Omophron Latreille, 1802

Anichtchenko, Alexander & Valainis, Uldis, 2023, Revision of the subgenus Omophron (s. str.) Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Carabidae Omophron) of the Afrotropical region, Zootaxa 5284 (2), pp. 201-246 : 202-203

Key to Afrotropical species of the subgenus Omophron Latreille, 1802

1 Antennal scape bisetose at apex, antennomeres III and IV with setae along lateral margin; pronotum verrucate. “ africanum ” species group........................................................................................ 2

- Antennal scape unisetose at apex, antennomeres III and IV without setae along lateral margin; pronotum punctate......... 4

2 Elytral epipleura smooth; pronotum with sides broadly and evenly rounded. Elytra with striae 1–3 shallow on the disc and weakly punctate, intervals 1–5 completely flat and shiny.......................... africanum Rousseau, 1908 ( Fig. 1 )

- Elytral epipleura faintly punctate; pronotum with sides almost straight, evenly rounded only near the anterior angles....... 3

3 Elytra with intervals 1–4 almost as convex on the disc as on more lateral intervals, microreticulation on the sutural interval (interval I) almost isodiametric; pronotum with long rugae on the disc; apex of aedeagus truncate, apical lamella relatively long ( Fig. 6 )........................................................................... pallidum sp. n. ( Fig. 3 )

- Elytra with intervals 1–4 clearly flatter on the disc than on more lateral intervals; microreticulation on the sutural interval more transverse; pronotum with elongated verricate pits on the disc; apex of aedeagus rounded, apical lamella short ( Fig. 5 )............................................................................ distinctum Bänninger, 1918 ( Fig. 2 )

4 Last visible ventrite (VI) roughly and coarsely punctate throughout, or at least laterally, ventrites IV and V with transverse row of large punctures and a deep sulcus; Elytral epipleura punctate, either densely densely or at least with one or two punctures; disc of pronotum with a more or less visible transverse depression; maxillary palpi slender, with preapical palpomere slightly narrower than apical, apical palpomere fusiform with apex acute. “ minutum ” species group.......................... 5

- Last visible ventrite (VI) smooth, ventrites IV and V without punctures and with a weak sulcus; Elytral epipleura smooth; maxillary palpi with preapical palpomere as wide as or wider than apical palpomere, apical palpomere elongate, subparallel, with apex obtuse..................................................................................... 11

5 Clypeus smooth...................................................................................... 6

- Clypeus punctate, with at least a few punctures along posterior edge............................................. 8

6 Elytral epipleura punctate; size small, 3.3–5.1 mm........................................................... 7

- Elytral epipleura with a single puncture; size large, 6.4 mm; disc of pronotum flattened, with wide transverse depression, sides with widely explanate borders; head black, without pattern................................. schuelei sp. n. ( Fig. 22 )

7 Very small, 3.3–3.5 mm; head, elytra, and pronotum brown, without metallic color; clypeo-frontal suture indistinct; elytra with striae on the disc of elytra shallow and with fine punctuation, intervals 1–7 flat................ secundum sp. n. ( Fig. 18 )

- Larger, 4.8 mm; head, pronotum, and elytra with metallic pattern; clypeo-frontal suture distinct; elytra with striae on the disc of elytra deep, strongly punctate, intervals convex........................................ mimeticum sp. n. ( Fig. 23 )

8 All striae of elytra very deep, all intervals equally convex..................................................... 9

- Elytral intervals 1–5th flattened on the disc; pronotum evenly and very densely punctate with punctures minute................................................................................. clavareaui Rousseau, 1900 ( Fig. 17 )

9 Elytral epipleura punctate; ventrite VI punctate throughout................................................... 10

- Elytral epipleura almost smooth; ventrite VI punctate laterally only.......................... muellerae sp. n. ( Fig. 21 )

10 Punctures on the disc of pronotum small and sparse, twice as dense on the sides; pronotum and head reddish brown, with metallic tinge only faintly present................................................ minutum Dejean, 1831 ( Fig. 7 )

- Pronotum uniformly, very coarsely and densely punctate; pronotum and head with bright green or bluish tinge......................................................................................... riedeli Emden, 1932 ( Fig. 8 )

11 Metacoxa with one setiferous pore bearing a long seta and 2–13 punctures without setae. “ severini ” species group....... 12

- Metacoxa with two setiferous pores bearing long setae, additional punctures only in species from Madagascar. “ capense ” species group....................................................................................... 15

12 Clypeus with a furrow near anterior margin................................................................ 13

- Clypeus without any trace of a furrow near anterior margin, smooth; elytral striae shallow................................................................................................ capicola Chaudoir, 1868 ( Figs. 86–87 )

13 Metacoxa with 11–13 punctures and one setiferous pore bearing a long seta...................................... 14

- Metacoxa smooth, or with 1–2 asymetrically placed punctures, and one setiferous pore bearing a long seta; endophallus with two large groups of long spines ( Figs. 84–85 )...................... oligoxanthum Kuntzen, 1919 stat. n. (Figs. 62–64)

14 Elytra elongate and flattened, with intervals clearly flattened on the disc; pronotum with wide yellow band along anterior margin; endophallus with two groups of spines ( Figs. 74–75 )....................... severini Dupuis, 1911 ( Figs. 76–78 )

- Elytra rounded and convex, intervals moderately convex on the disc; green pattern of pronotum extended to anterior margin; endophallus with one, preapical group of spines ( Fig. 92 )................................... occultum sp. n. ( Fig. 88 )

15 Species from Madagascar.............................................................................. 16

- Species from mainland Africa.......................................................................... 17

