 ). It is here recorded for the first time from Oman, Iran, and Rajasthan ( India). Its presence in Pakistan is uncorfimed but likely.

Figures

Figs. 1–11. 1, 3–6 – Hydroglyphus sinuspersicus sp. nov.: 1 – habitus; 3 – median lobe in ventral view; 4 – median lobe in lateral view (paratype, Oman); 5 same (Iran); 6 – right paramere in dorso-medial view. 2, 7–10 – H. gujaratensis (Vazirani, 1973): 2 – habitus; 7 – median lobe in ventral view; 8 – median lobe in lateral view; 9 – paramere; 10 – female antenna. 11 – H. flammulatus (Sharp, 1882), female antenna.

Fig. 15. Distribution of Hydroglyphus gujaratensis Vazirani, 1973 (circles – literature records from VAZIRANI (1973, 1977); dots – examined material).

Fig. 13. Habitat of Hydroglyphus gujaratensis at the locality ‘Dungarpur’ (India, Rajasthan), shallow artificial pools near the river. Photo Z. Kejval.