Caledonica pulchella ( Montrouzier, 1860 )

Kudrna, Arnošt, 2016, Revision of the genusCaledonica (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (2), pp. 567-628 : 574-575

Caledonica pulchella ( Montrouzier, 1860)

( Figs 1–3 )

Oxycheila pulchella Montrouzier, 1860: 234 (original description).

Distipsidera pulchella: LUCAS (1863) : 112 (noted).

Caledonica pulchella: GEMMINGER & HAROLD (1868) : 32 (catalogue); FAUVEL (1882): 223 (key), 227 (redescription); FLEUTIAUX (1892): 31 (catalogue); FAUVEL (1903): 213 (key), 214 (noted); HORN (1910): 181 (catalogue); HORN (1926): 105 (catalogue); HORN (1936): 6 (catalogue); DEUVE (1981): 180 (key), 182 (redescription); WIESNER (1992): 75 (catalogue).

Type locality. ‘Nouvelle Calédonie’.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE: ♀, ‘Étiquette Baladano?, Nll Caledonie’ [white, handwritten]; ‘Museum Paris, Nelle Calédonie, Mestro 53-56.’ [pink, printed/handwritten]; ‘Type’ [red, printed]; ‘Cicindela pulchella Montr., Soc. ent. 234 (1860)’ [brownish, handwritten]; ‘ Caledonica pulchella’ [printed] ( MNHN).

Redescription of holotype. Body of female holotype (the only known specimen) medium sized ( Fig. 1 ), length 11.20 mm, width 3.40 mm.

Head with large eyes, slightly narrower than elytra, dorsally black with dark cupreous metallic reflections; frons moderately convex, separated from clypeus by distinct suture, irregularly wavy-rugulose; vertex moderately convex, with shallow posterior impression, longitudinally to irregularly striate; orbital plates distinctly longitudinally parallel-striate with two setae on each side; occipital area irregularly vermicular-rugulose; genae glabrous, metallic green, finely parallel-striate; clypeus cupreous to green with strong metallic reflections, surface coriaceous.

Labrum ( Fig. 2 ) with four setae, dark testaceous except for much paler entire median area; only very slightly shorter than wide, length 1.40 mm, width 1.50 mm, with acute anterolateral teeth and prominent, tridentate median lobe of acute teeth which are bent downwards, so their acute shape is not obvious in dorsal view.

Mandibles dark testaceous, firmly closed in holotype, therefore only their apical teeth and paler basolateral margins observable.

Labial and maxillary palpi testaceous except for darkened terminal palpomeres and also penultimate palpomere of maxillary palpi.

Antennae. Scape, pedicel and antennomeres V–VI testaceous, antennomeres III–IV dark brown with slightly paler apices, remaining antennomeres missing.

Thorax. All thoracic parts glabrous. Pronotum 2.00 mm long, 2.55 mm wide; anterior and posterior sulci well pronounced, median line indistinct; lateral margins of disc rounded, notopleural sutures lacking elevated costae; pronotal surface black with lustre and feeble green and cupreous metallic reflections along posterior sulcus, surface shallowly irregularly wavy to vermicular-rugulose; proepisterna green with cupreous central area and with metallic lustre, mes- and metepisterna shiny green, pro- and mesepisterna nearly smooth, metepisterna only shallowly striate; female mesepisternal coupling sulci unrecognizable, lacking any pit; metepisterna with distinct impression at posterior suture; pro-, meso-, and metasternum dark testaceous with green metallic lustre; metasternum with fovea-like impression placed at dorsolateral corner.

Elytra elongate, length 7.40 mm, slightly narrowing towards rounded anteapical angles, apices rounded, moderately emarginate towards short sutural spine; basodiscal convexity, apical and juxtahumeral impressions indistinct; each elytron with only indicated longitudinal discal costa, sublateral costa absent; elytral surface anteriorly densely and deeply punctate, juxtahumeral impression punctate only sporadically; punctures towards apex becoming smaller and shallower and nearly effaced on apical area, sparse setigerous punctures with white hairlike setae are distributed on anterior area; elytral coloration lustrously black; elytral maculation ochre-white consisting of three maculae: humeral macula doubled (with tightly adjacent additional basal macula), both ochreous coloured, white, rather narrow and long transversal median band not reaching suture, and white reniform anteapical macula.

Abdomen. Ventrites glabrous, dark testaceous with limited green to cupreous, metallic reflections.

Legs. Coxae and trochanters testaceous, femora testaceous with indistinctly darkened apices; tibiae, tarsi and claws testaceous; tarsi dark testaceous.

Differential diagnosis. Superficially resembling C. affinis due to its dark coloration and elytra with enlarged median macula, but clearly distinguished from it by lateral margins of pronotal disc which are rounded, not convex and lacking elevated costae. From C. luiggiorum sp. nov. it is distinguishable by its larger body-size (11.20 mm in C. pulchella , 8.30–10.10 in C. luiggiorum sp. nov.) and narrower elytral median band. In contrast to C. luiggiorum , C. affinis and C. viridicollis , its elytra posses doubled humeral macula and lack elevated elytral costae. Biology and distribution. Nothing is known about the biology or distribution of C. pulchella . The only known specimen, the female holotype, was collected more than 150 years ago and is without a precise locality.

Figures

Figs 1–8. 1–3 – Caledonica pulchella (Montrouzier, 1860): 1 – habitus,♀, holotype, 11.2 mm (MNHN); 2 – labrum, ibid.; 3 – labels. 4–8 – C. longicollis Fauvel, 1903: 4 – habitus,J, Touho, 9 mm (AKCB); 5 – frontal view, ibid.; 6 – habitus, ♀, N Bourail, 9.5 mm (AKCB); 7 – frontal view, ibid.; 8 – aedeagus, Bourail (AKCB). Scale bars = 1 mm.