Pheropsophus scythropus ANDREWES, 1923

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 : 80-81

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4608.1.3

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3540218C-34FA-4D91-925A-3E89C6C3A7C1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4335093

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03FB8782-FFF7-774E-4AFE-FC1D376EFF2D

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Pheropsophus scythropus ANDREWES, 1923
status

 

Pheropsophus scythropus ANDREWES, 1923 View in CoL

( Fig. 2 G, 2 H View FIGURE 2 )

= Pheropsophus melancholicus CHAUDOIR,1876 (non Schm. Goeb.)

Ssp. Pheropsophus scythropus dissolutus ANDREWES, 1923 View in CoL

Pheropsophus scythropus Andrewes, 1923b: 221 View in CoL ; 1930: 275; Jedlička, 1963: 526; Saha and Halder, 2000: 34; Kirschenhofer, 2010: 60; Hrdlička, 2017: 480.

Pheropsophus melancholicus Chaudoir , (non Schm. Goeb.) 1876: 20; Andrewes, 1923a: 40; 1930: 275.

Ssp. Pheropsophus scythropus dissolutus Andrewes, 1923b: 222 View in CoL ; 1930: 276; Hrdlička, 2017: 480.

Specimens examined (n=2): Holotype, labelled “Gopaldhara, Darjeeling. 3,440–4720 ft., 21.XII.1917, H.Stevens, H.E.Andrewes Coll. B.M. 1945–97 ”, type in BMNH;

Other specimens examined: 1ex., labelled “ Laos: La Casade , 5.I.1918, R.V.de Salvaza, 30Kilm. From Xieng Khonang; ‘Co-type’, H.E. Andrewes Coll. B.M. 1945–97, ‘Lectotype’ Pheropsophus dissolutus Andrewes 1923 , det. Jan Hrdlička ”

Description. Length: 12.0–16.0 mm long; TW: 4.5–5.2

Colour: Black to brownish black; head in front of eyes and beneath, epipleurae (at base), apical margin of elytra, prosternal process, metasternum, palpi, and antennae (darker towards apex) testaceous yellow.

Head: Convex, smooth, wrinkled behind and generally with two or three large punctures near eye, frontal foveae shallow, a small rounded depression on inner margin of eye, eyes moderately prominent, antennae long and thick, reaching beyond middle of elytra.

Pronotum: Convex, as wide as head, and a little longer than wide, sides gently rounded in front and sinuate behind, hind angles right and sharp, projecting faintly laterally; median line shallow, deeper behind at its junction with the clearly marked transverse impression; surface smooth with a few small punctures at sides of base.

Elytra: Convex, wider than pronotum, humerus obliterate, apical truncature with a very distinct re-entrant angle at suture; striations rather narrow, smooth, the outer ones finer, eighth not reaching apex, intervals between the costae finely aciculate.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Sikkim: Gopaldhara ( Andrewes 1923b); Assam ( Kirschenhofer 2010); Bengal: Kurseong ( Andrewes 1923b), Pashok ( Andrewes 1923b), Mungphu ( Andrewes 1923b); Meghalaya: Shillong ( Andrewes 1923b), Khasi Hills ( Andrewes 1923b); CHINA: Tibet: Pedong ( Andrewes 1923b); BHUTAN: Maria Basti ( Andrewes 1923b).

P. scythropus dissolutus LAOS: Ban Sai, Pang Bo and ‘La Cascade’’ near Xieng Khonang ( Hrdlička 2017). Remarks. Pheropsophus scythropus is evidently allied to P. aptinoides , a much larger insect, but differs by having black head, elongated, glossy, more convex pronotum and apex of femur without black spot. Endemic to Eastern Himalaya hotspot of biodiversity.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Carabidae

Genus

Pheropsophus

Loc

Pheropsophus scythropus ANDREWES, 1923

Venugopal, Akhil S. & Thomas, Sabu K. 2019
2019
Loc

Pheropsophus scythropus

Hrdlicka, J. 2017: 480
Kirschenhofer, E. 2010: 60
Saha, S. K. & Halder, S. K. 2000: 34
Jedlicka, A. 1963: 526
Andrewes, H. E. 1930: 275
Andrewes, H. E. 1923: 221
1923
Loc

Pheropsophus melancholicus

Andrewes, H. E. 1930: 275
Andrewes, H. E. 1923: 40
1923
GBIF Dataset (for parent article) Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF