Austrelatus pseudoneoguineensis, Shaverdo & Hájek & Hendrich & Surbakti & Panjaitan & Balke, 2023

Shaverdo, Helena, Hajek, Jiri, Hendrich, Lars, Surbakti, Suriani, Panjaitan, Rawati & Balke, Michael, 2023, Austrelatus gen. nov., a new genus of Australasian diving beetles (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Copelatinae), with the discovery of 31 new species from New Guinea, ZooKeys 1170, pp. 1-164 : 1

21. Austrelatus pseudoneoguineensis sp. nov.

Figs 17 , 21 , 82

Type locality.

Indonesia: Papua Province: Nabire Regency, road Nabire-Enarotali, 54th km, ca. 03°29.52'S, 135°43.91'E, 750 m a.s.l.

Type material.

Holotype: male "Irian Jaya: Nabire distr., road Nabire-Ilaga, km 54, 03°29'517"S 135°43'913"E, 750 m, iv.1998" (MZB).

Paratypes: IN: Papua: Nabire Regency: 11 males, 5 females with the same label as the holotype (NHMW, ZSM). 1 male "Irian Jaya: Nabire Prov., rd. Nabire - Ilaga, Km 54, ca. 750 m, X.1997" (NHMW). 1 female "Irian Jaya: Nabire Prov., rd. Nabire - Ilaga, km 54, 03°29'51"S 135°43'91"E 750 m, IV.1998" (NHMW). 1 male, 1 female "Irian Jaya: Nabire Prov., Nabire - Ilaga, km 54, 26.9.1997, 750 m (# 4)" (NHMW). 1 male "Indonesia: Papua, Nabire - Ilaga km 54, 750 m, 25 & 27.vii.1991, Balke, IR#91-7 (IR 24)" (ZSM). 2 male, 4 females "Indonesia: Papua, Road Nabire-Enarotali KM 55, 774 m, 22.x.2011, 03.29.796S 135.43.885E, team UNCEN (PAP09)" one female with an additional green text label “5130” (KSP, MZB). 1 male, 1 female "Indonesia: Papua, Road Nabire-Enarotali KM 35, r. Topo, 130 m, 22.x.2011, 03.28.727S 135.38.734E, team UNCEN (PAP09A)" (ZSM). 1 male "Indonesia: Papua, Road Nabire-Enarotali KM 40, 350 m, 23.x.2011, 03.29.314S 135.41.188E, team UNCEN (PAP18)" (ZSM). 1 male, 1 female "Irian Jaya: Nabire Prov., Nabire - Ilaga, km 35, Kali Cemara, 26.9.1997 (# 5)" (NHMW).

Jayawijaya Regency: 1 male "Indonesia: Papua, Wamena, 20 mins towd Jiwika, limestone creek, 1620 m, 03 56.953'S 138 54.375'E, team UNCEN (PAP05)" (ZSM).

Description.

Body size and form: Beetle medium-sized, with oblong-oval habitus (Fig. 17 ).

Measurements: TL 5.2-5.85 mm, TL-H 4.7-5.3 mm, MW 2.5-2.85 mm, TL/MW 2.05-2.08; PL 0.7-0.8 mm, PW 2.2-2.5 mm, PL/PW 0.32; DBE 0.9-1 mm, DBE/PW 0.4-0.41.

Holotype: TL 5.85 mm, TL-H 5.3 mm, MW 2.85 mm, TL/MW 2.08; PL 0.8 mm, PW 2.5 mm, PL/PW 0.32; DBE 1 mm, DBE/PW 0.4.

Colouration: Dorsally piceous, with yellowish brown to brown head and pronotum or pronotal sides, rarely with small, yellowish brown to reddish brown elytral latero-basal spot (Fig. 17 ).

Head yellowish brown to brown, darker behind eyes. Pronotum yellowish brown to almost piceous, usually with paler sides and darker disc. Elytron uniformly piceous, rarely with small, yellowish brown to reddish brown basal spot situated between second dorsal puncture line and lateral puncture line. Scutellum reddish yellow to piceous. Antennae and other head appendages yellowish brown. Pro- and mesolegs yellowish brown proximally and darker distally, especially metalegs. Venter yellowish brown to dark brown, with paler prosternum. Teneral beetles paler.

