Austrocyphon tropicus, Zwick, Peter, 2013

Zwick, Peter, 2013, Australian Marsh Beetles (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) 4. Two new genera, Austrocyphon and Tasmanocyphon, Zootaxa 3706 (1), pp. 1-74 : 62-64

Austrocyphon tropicus , sp. n.

( Figs. 209–213 )

Type material. Holotype ♂, paratype 1♂: 12.47S 132.51E Baroalba Creek Springs, NT, 19 km NE by E of Mt Cahill, 28.X.72, at light, E.Britton ( ANIC).

Habitus. BL 2.3 mm, BL/BW 1.5, stout oval body. Occiput dark brown, remainder of upper surface light brown, also the semi-erect pilosity. Antennae and legs yellow. Antennae short, barely as long as body width, flagellar segment 2 twice, distal flagellar segments about 1.5 times longer than wide. Head and pronotum with similar dense and moderately coarse granular punctation.

Male. T8 with slender bacula and large caudally deeply excised plate. Surface and caudal edge almost bare, only sparse inconspicuous microtrichia. S8 small, V-shaped, plate represented by two small colourless oval sclerites with few setal pores.

T9 longer than T8, with long straight apodemes. A deep notch divides the bare plate except for the basal fourth, each lobe with a fine oblique line. Together, the lobes resemble rabbit ears. S9 well sclerotized, base handle-like, the oval plate pilose, with deep U-shaped caudal notch.

Pala of penis a little longer than the distal part, surrounding sclerite fairly wide. A long forward spur on the unusually long sclerite bridge supporting the trigonium. Accordingly, the foramen is rather short. Trigonium stout, with sharp apical centema. The fused parameroids not flanged, conically restricted to a truncate tip with rounded edges.

Parameres with flat rounded base supporting two caudally thinning rods ending in a soft hook-shaped plate.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. The specific name refers to the origin of the insect in the tropics.

Figures

FIGURES 204 – 213. Austrocyphon setifer sp. n. (204 – 208) and A. tropicus sp. n. (209 – 213), males. 204, T 8 and S 8; 205, T 9; 206, S 9; 207, penis; 208, tegmen and parameres. Figs. 204 – 208 to the same scale. 209, T 8 and S 8; 210, T 9; 211, S 9; 212, tegmen and parameres; 213, penis, dorsal view. Figs. 209 – 212 to the same scale.