16 Elytra with 14 complete striae, stria 11 very short and represented by few punctures; endophallus with large patch of relatively long spines....................................................... madagascariensis Chaudoir, 1850 ( Fig. 52 )

- Elytra with 15 complete striae; endophallus with small patch of relatively short spines..... amandae Valainis, 2010 ( Fig. 53 )

17 Apex of aedeagus narrowly pointed ( Fig. 65 ).............................. picturatum Boheman, 1860 (Figs. 59–61)

- Apex of aedeagus broad and truncate ( Figs. 39–45 ). O. capense and its subspecies................................ 18

18 Aedeagus with apex moderately curved ventrally ( Figs. 39–42 )................................................ 19

- Aedeagus with apex strongly curved ventrally ( Figs. 43–45 ).................................................. 20

19 Male front tarsomere 1 in males moderately dilated ( Fig. 93 ); body more rounded.................................................................................................... capense capense Gory, 1833 ( Figs. 27–30 )

- Male front tarsomere 1 strongly dilated ( Fig. 97 ); body elongate....................... capense kmecoi ssp. n. ( Fig. 33 )

20 Elytral striae punctured to apices, punctures in apical third fine but visible; dorsal dark areas with green tinge........... 21

- Elytral striae smooth in apical third; yellow pattern on elytra reduced, dorsal dark areas with purple tinge......................................................................................... capense isolatum ssp. n. ( Fig. 34 )

21 Body larger and slightly elongate; apex of aedeagus broader as in Fig. 43 ...................................................................................................... capense congoense Deleve, 1924 stat. n. ( Fig. 31 )

- Body smaller and more rounded, yellow pattern more extended; apex of aedeagus narrower as in Fig. 44 ......................................................................................... capense pumilum ssp. n. ( Fig. 32 )

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Habitus of Omophron africanum- species group, dorsal view: 1—O. (O.) africanum; 2—O. (O.) distinctum; 3—O. (O.) pallidum sp. n. (Paratype). Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 4–6.Aedeagus structure. a—apex in dorsal view, b—right lateral view: 4—O. (O.) africanum; 5—O. (O.) distinctum; 6—O. (O.) pallidum sp. n. (Paratype). Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 21–23. Habitus of Omophron “minutum”—species group, dorsal view: 21—O. (O.) muellerae sp. n.; 22—O. (O.) schuelei sp. n. (Holotype); 23—O. (O) mimeticum sp. n. (Holotype). Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 17–18. Habitus of Omophron “minutum”—species group, dorsal view: 17—O. (O.) clavareaui; 18—O. (O) secundum sp. n. (Holotype). Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 7–8. Habitus of Omophron “minutum”—species group, dorsal view: 7—O. (O.) minutum (Senegal, Khayes); 8—O. (O.) riedeli (Zimbabwe, Sebakwe). Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 86–88. Habitus, dorsal view: 86—O. (O.) capicola; 87—O. (O.) capicola oneili; 88—O. (O.) occultum sp. n. Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 84–85. Aedeagus and endophallus structure of O. (O.) oligoxanthum, dorsal view: 84—Botswana, Gweta; 85— Namibia, Andoni (a—endophallus, b—apex, c—median lobe in lateral view). Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 72–75. Endophallus structure, dorsal view: 72—O. (O.) madagascarensis; 73—O. (O.) amandae; 74—O. (O.) ghesquierei; 75—O. (O.) dissimile syn. n. (Paratype). Scale bar 1 mm

FIGURES 76–78. Habitus, dorsal view:76—O. (O.) ghesquierei; 77—O. (O.) dissimile syn. n. (Paratype); 78—O. (O.) severini (Holotype). Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 91–92. Endophallus structure, dorsal view: 91—O. (O.) capicola; 92—O. (O.) occultum sp. n. (Holotype). Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 52–53. Habitus of Omophron, dorsal view: 52—O. (O.) madagascarensis; 53—O. (O.) amandae. Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 65–67. Aedeagus structure. a—right lateral view; b—apex, dorsal view: 65—O. (O.) picturatum; 66—O. (O.) capicola; 67—O. (O.) occultum sp. n. (Holotype). Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 39–45. Aedeagus structure. a—right lateral view; b—apex, dorsal view:: 39—O. (O.) capense s.str. (RSA); 40— O. dominicense Chaudoir, 1868 syn. n. (Type); 41—O. (O.) capense s.str. (f. suturale); 42—O. (O.) capense kmecoi ssp. n. (Holotype); 43—O. (O.) capense congoense stat. n. (Paratype); 44—O. (O.) capense pumilum ssp. n. (Paratype); 45—O. (O.) capense isolatum ssp. n. (Paratype). Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 93–97. Protarsi of males, dorsal view. 93—O. (O.) picturatum (Namibia, Oshikoto reg.); 94—O. (O.) capense s.str.; 95—O. (O.) capense pumilum ssp. n., 96—O. (O.) capense congoense stat. nov., 97—O. (O.) capense kmecoi ssp. n. Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 27–34. Habitus of subspecies of O. (O.) capense. dorsal view: 27—O. (O.) capense s.str. (Type); 28—O. (O.) capense s.str. (f. suturale); 29—O. (O.) capense s.str. (inland form, RSA); 30—O. dominicense Chaudoir, 1868 syn. n. (Type); 31—O. (O.) capense congoense stat. n. (Paratype); 32—O. (O.) capense pumilum ssp. n. (Paratype); 33—O. (O.) capense kmecoi ssp. n. (Holotype); 34—O. (O.) capense isolatum ssp. n. (Paratype). Scale bar 5 mm.