Rompindessus Balke, Bergsten & Hendrich

Balke, Michael, Bergsten, Johannes, Wang, Liang-Jong & Hendrich, Lars, 2017, A new genus and two new species of Southeast Asian Bidessini as well as new synonyms for Oceanian species (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae), ZooKeys 647, pp. 137-151 : 138

Rompindessus Balke, Bergsten & Hendrich gen. n.

Type species.

Rompindessus jenisi sp. n. by present designation.

Diagnosis.

Of the set of structural features generally used to classify Bidessini , the following combination is present in this taxon: 1) occipital line present; 2) basal pronotal striae present; 3) basal elytral striae absent; 4) sutural line on elytron absent; 5) basal epipleural transverse carina absent; 6) clypeus with thick anterior bead (or margin); 7) longitudinal elytral carina on disc absent; and 8) parameres two-segmented. Moreover, the male pro- and mesotarsus appear stout, and distinctly dilated laterally; the pronotum is comparably long and parallel-sided and the colour of beetle is conspicuously dark orange. This differentiates Rompindessus gen. n. from all other Bidessini . In the key to Bidessini genera by Miller and Bergsten (2016) Rompindessus keys out to Platydytes Biström, 1988, which only occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from geography, Rompindessus can be distinguished from Platydytes by the thickly bordered clypeal margin (finely bordered to indistinct in Platydytes ), the enlarged, laterally expanded male pro- and mesotarsomeres I-III, the dark orange colouration with dark speckles on elytra, and the more discontinuous body outline between pronotum and elytra.

Etymology.

Named after the collecting locality, Rompin village, and the ending - dessus as used for many genera in Bidessini .