Pheropsophus picicollis CHAUDOIR, 1876

Venugopal, Akhil S. & Thomas, Sabu K., 2019, Bombardier beetles of the genus Pheropsophus Solier 1833 (Carabidae: Brachininae: Brachinini) from Indian subcontinent, Zootaxa 4608 (1), pp. 65-89 : 79

Pheropsophus picicollis CHAUDOIR, 1876

( Fig. 2 C , 5 F )

Pheropsophus picicollis Chaudoir, 1876: 44 ; Bates, 1892b: 392; Andrewes, 1930: 275; Jedlička, 1963:532; Hrdlička, 2017: 480.

Specimen examined (n=7): Syntype, labelled “Ex-Musaeo Chaudoir”, ‘ Siam’, coll. M. H. Deyrolle, type in MNHN Paris .

Other specimens examined: 1 ex., India: Kerala: Koorachund, Hand picking, 24.VIII.2015, coll. V.A. Jithmon ; 1 ex., India: Kerala: Chelari, Hand Picking , 28.I.2016, coll. S.V. Akhil ; 1 ex., India: Kerala: Nilambur , Light trap, 29.II.2016, coll. S.V. Akhil ; 1 ex., India: Kerala: Koorachund, Hand picking, 04.VI.2016, coll. V.A. Jithmon ; 2 exs., India: Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore ( TNAU) .

Description. Length: 15.0–17.0 mm

Colour: Head almost entirely black with reddish yellow borders (lateral, anterior and posterior); clypeus and labrum reddish yellow; reddish yellow epistome; first four antennal segments light yellow red and 5–11 dark brown; eyes grey; pronotum entirely black; elytra black with humeral spots and median bands; legs with coxa, trochanter and tarsi dark reddish brown; femur and tibia reddish yellow; black spot on the apex of femur present on all legs; underside of head reddish yellow with black patch around eyes; last articles of palpi reddish; underside of body black, with episternum yellow posteriorly, middle of the metasternum light brown.

Head: Narrow; neck wrinkled; eyes prominent and protruding.

Pronotum: Smooth, glabrous, oblong, barely convex on sides, anterior and posterior similarly narrowed; anterior and posterior margins straight; weak bead along lateral margin; two long setae (one each on either side) in the center towards the lateral margin.

Elytra: Subparallel, narrowed towards base; humerus prominent; humeral spot more angular posteriorly, median band narrow, more transverse, extending to the second stria, rather strongly serrated on both edges, not reaching the lateral margin; yellow apical border serrated on the striation, extending between the 2 nd and 8 th striations; the first and eighth striations are black to the end; striations shallow but broad, intervals flat, glabrous.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Karnataka: Bangalore ( Andrewes 1930); Kerala: Thiruvananthapuram ( Andrewes 1930), Chelari (New record), Koorachudu (New record); Goa: Mormugao ( Andrewes 1930); Arunachal Pradesh and Assam: Dafla Hills ( Bates 1892b); Mizoram and Tripura: Lushai Hills ( Andrewes 1930); Andaman Is. ( Andrewes 1930); BHUTAN ( Andrewes 1930); SRI LANKA ( Andrewes 1930); MYANMAR: Karen Hills ( Andrewes 1930). Shan hills ( Andrewes 1930). Bhamo ( Bates 1892b). Palon ( Bates 1892b). Rangoon ( Chaudoir 1876); Malay Peninsula ( Andrewes 1930); THAILAND ( Chaudoir 1876); LAOS ( Andrewes 1930).

Remarks. Very similar to P. occipitalis but differs by narrow, more transverse elytral median band and the narrow black head with the epistome and the anterior corners near the base of the antennae reddish yellow.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dorsal habitus of Pheropsophus from India (cont.)–A) Pheropsophus lissoderus (Holotype, ‘Tibet’, MNHN), B) P. nanodes (Verified specimen, ‘S.E.Tibet’, BMNH), C) P. picicollis (Syntype, ‘Siam (now Thailand)’ MNHN), D) P. nigricollis (Holotype, ‘Bangalore’, BMNH), E) P. occipitalis (Verified specimen, ‘China’, BMNH), F) P. prophylax (Holotype, ‘Manipur’, BMNH), G) P. scythropus (Holotype, ‘Gopaldhara’, BMNH), H) P. scythropus dissolutus (‘Laos’, BMNH)

FIGURE 5. Pheropsophus male genitalia, Right lateral aspect–A) Pheropsophus devagiriensis sp. nov. (Holotype, ‘India: Tamilnadu: Courtallam’), B) P. indicus sp. nov. (Holotype, ‘India: Kerala: Palakkad’), C) P. bimaculatus (‘India: Kerala: Nilambur’), D) P. lissoderus (‘India: Kerala: Kalpetta’), E) P. occipitalis (‘India: Kerala: Kalpetta’), F) P. picicollis (‘India: Kerala: Chelari’), G) P. sobrinus (‘India: Kerala: Palakkad’), H) P. tripustulatus (‘India: Kerala: Nilambur’). Scale Bar 1 mm.