Abacophrastus megalops Will

Will, Kipling W., 2011, Taxonomic review of the Pterostichini and Loxandrini fauna of New Caledonia (Coleoptera, Carabidae), ZooKeys 147, pp. 337-397 : 355-356

Abacophrastus megalops Will sp. n. Figs 303233C

Type locality.

New Caledonia, Southern Province, Mt. Koghis, 700m, 22°10'28"S, 166°30'48"E.

Type material.

Holotype, female (EMEC80964), "22°10'28"S/166°30'48"E, NEW CALEDONIA, Prov. Sud, Mt. Koghis, 700m el. Coll. K.Will, 12.iii.2007, headlamp search", deposited MNHN. Paratypes, same data as holotype, 1 female (teneral), 1 male (EMEC80963) (disarticulated, stored in EtOH) [EMEC]

Description.

Size. Overall length (sbl) 10.6-11.0mm, greatest width over elytra 4.0-4.2mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennomeres 1-5 black to piceous, antennomeres 6-11 paler, slightly infuscated. Dorsally with very slight metallic purple reflex, more evident on head and pronotum. Luster. Dorsal surface very shiny, ventral surface moderately shiny. Iridescence. Elytra with distinct spectral iridescence. Ventral surface of body with slight spectral iridescence.

Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci impressed, short, divergent, arcuate, ocular ratio 1.5-1.6, eyes large for genus, rounded, moderately prominent, post-ocular orbits relatively small. Labrum broadly emarginate. Antennae: Overall length long, antennomeres 10-11 reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 elongate. Thorax. Pronotum quadrate, sides shallowly rounded in apical 3/4 and then slightly sinuate and straight to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to near base there ended at level of seta, hind angle scarcely explanate, rounded, but about right angled, anterior margin slightly emarginate, anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impressions linear, well impressed, slightly divergent, outer impression lacking, seta at hind angle well forward of basal margin, about one half length of straight portion of margin and about 3/4 this length distant from lateral margin. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture of irregular mesh of microlines hardly visible at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, impunctate, shallowly impressed except laterally and apically. Elytra shiny, microsculpture scarcely visible at 50x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Male aedeagus (Figs 31, 33C) tip roundly and narrowly deltoid.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a compound word from the Greek, megas (large) and ops (eyes), referring to the large eyes in this species. It is treated as an adjective in the nominative singular.