Rhytiferonia beroni, Gueorguiev, Borislav V., 2013

Gueorguiev, Borislav V., 2013, On five species of the tribes Abacetini and Pterostichini (Coleoptera, Carabidae), ZooKeys 352, pp. 35-50 : 40-44

Rhytiferonia beroni sp. n. Figs 10-14

Type material.

Holotype ♀, "New Guinea, Bonforok bil, Tifalmin, 1600 m 17.10.75 leg. P. Beron" [typeset], "HOLOTYPE Rhytiferonia beroni spec. nov. Guéorguiev des. 2012" [typeset, red label] (NMNHS). Paratypes 2♀♀, labeled as follows: 1♀, "Tifalmin W. Sepic Prov. IX.75" [handwritten], "British Speleological Expedition to Papua New Guinea 1975" [typeset], " Rhytiferonia sp. det. B. P. Moore ’78” [handwritten & typeset] (NMNHS); 1♀, "Fimin tel 2300 m Western Prov. 30.viii.75 P. Beron" [handwritten], "British Speleological Expedition to Papua New Guinea 1975" [typeset], " Rhytiferonia sp. det. B. P. Moore ’78” [handwritten & typeset], "UC Berkeley EMEC 345536" [typeset]; paratypes with subsequently added: "PARATYPE Rhytiferonia beroni spec. nov. Guéorguiev des. 2012" [typeset, red label] (EMEC).

Examined type material of other species.

Rhytiferonia julianae Baehr, 2001, paratypes 2♂♂, "IRIAN JAYA: Mt. Juliana Gebiet 16.-17.9.1993 Sab-me Tal" [typeset], "ca. 140°17'E, 04°27'S, 3400-3500m leg. M. Balke (14)" [typeset], "PARATYPE Rhytiferonia julianae, sp.nov. det. M. Baehr 2000" [typeset, red label] (NMW).

Diagnosis.

The new species is distinct from all other congeners in the following set of characters: 1) eyes moderately enclosed by temporae laterally; 2) pronotum with obtuse, somewhat perceptible basal angles, side without sinuation in front of angle; 3) posterolateral seta of pronotum slightly removed from angle; 4) elytra with parascutellar setigerous puncture, distinct parascutellar stria in interval 1, and angular base of stria 1 joining stria 2; 5) last three abdominal sterna with transverse sulci superficial, only laterally distinct.

It should be noted that the above diagnosis is based on the descriptions of the known species by Baehr (2001) as specimens of only Rhytiferonia species were used for comparison (see chapter "Examined type material of other species").

Description.

Habitus. Moderately large-sized species of Rhytiferonia , with elongate, convex body and basal angles of pronotum rounded off (Fig. 10). Measurements. BL: 15.6-17.2 mm (17.1 mm in holotype); BW: 4.9-5.5 mm (5.5 mm in holotype). Ratios. PW/HW: 1.38-1.42 (1.42 in holotype); PW/PL: 1.10-1.16 (1.16 in holotype); PW/PbW: 1.35-1.37 (1.37 in holotype); PbW/PaW: 0.98-1.00 (0.98 in holotype); EW/PW: 1.20-1.23 (1.20 in holotype); EL/EW: 1.62-1.68 (1.62 in holotype). Color. Deep black on dorsal surface, mouthparts, antennae, legs, and ventral surface black brown to dark reddish. Microsculpture and lustre. Very fine, isodiametric, distinct on head and elytra, visible under magnification> 50 x, indistinct on pronotum; dorsal surface shiny. Head. Longer than wide, disc smooth, frontal furrows faintly impressed, oblique, divergent backward, hardly reach level of anterior supraorbital punctures; eyes small, modestly projecting laterally, as long as temporae; temporae slightly surpassing eyes laterally; paraorbital sulci moderately deep, reaching level of posterior supraorbital pore backward; labrum rectangular, anterior margin with six setigerous punctures; clypeus trapezoid, slightly emarginated anteriorly and laterally, with two setigerous punctures closer to lateral margins than to anterior one, clypeal suture faint; antennae filiform, pubescent from second fifth of segment 4, with terminal article not reaching base of pronotum; glossal sclerite of ligula with two long setae on anterior margin; maxillary palpomere 1 very massive, twice thicker than following two segments; mentum deeply emarginated, with tooth bifid at tip and pair of labial setae, epilobes large, significantly exceeding mentum tooth forward; submentum with two basal setae, without lateral ones. Pronotum (Fig. 11). Large, widest at middle, disc gently convex, smooth; midline very fine, distinct on medial half of pronotum, obsolescent apically and basally; anterior and posterior margins unbordered, almost of equal length, anterior margin slightly concave, fore angles moderately protruding forward; basal margin rather convex backward, hind angles subangular, incompletely round; lateral margins slightly convex to straight, without sinuation towards hind angles, marginal field narrow in apical half, widened and explanate towards base; anterolateral seta at apical third, posterolateral seta slightly in front of hind angles; posterolateral impressions faint. Elytra (Figs 12-13). Subelongate, oviform, convex dorsally, coalescent along suture, widest at third fourth; sides narrow basally, gradually widened apically; shoulders angulate, with minute teeth; lateral margins slightly sinuate before rounded apex; striae well impressed, complete, impunctate, parascutellar striae present, not anastomosing with stria 1 back, angular base of stria 1 present, joining stria 2 (in paratype) or reduced (in holotype), scutellar pores present, removed back from basal margin with distance from one to three diameters of pore, situated on angular base of stria 1, stria 7 deepened in apical third, with one setigerous puncture near to apex, discal setigerous punctures absent; intervals gently convex; umbilicate series of elytra entire, not interrupted in middle, consist of 19-21 setigerous punctures. Hind wings. Vestigial. Ventral surface (thorax and abdomen). Prosternum laterally with conspicuous longitudinal sulci; prosternal process unbordered; metaepisterna wider than long, with anterior margins longer than inner ones and as long as outer margins; apical three abdominal sternites with transverse sulci superficial, distinct laterally, indistinct in middle; last visible sternite quadrisetose in female. Legs. Fore and middle legs relatively short and massive, hind legs longer; fore and middle trochanteri with one seta, hind trochanteri asetose, with pointed apex, as long as half of hind femora; fore coxae asetose, middle coxae with two setae, hind coxae with three setae, including medial setae after meeting point of coxae; profemur posterior margin with four pores, mesofemur posterior margin with five pores, metafemur anterior margin with three pores; onychium setose ventrally. Female genitalia. Not studied.

