Bottchrus Jedlička, 1935

Kataev, Boris M., 2016, On taxonomic status of Bottchrus, with a description of a new brachypterous species of the genus Trichotichnus (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from the Philippines, Zootaxa 4061 (1) : -

The subgenus Bottchrus Jedlička, 1935 , stat. n.

Bottchrus Jedlička, 1935: 8 [as genus]. Type species: Bottchrus philippinus Jedlička, 1935 , by monotypy. Trichotichnus javanus species group sensu Schauberger, 1935: 108.

Bellogenus Clarke, 1971: 264 [as genus], syn. n. Type species: Bellogenus amazeus Clarke, 1971 , by original designation. Pseudotrichotichnus Habu, 1973: 225 [as a subgenus of Trichotichnus ]. Type species: Trichotichnus nanus Habu, 1954 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. The most distinctive feature of Bottchrus is the clypeo-ocular furrows deep throughout, reaching the deep furrows around the inner margin of eyes. By this character this subgenus is rather easily distinguished from other subgenera of Trichotichnus . Members of Bottchrus are also characterized by the following character states: mentum with acute median tooth, either separated from submentum by complete transverse suture or fused laterally and separated medially; epilobes narrow, with inner margin more or less straight; ligular sclerite narrow at apex, with two ventral setae near apical margin; paraglossae moderately wide or somewhat narrow, rounded at apex, separated apically from ligular sclerite by narrow notch; genae wide; elytral intervals impunctate and glabrous; abdominal sternites with very short and fine pubescence or glabrous; last visible abdominal sternite in male and female with two pairs of marginal setigerous pores; metafemur with two (rarely three) setigerous pores along posterior margin; male pro- and mesotarsi with ventral biseriate vestiture; median lobe of aedeagus with apical orifice shifted leftwards; and apical stylomere with one or two peg-like spines on both ventral and dorsal edges of outer margin. In most species the males have a well developed apical capitulum of the median lobe of aedeagus, and mesotarsomere 1 not widened, slightly shorter than 2+3, without adhesive vestiture ventrally. Setae on genae, mentioned by Habu (1973) as one of the distinctive characters of Pseudotrichotichnus , are present only in some members and should be excluded from the diagnosis of this taxon.

Composition and distribution. This subgenus includes about 50 described species, with most distributed in the Southeastern Asia from Sri Lanka and Hindustan to Australia. One species, T. amazeus (Clarke 1971) , is known from Ethiopia. The taxonomic position of some species described from New Guinea and Australia needs further study.

Remarks. Schauberger (1935) was the first to recognize this taxon with 11 Oriental species placed in the javanus species group of the genus Trichotichnus . More recently, Habu (1973) described the same taxon as the subgenus Pseudotrichotichnus originally for three species of Trichotichnus from Japan and later (Habu 1975a, 1975b, 1980) described several new species from Taiwan and Ryukyus. Noonan (1985) in his revision of the Selenophori group synonymized Pseudotrichotichnus with Bellogenus, which was described by Clarke (1971) as a monotypical genus from Ethiopia without comparison with any Asian species. This synonymy was accepted by Kirschenhofer (1992), Lorenz (1998, 2005) and Bousquet (2012). For unknown reasons Ito (1991, 1996, 1997a, 1997b, 1997c, 1998a, 1998b, 1999, 2009, 2014) continued to describe new Oriental species as members of the subgenus Pseudotrichotichnus and cited this name as valid in the Catalogue of the Palaearctic Coleoptera (Löbl & Smetana, 2003) . My examination of the male and two females of the type series of Bellogenus amazeus from Badabuna Forest and Belleta Forest, Ethiopia (MRACT, MNHN) and comparison them with the East Asian and the Oriental species of the subgenus Pseudotrichotichnus sensu Habu and sensu Ito confirmed that Pseudotrichotichnus and Bellogenus are synonyms as stated by Noonan (1985). The Ethiopian species shares with the East Asian and the Oriental species all the distinctive characters of the latter including the deep clypeo-ocular furrows reaching deep furrows around inner margin of eyes, the acute median tooth of mentum, the ligular sclerite narrowed to apex, the apical stylomere with one peg-like spine on both ventral and dorsal edges of the outer margin, and the median lobe of aedeagus with the apical orifice shifted to the left (labium, and male and female genitalia of Bellogenus amazeus are illustrated in Figs 1–5 ). Additional characteristics of Bellogenus amazeus include: left mandible truncate at apex; mentum and submentum separated by complete transverse suture; pronotal apical and basal margins bordered throughout; elytra without a discal pore on interval 3, with rudimentary parascutellar striole and with parascutellar pope; prosternum and abdominal sternites glabrous; metepisternum wider than long; and tarsi with sparse short setae dorsally. Bottchrus philippinus described by Jedlička (1935) from the Philippines also possesses all the distinctive characters of Bellogenus and Pseudotrichotichnus . Thus Bottchrus becomes the valid name of the subgenus discussed and Bellogenus and Pseudotrichotichnus are its junior synonyms.

The subgenus Bottchrus , having the deep clypeo-ocular furrows reaching the deep furrows around inner margin of eyes, is rather isolated from other members of Trichotichnus and further investigations may demonstrate that it warrants a generic status. In the present paper, its subgeneric status is conserved because many species of Trichotichnus should be revised.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 5. Trichotichnus (Bottchrus) amazeus (paratypes). 1, labium; 2, left laterotergite and stylus; 3, stylus; 4 – 5, median lobe of aedeagus. 1 – 2, ventral view; 3 – 4, lateral view, 5, dorsal view. Scales = 0.5 mm (A: Figs 2 – 3; B: Figs 1, 4 – 5).