Cicindela nevadica makosika Spomer, 2004

Spomer, Stephen M., 2004, A New Subspecies of Cicindela nevadica Leconte (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae) from the Badlands of South Dakota, The Coleopterists Bulletin 58 (3), pp. 409-412 : 409-412

Cicindela nevadica makosika Spomer , new subspecies

( Fig. 1 )

Type Series. Holotype (male) labeled ‘‘23: VII: 2002, Pennington Co., SD, T3 S R12 E Sec. 27, Indian Creek , D. Backlund.’’ Holotype deposited at USNM . Paratypes (16 males, 16 females) collected 6 July, 23 July, and 30 July 2002 by D. Backlund, S. Spomer, and W. Allgeier. Three paratypes deposited at USNM, two paratypes to UNSM (Univ. Nebraska State Museum), two paratypes to SDSU (South Dakota State University), two paratypes to CSU (Colorado State University ), four paratypes to the author, sixteen paratypes to D. Backlund, and three paratypes to W. Allgeier .

Description. Male. Length 10.5 mm. Color coppery with pronounced white maculation. Head. Color coppery, with greenish reflections, especially along edges of eyes, near scape, and on clypeus and gena. Frons with wrinkles, most distinctive near eyes; middle of frons punctate and bearing many white, decumbent setae. Clypeus also punctate and bearing many white, decumbent setae. Labrum white, outer edge dark, unidentate with blunt tooth. Mandible white on outer edge about one-half way toward tip, teeth and tip of mandible black with green reflectance. Scape with 1 sensory seta and 3 decumbent setae, first 4 segments of antenna coppery with green reflectance, remaining 7 segments tomentose and dark brown. Maxillary palpi light brown with proximal segment dark brown; labial palpi identical in color to maxillary palpi, penultimate segment longest and heavily setose. Thorax. Pronotum narrower than head across eyes, slightly wider than long; color coppery; median sulcus shallow, anterior sulcus deep with green reflectance, posterior sulcus deep, with slight green reflectance; numerous white setae except at prominent points. Elytra. Color coppery; punctures with blue reflectance except on maculations; humeral edge with green reflectance. Scutellum coppery. Maculation wide, occupying approximately 50% of surface area. Middle band nearly fused with apical lunules; maculation continuous at outer edges of elytra; apical lunules and middle bands traceable but expanded. Microserrations present. Ventral surface. Lateral surface coppery and setose; prosternum coppery with green reflectance, glabrous. Metasternum and proepisternum metallic green. Genae coppery and metallic green, heavily setose. Femora coppery green. Tibiae and tarsi coppery with slight green reflectance. Legs with numerous white setae.

Variation. Length: male (n ¼ 17), x ¼ 10.6 mm, ranging from 10.0 mm to 11.2 mm; female (n ¼ 16), x ¼ 11.6 mm, ranging from 10.7 to 12.2 mm. Head. Color coppery but greenish reflections sometimes absent; greenish reflections often present at posterior vertex. Scape with up to 11 decumbent setae. Thorax. Anterior sulcus with or without green reflectance, posterior sulcus usually without green reflectance. Elytra. Color coppery (88%) or coppery with green reflectance (12%); pits with green or blue reflectance except on maculations; humeral edge with blue or green reflectance in most (94%) specimens; scutellum coppery (55%) or with blue or green reflectance (45%); maculation wide to very wide, occupying up to nearly 70% of the surface area. One specimen (3%) with humeral band fused with middle band and 7 specimens (21%) with middle band fused with apical lunules. Ventral surface. Genae often only metallic green; femora green or coppery green; tibiae and tarsi coppery or coppery with green reflectance.

Etymology. The name makosika is a composite of two Sioux Indian words for ‘‘land’’ and ‘‘bad’’ (i.e., badlands), the area in which this subspecies occurs.

Similar Subspecies. Cicindela n. makosika most closely resembles C. n. tubensis and the population of C. nevadica in Torrance Co., New Mexico being referred to as C. n. olmosa. However, C. n. makosika is slightly larger and less reddish than C. n. tubensis and much more coppery than the Torrance Co. population. The most heavily maculated C. n. knausii examined was less maculated than the least maculated C. n. makosika.

Habitat. Indian Creek is an intermittent stream that probably picks up salinity from seeps through cracks in the underlying Pierre shale. In lower Indian Creek (where C. n. makosika occurs), portions of the streambed consist of a light colored, viscous mud overlying the Pierre shale. Cicindela n. makosika was found almost exclusively where this mud occurred and was not found on other badlands streams that lacked this feature of Pierre shale underlying the stream bed. Willis (1967) suggested that selection pressure on tiger beetles in saline habitats has caused certain species to match the color 412 of the soil in the local area and to match the white of the salt. The expanded white maculations on the elytra of C. n. makosika seems to correspond with the light colored mud along Indian Creek, thus fitting this hypothesis.

Figures

Fig. 1. Habitus, holotype of Cicindela nevadica makosika Spomer.