Pacrillum cycrilloideum, Fikáček & Hebauer, 2005

Fikáček, Martin & Hebauer, Franz, 2005, A new aberrant species of the genus Pacrillum from Nepal (Hydrophilidae: Sphaeridiinae: Megasternini), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 45, pp. 59-64 : 60-63

Pacrillum cycrilloideum sp. nov.

( Figs 1-7 )

Type locality. Nepal, Annapûrna Himalaya, 19 km NW of Pokhara, 28°18´57˝ N, 83°49´59˝ E, 2100 m a.s.l.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‘ NEPAL, Annapurna S-Himal / westl. Mardi Himal , nördl. / Bhichok / Deurali [= Deorâli] 2100m / N 28°18´57 E 83°49´59 / 10.V.2001 leg. O. Jäger’ . PARATYPES: 1 spec., ‘ NEPAL, Annapurna Reg./ Siklis mts. (n. Pokhara) / Nyauli-Kharka, small / stream, 2400-2500m / 22.IV.1996, leg. O. Jäger’ ; 1 spec., ‘Nepal-Himalaya 1995 / Annapurna Mts. leg.: / Fabrizi, Schmidt, Jäger // Sikles Mts. 29. VII. / überh. Garlang 2000m’. All specimens bear the red type label ‘ HOLOTYPE [respectivelly PARATYPE] / Pacrillum / cycrilloideum sp. nov. / Fikáček & Hebauer / det. 2005’. All type specimens are deposited in the collection of the Museum für Tierkunde, Dresden ( Germany) .

Diagnosis. Head black, remaining dorsal surface reddish to piceous; dorsal surface sparsely pubescent; pronotum with microsculpture consisting of fine longitudinal furrows; elytral series 3 to 5 developed as punctures not differing from elytral punctation and connected by a fine line; elytral series 7 shortened basally; preepisternal elevation of mesothorax only indistinctly pubescent.

Description. Body strongly convex. Length: 1.45-1.50 mm (holotype 1.50 mm); width: 0.90- 1.00 mm (holotype 1.00 mm).

Coloration. Head black, pronotum and elytra reddish to piceous; ventral surface dark reddish; mouthparts, antennae and legs reddish.

Head sparsely pubescent with moderately strong but very sparse punctation; interstices with strong microsculpture consisting of fine transverse furrows. Space between antennal bases with incomplete transverse ridge. Clypeus angulate, narrowly rimmed on anterior margin. Mentum strongly narrowing anteriad, anterior margin slightly convex, surface with extremely fine and sparse punctation, interstices with fine mesh-like microsculpture. Ventral tentorial pits distinct, socket-like. Antennae with 8 antennomeres, scapus long, slightly bent and slightly swollen apically, ca. 3x as long as pedicel; antennomere 3 as long as pedicel; antennomeres 4 and 5 very short; antennomeres 6 to 8 forming large, well-defined compact club. Apex of maxillary palpomere 1 strongly and asymmetrically swollen; palpomeres 2 and 3 slender, of equal length.

Prothorax. Pronotum transverse, narrowing anteriad. Punctation sparse, consisting of small but very distinct setiferous punctures. Interstices with fine, very distinct microsculpture consisting of oblique lines directed laterally from posterior margin of pronotum. Lateral parts of pronotum deflexed, lateral margins rounded, narrowly rimmed. Prosternum with median part highly raised and bearing strong longitudinal carina, without posterior notch; lateral part very narrow in front of procoxae. Antennal grooves distinctly defined, large, reaching lateral margin.

Mesothorax. Scutellar shield longer than wide, bearing a few extremely fine punctures. Elytra with series 1 (i.e. sutural series) and 2 absent; series 3 to 5 very fine, developed as fine sharp line connecting punctures of same appearance as on elytral intervals, nearly reaching elytral base, not impressed; series 6 similar to previous ones but shallowly impressed posteriad, with serial punctures slightly larger on intervals; series 7 to 10 with all punctures larger than those in intervals; series 7 not reaching elytral base, distinctly impressed; series 8 to 9 distinctly impressed at midlength of elytra, reaching only anterior third of elytra; series 10 reduced, not impressed, consisting of only a few large punctures. Elytral intervals flat near suture, becoming slightly convex laterad. Interval punctation rather sparse, consisting of small but sharply impressed setiferous punctures; interstices without microsculpture, shiny. Epipleura very narrow, reaching from elytral base to level of metathorax. Preepisternal elevation obtusely pentagonal, ca twice as long as wide, widely contacting metaventrite, with dense punctation consisting of coarse and sharply impressed punctures, each bearing a very short seta. Grooves for perception of procoxae well developed, shalow.

