Cerabilia (Cerabilia) maori Laporte de Castelnau, 1867

Larochelle, Andre & Larivière, Marie-Claude, 2024, Synopsis of the genus Cerabilia Laporte de Castelnau in New Zealand (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Abacetini), Insecta Mundi 2024 (36), pp. 1-31 : 8-9

Cerabilia (Cerabilia) maori Laporte de Castelnau, 1867

Fig. 10 , 26 , 30 , 47

Cerabilia maori Laporte de Castelnau, 1867: 116 (redescribed in 1868: 202). Holotype: one specimen from “Dunedin [DN],

New Zealand ” (Museum of Victoria, Melbourne , Australia; could not be located). Paratype: one male ( NHMUK) from

Dunedin (examined). Feronia (Cerabilia) moori [sic]: Tschitschérine 1891: 161. Cerabilia maori : Hutton 1904: 147. Cerabilia (Cerabilia) maori : Will 2020a: 20.

Description. Body length 6.9–8.4 mm; slender. Head, pronotum, and elytra black, lateral margins of elytra rufous in apical half; abdomen black; antennae and palpi rufotestaceous; femora and tibiae rufopiceous; tarsi rufotestaceous. Microsculpture strong and isodiametric on head, pronotum, and elytra. Iridescence absent. Dull on head, pronotum, and elytra. Head. Eyes moderately large, moderately convex. Tempora not inflated. Frons wrinkled (with oblique strioles). Mentum with median tooth subtruncate apically. Palpi with terminal segment obtuse apically. Thorax. Pronotum slightly convex, obsoletely wrinkled discally and mediobasally, subquadrate, moderately wide compared to elytra, widest before middle; apex slightly emarginate; anterolateral angles poorly developed, obtuse; sides moderately rounded anteriorly, not sinuate or slightly sinuate posteriorly; lateral beads narrow throughout; a single setiferous puncture on each side (anteriorly), each setiferous puncture close to lateral bead, distant by about one puncture width; median line incomplete, almost reaching apex and base; posterolateral angles rounded; laterobasal foveae single, deep, parallel; posterior bead incomplete, obsolete medially; base moderately emarginate, about as wide as apex. Tip of scutellum strongly projected behind elytral base. Prosternum wrinkled anteriorly. Elytra. Oblong, widest about middle, subdepressed. Basal margin strongly arcuate, complete, reaching scutellum. Shoulder tooth poorly developed, obtuse. Sides moderately rounded. Scutellar setiferous pore absent. Striae shallow, complete basally. Intervals depressed; interval 3 without setiferous puncture. Umbilicate series with 12 setiferous punctures separated into two major groups (6+6). Subapical sinuations feeble. Apices obtusely rounded. Abdomen. Sternum VII of male with dense coarse punctures medially. Aedeagus. Lateral view ( Fig. 10 ): strongly arcuate, stout; base slightly convex dorsally, without basal lobe or bead; middle strongly convex dorsally, moderately concave ventrally; apex moderately concave dorsally, slightly concave ventrally, with extreme tip narrow, very long, slightly curved downward. Dorsal view ( Fig. 26 ): apex very wide, acutely triangular, not deflected to the left.

Material examined. 5 specimens ( NHMUK, NZAC).

Geographic distribution ( Fig. 47 ). South Island: CO–Ida Valley. Kawarau Creek [= River], south of Pisa. DN– Dunedin. MK–Bush Stream. Lake Tekapo–Lake Pukaki.

Ecology. Lowland, montane. Epigean, silvicolous, xerophilous. Mostly dry forests (beech); tussock grasslands. Shaded ground. Nocturnal; hides during the day under stones.

Biology. Seasonality: November, January, March. Predacious (based on mouthpart morphology).

Dispersal power. Subapterous. Moderate runner.

Collecting technique. Turning stones.

References. Tschitschérine 1891: 161 (taxonomy); Hutton 1904: 147 (taxonomy); Larochelle and Larivière 2001: 133 (catalogue; biology, dispersal power, ecology, geographic distribution, references), 2007: 110 (list), 2016: 30 (list); Will 2020a: 20 (taxonomy), 2020b: supplementary material 1 (classification).

Remarks. Cerabilia maori is morphologically close to C. cordata . In addition to diagnostic characters of the male genitalia, Cerabilia maori has the following distinguishing features: pronotum subquadrate, sides moderately rounded anteriorly, not sinuate or slightly sinuate posteriorly, posterolateral angles rounded; elytra subdepressed, intervals depressed, apices obtusely rounded; tip of scutellum strongly projected behind elytral base. Cerabilia maori occurs relatively widely in the south of the South Island (CO, DN, MK), while C. cordata is known only from the Mackenzie region (MK).

Figures

Figures 1–13. Illustrations of Cerabilia morphology. 1–4) Microsculpture. 1) Granulate. 2) Isodiametric. 3) Moderately transverse. 4) Very transverse. 5) Head: frons with oblique strioles (os). 6–7) Tip of scutellum. 6) Slightly projected behind elytral base.7) Strongly projected. 8–13) Aedeagus, lateral.8) Cerabilia takaka new species. 9) C. kaihoka new species. 10) C. maori. 11) C. willi new species. 12) C. major. 13) C. motunau new species (apical half).

Figures 14–27.Aedeagus, lateral. 14) Cerabilia rugosa new species. 15) C. laevis new species. 16) C. rufipes. 17) C. aphela. 18) C. striatula. 19) C. oblonga. Aedeagus, dorsal view of apex.20) C.kaihoka new species.21) C. laevisnew species. 22) C. takaka new species. 23) C. rufipes. 24) C. aphela. 25) C. willi new species. 26) C. maori. 27) C. cordata new species.

Figures 28–31. Dorsal habitus. 28) Cerabilia takaka new species. 29) C. kaihoka new species. 30) C. maori. 31) C. cordata new species. Scale line = 1 mm.

Figures 42–47. Species distribution maps. 42) Cerabilia aphela. 43) C. cordata new species. 44) C. kaihoka new species. 45) C. laevis new species. 46) C. major. 47) C. maori.