Mecyclothorax vitreus, Britton, 1948

Liebherr, James K., 2009, Native And Alien Carabidae (Coleoptera) Share Lanai, An Ecologically Devastated Island, The Coleopterists Bulletin 63 (4), pp. 383-411 : 388

Mecyclothorax vitreus species-group

Diagnosis. This group can be distinguished by: 1) glabrous pronotum with very narrow, posteriorly sinuate lateral margins; 2) presence of only the posterior supraorbital seta, the anterior seta being absent; 3) well-developed but not hemispherically convex eyes; 4) the presence of striae 1–2 to 1–5 on the elytral disc, but only the sutural stria 1 well-developed at elytral apex; and 5) reduced microsculpture, the dorsal surface glossy. Britton (1948) diagnosed the group so that his three included species lacked elytral microsculpture, however, some individuals of M. perkinsianus (Sharp) exhibit transverse mesh microsculpture over portions of the elytra. Mecyclothorax flavipes , new species deviates from Britton’s diagnosis by having shallow transverse-mesh microsculpture over the entire elytra, though the surface appears glossy up to 80 3 magnification. However, among all Hawaiian Mecyclothorax , M. flavipes agrees only with the species placed by Britton in his M. vitreus species group in the combination of glabrous pronotum and absence of the anterior supraorbital seta. As these are assuredly synapomorphies relative to the Hawaiian Mecyclothorax ground-plan, the species group diagnosis is broadened to include M. flavipes . In addition to this single Lanai species, the species group also includes M. deverilli (Blackburn) of Hawaii Island, and two described species from East Maui, i.e., M. perkinsianus (Sharp) and M. vitreus Britton from Haleakala Volcano ( Britton 1948). Contrary to Liebherr (2008 b), the group is not present on Molokai.