Surface sculpture: Elytron without striae: 0+0, but with distinct puncture lines (Fig. 17 ).

Head without strioles, with relatively dense, even punctation (spaces between punctures 1-3 × size of punctures); punctures relatively small (diameter of punctures slightly smaller than diameter of cells of microreticulation); head with a row of coarse setigerous punctures along inner margin of each eye and a short row at frontal angle of each eye; a slightly longer puncture row forms fronto-clypeal depression at each head side; head with strong microreticulation. Pronotum with distinct strioles at posterior angles and thin, longitudinal wrinkles at middle of posterior margin; pronotal punctation finer than on head; coarse setigerous punctures form a broad row along pronotal margins, absent in posterior middle; disc of pronotum with thin, longitudinal median scratch. Pronotal microreticulation rather weakly impressed on disc. Elytron without elytral striae but with two distinct puncture lines on disc and one less distinct laterally; two additional lines of very sparse, coarse setigerous punctures can be seen between elytral lines; elytron with fine, dense, rather inconspicuous punctation; microreticulation weak. Ventral part with fine, inconspicuous punctation, almost invisible on metaventrite and metacoxae and rather distinct on abdominal ventrites; prosternum smooth medially; metaventrite and metacoxae with weak microreticulation; on abdominal ventrites microreticulation almost invisible; metacoxal plates with more or less short longitudinal strioles, abdominal ventrites 1 and 2 with numerous, long, longitudinal strioles from margin to margin, on abdominal ventrites 3 and 4 strioles situated laterally and turn to middle, almost horizontal, abdominal ventrites 5 and 6 without strioles but with rather distinct punctation that sparser medially and forms a dense lateral area at each side.

Structures: Head relatively broad. Pronotum short and broad; lateral margins distinctly convergent anteriorly. Base of prosternum rounded anteriorly, slightly convex medially; neck of prosternal process distinctly convex; blade of prosternal process elongate, narrow, distinctly convex in middle.

Male: Protibia straight, not modified. Proclaws relatively long, equal in length. Median lobe of aedeagus with two lobes of dorsal sclerite rather narrow; right dorsal lobe slightly longer than left one; in lateral view, apex of left dorsal lobe more or less straight, with weak longitudinal crest on its lateral margin; right dorsal lobe with large median impression (in right lateral view) and flat, relatively broad apex. Left lobe of ventral sclerite with its sclerotised area weak, indistinct laterally, shorter than right ventral lobe; lobes of ventral sclerite pressed together; right ventral lobe its sclerotised area well-developed, tip of apex of right ventral lobe often slightly curved upwards. Paramere with setae not divided into distal and proximal; sometimes more distally situated setae denser and slightly longer than more proximal ones in left paramere (Fig. 21 ).

Female: As male.

Affinities.

Based on shape of the median lobe, the species is close to A. neoguineensis but differs from it in smaller and narrower habitus, absence of elytral striae and slightly different shape of median lobe sclerites. In absence of the elytral striae and general shape of the median lobe, it is similar to A. oksibilensis sp. nov., A. pseudooksibilensis sp. nov. and A. febrisauri sp. nov. but differs from them by more uniformly coloured elytra, almost without yellowish and different shape of the median lobe.

Etymology.

The species is named for morphological similarity (especially of its median lobe) to A. neoguineensis . The name is a noun in the nominative standing in apposition.

Distribution.

New Guinean endemic. Indonesia: Papua Province: Nabire and Jayawijaya regencies (Fig. 82 ).

Habitat.

All specimens were collected in shallow (up to 20 cm water depth), shaded or at least partly shaded forest pools and puddles of different size, rich in rotten leaves and twigs; few specimens also found in water-filled track hollows on forest tracks.

Figures

Figure 21. Austrelatus pseudoneoguineensis sp. nov., median lobe A left lateral view B right lateral view C ventral view D left paramere in external view E right paramere in internal view. Scale bar: one unit - 0.1 mm (A-C).

Figure 82. Map of New Guinea showing distribution of 11 Austrelatus species.

Figures 14 - 17. Habitus and colouration of 14 Austrelatus adelbert (Megna et al., 2017) 15 A. lembenensis sp. nov. 16 A. nadjae sp. nov. 17 A. pseudoneoguineensis sp. nov.