Metathorax. Metaventrite with elevated median pentagonal area bearing rather sparse punctation consisting of moderately sized and sharply impressed punctures, interstices with microsculpture consisting of fine longitudinal lines. Lateral parts of metaventrite with very dense punctation consisting of punctures slightly larger than those on median area and without microsculpture. Femoral lines reduced to very short vestiges on anterior margin of metathorax. Hind wings not examined.

Abdomen with ventrite 1 strongly carinate medially, bearing dense, coarse punctures. Remaing abdominal ventrites not carinate, bearing fine and sparse punctation.

Legs quite short, femora as long as tibiae; tibiae slighly widened distad, bearing numerous small but stout spines on their inner and especially outer margins; fore tibiae rounded, without apical or subapical excision; tarsi with strong but fine spines ventrally, bearing a few long hairs dorsally; fore and middle tarsi ca as long as tibiae; hind tarsus distinctly longer than hind tibia.

Male genitalia. Parameres ca twice as long as phallobase, poorly sclerotized and slightly widened apically, bearing numerous pore-like sensilla in apical fourth, inner margins of apices with fine pubescence. Phallobase with large asymmetrical basal projection. Median lobe ca. as long as phallobase and parameres combined, narrowing from base to rounded apex; its sides bearing fine but dense pubescence in apical third; corona not developed; base with two strong hook-like projections. Sternite 9 tongue-like medially.

Differential diagnosis. Although superficially similar to the species of the genus Cycrillum , P. cycrilloideum sp. nov. shares all basic diagnostic characters of Pacrillum used by HANSEN (1991) in his identification key to the megasternine genera. From the remaining species of Pacrillum it differs by a microsculpture consisting of longitudinal furrows present on the pronotum and the metaventrite (interstices of the pronotum and the metaventrite are smooth in the remaining species) and elytral series 3-5 consisting of small punctures connected by a fine line and thus distinguishable from the interval punctation (series 3-5 are not distinguishable from the interval punctation in the remaining species). Its dark head and paler pronotum and elytra can resemble P. manchuricum or paler specimens of P. chinense , of which the latter has been collected at the same locality as the new species.

Variability. We found no noticeable variability apart from coloration (reddish to dark piceous) in the three type specimens.

Etymology. The name reflects the similarity with the representatives of the Neotropical genus Cycrillum .

Bionomy. All three specimens were collected on edges of stagnant waters (buffalo pools in a forest and agricultural landscape, localities ‘Bhichok/Deurali’ and ‘überh. Garlang’) or slowly running waters (small drying-up stream in a well-preserved forest, locality ‘Nyauli-Kharka’) (O. JÄGER, pers. comm.). Sifting samples were taken in the type locality ; this limited data suggest that the new species is hygropetric or aquatic, inhabiting edges of both stagnant and running waters. It thus differs from the other species of the genus Pacrillum which live in leaf litter and other decaying plant matter not associated with water bodies, and are collected by sifting or using urea traps (H. HOSHINA, pers. comm.).

Distribution. So far known only from three localities in the Kaski district (Western Region, central Nepal).

Figures

Figs. 1-7. Pacrillum cycrilloideum sp. nov. 1-2 – habitus of paratype. 1– dorsal view; 2 – lateral view (the arrow shows a fine line of elytral series). 3-5 – male genitalia of holotype. 3 – tegmen; 4 – median lobe; 5 – sternite 9. 6 – microsculpture of pronotal interstices. 7 – ventral surface of paratype (from above: median part of prosternum, preepisternal elevation of mesothorax, and metaventrite).