Pheropsophus chaudoiri ARROW, 1901

Venugopal, Akhil S. & Thomas, Sabu K., 2019, Bombardier beetles of the genus Pheropsophus Solier 1833 (Carabidae: Brachininae: Brachinini) from Indian subcontinent, Zootaxa 4608 (1), pp. 65-89 : 71-72

Pheropsophus chaudoiri ARROW, 1901

( Fig. 1 F )

= Pheropsophus catoirei Chaudoir, 1876 (non Dejean 1825)

Pheropsophus chaudoiri Arrow, 1901: 203 ; Andrewes, 1924a: 56; 1930: 271; Hrdlička, 2017: 479.

Pheropsophus catoirei Chaudoir , (non Dejean) 1876: 24 (part); Andrewes, 1930: 271.

Specimens examined (n=1): Holotype (by monotypy), labelled “Hardwicke Bequest. ‘Nepal’ Determined from description G.J.A. ‘ catoirei Dej’”, (coll.) Père J. Rey, type in BMNH London

Description. Length: 10.0–18.0 mm

Colour: Head reddish brown; epistome with reddish yellow spot; pronotum reddish brown without spots bordered laterally by dark black margin; elytra black with reddish brown scutellum; legs with coxa and trochanter brownish yellow; femur bright yellow, knees black, tibia anterior quarter yellow and rest dark brown including the tarsi and claws; apex of meso and metafemur with broad black spot; venter brownish black with underside of head reddish yellow including the mouth parts and palpi; prosternum brownish black with a reddish yellow patch in the middle; metasternum reddish yellow coloured.

Head: Small, narrow; eyes flat

Pronotum: Wider anteriorly, rectangular posteriorly; apical margin concave, basal margin straight; deep median furrow.

Elytra: With disc short but wide, convex, with narrower apical band that covers striations as well as intervals also; humeral spot small; humerus obliterate; median transverse band narrow, not reaching 1 st stria; striations broad, rounded with the 8 th stria not reaching the apex, intervals narrow, flat.

Venter. Abdomen pubescent, covered with brownish yellow hairs.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Uttarakhand: Almora ( Andrewes 1930); Maharashtra: Nagpur ( Andrewes 1930); Madhya Pradesh: Mandla ( Andrewes 1930); Chhattisgarh: Rajadhar ( Andrewes 1930); Karnataka: Belgaum, Ramandrug ( Andrewes 1930); Odisha: Surada ( Andrewes 1930); Tamil Nadu: Chennai, Thiruchirapally ( Andrewes 1930); Kerala: Thrissur ( Andrewes 1930); SRI LANKA: Vavuniya, Nedunkeni ( Andrewes 1930); NEPAL ( Arrow 1901).

Remarks. Morphologically similar to P. catoirei , distinguished by the dark black lateral margin of the pronotum, dark brown tibia, convex elytra with reddish brown scutellum, narrow median transverse band, obliterate humerus, and the apical border of the elytra, which covers the striations as well as intervals.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal habitus of Pheropsophus from India – A) Pheropsophus andrewesi (Holotype, ‘India: Assam’, ZMHB), B) P. aptinoides (Holotype, ‘East Indies’, MNHN), C) P. bimaculatus (Holotype, ‘Ind.Or.’, LSUK), D) P. cardoni (Syntype, ‘Chota Nagpore, Nowatoli’, ZMHB), E) P. catoirei (Holotype, ‘Bengalia’, MNHN), F) P. chaudoiri (Holotype, ‘Nepal’, BMNH), G) P. consularis (Syntype, ‘Burma’, NMPC), H) P. javanus (Holotype, ‘Java’, MNHN), I) P. lineifrons (Holotype, ‘Ind.Or.’, ZMHB)