Etymology.

A noun in the genitive case. Honour Dr. Petar Beron, a prominent Bulgarian zoologist, who first collected the new species.

Distribution.

Papua New Guinea, Sandaun Province (= West Sepik Province), Telefomin District, Tifalmin env. (Fig. 14). For the time being, it is the first documented representative of Rhytiferonia Darlington, 1962 from Papua New Guinea.

Affinities.

The new species is provisionally placed in the nigra-group, which includes Rhytiferonia nigra Darlington, 1962, Rhytiferonia iebele Darlington, 1962, and Rhytiferonia punctigera Baehr, 2001. Baehr (2001: 43) associated the species from this complex due to the presence of: 1/ markedly enclosed eyes; 2/ basal angles of pronotum rounded off, without sinuation in front of them; 3/ posterolateral seta of pronotum far removed from angle; 4/ complete, deep, sharply impressed transverse sulci on three apical abdominal sterna; 5/ median lobe of aedeagus narrow, elongate, little curved medially, without spiniform sclerites near apex of internal sac. As the male genital characters of the new species are unknown, it possesses only two from the remaining four features: markedly enclosed eyes (i) and basal angles of pronotum rounded off, without sinuation in front of angles (ii). In contrast to that, Rhytiferonia beroni sp. n. possesses posterolateral seta of pronotum only slightly removed from basal angle and apical three abdominal sternites with superficial, distinct only laterally transverse sulci.

Except for the characters shared by the new species with the species from the nigra group, Rhytiferonia beroni sp. n. most resembles Rhytiferonia punctigera in: 1) the pronotum with obtuse basal angles; 2) presence of parascutellar pore; 3) presence of parascutellar stria, which not anastomose with stria 1, and angular base of stria 1 joining stria 2. This set of shared traits places the last two species closer to each other than any of them to another species of Rhytiferonia . The new species can be distinguished from its closest congener in the following row:

1) temporae ( “orbits”, after Baehr 2001) laterally slightly surpassing eyes, vs. laterally perceptibly surpassing eyes in Rhytiferonia punctigera ( Baehr 2001: 45, 55, fig. 16);

2) pronotum widest in the middle, with fore angles moderately protruding (Fig. 11), vs. widest in anterior third, with fore angles little produced in Rhytiferonia punctigera ( Baehr 2001: 45, 54, fig. 9);

3) anterior and posterior margins of pronotum almost of equal length, PbW/PaW: 0.98, vs. "Base clearly narrower than apex." ( Baehr 2001: 45) in Rhytiferonia punctigera ;

4) posterolateral seta of pronotum slightly removed from hind angle (Fig. 11), vs. far removed from hind angle in Rhytiferonia punctigera ( Baehr 2001: 45, 54, fig. 9);

5) transverse sulci on three apical abdominal sternites superficially impressed laterally, indistinct in middle, vs. complete and deep, sharply impressed in Rhytiferonia punctigera ( Baehr 2001: 45);

6) umbilicate series of 19-21 setigerous punctures, vs. umbilicate series of 18 setigerous punctures in Rhytiferonia punctigera ( Baehr 2001: 45).

In addition, several ratios with different values in the two species ( Rhytiferonia punctigera in brackets): PW/HW: 1.38-1.42 (vs. 1.27); PW/PL: 1.10-1.16 (vs. 1.07); PW/PbW: 1.35-1.37 (vs. data questionable, 1.24, according to Baehr 2001: 46, but 1.32, according to Baehr 2001: 52); EL/EW: 1.62-1.68 (vs. 1.79).