Pheropsophus indicus, Venugopal & Thomas, 2019

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 : 86

Pheropsophus indicus sp. nov.

( Fig. 4 B , 5 B )

Specimens examined (n=2): Holotype, labelled “ Male, India: Kerala: Palakkad (10.806420°N, 76.690174°E), Hand Picking (Wet Paddy field), 26.XI.2017, coll. M. Divya ” ; Paratype, male, India: Karnataka, 2013, coll. A. Anichtchenko.

Description. TLA: 15.8 mm; TW: 6.6 mm

Colour: Black head, pronotum and elytra. Black spot on head wide, widest towards pronotum, broad ‘M’ shaped black spot on vertex of head with a narrow extension up to the clypeus; clypeus and labrum black; epistome, margin around the eyes, reddish yellow; maxillary and labial palpi, reddish brown; eyes grey; first four antennal segments light reddish yellow, segments 2–4 with reddish brown ring on the apical portion, segments 5–11 reddish brown; scutellum black; humeral spot pale reddish yellow; legs with coxa, trochanter, femur, tibiae and 1 st segment of tarsi, reddish yellow; rest of the tarsal segments reddish brown; claws dark brown; apex of femur with wide black spot; underside of head reddish yellow, gula well-marked with reddish brown gular suture; prothorax including the prosternum black; mesosternum black; metasternum anterior half reddish yellow and posterior half black; metepisternum black.

Head: Stout, smooth, glabrous, shiny, neck wrinkled; eyes protruding, with one supraorbital setae in the mid region above eye; antennae long, reaching the middle of elytra.

Pronotum: Wider than long, smooth, glabrous except for a group of minute seta lining the apical margin; basal and apical margins straight, corners of apical and basal margin rounded, anterior 3/4 th of the lateral margin convex, posterior 1/4 th straight; deep median furrow; lateral bead narrow.

Elytra: Subparallel, widest in the middle; humerus pronounced, rounded, humeral spot large; narrow median transverse band extending between 3 rd and 8 th stria, with strongly serrated edges, rounded and pointed towards suture; apical band narrow, reddish yellow, extending along the apical portion of stria; striations narrow, intervals wide, flat, glabrous.

Male Genitalia: Median lobe slender compared to P.devagiriensis sp. nov.; highly arcuate, apex pointed.

Measurements: Holotype Male, TLA= 16.16 mm; TLB= 15.84 mm; TW= 6.64 mm; PL = 3.28 mm; PW = 3.44 mm; EL = 9.52 mm.

Type Material: 1 ex. Holotype, male, India: Kerala: Palakkad (10.806420°N, 76.690174°E), Hand Picking (wet paddy field), 26.XI.2017, coll. M. Divya, deposited at ZSIC.

Paratype, male, India: Karnataka, 2013, coll. A. Anichtchenko.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Kerala: Palakkad ; Karnataka

Collecting Circumstances: Handpicked from a paddy field of Palakkad ( India: Kerala), a region belonging to the Palakkad gap.

Etymology: Named after ‘India’.

Remarks. Pheropsophus indicus sp. nov. is similar to P. occipitalis , but differs in having broad ‘M’ shaped black spot on head, entirely black pronotum with straight apical and basal margins, broad elytra and narrow elytral median transverse band.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Dorsal habitus of– A) Pheropsophus devagiriensis sp. nov. (Male, ‘India: Tamil Nadu: Courtallam’, Holotype), B) P. indicus sp. nov. (Male, ‘India: Kerala: Palakkad’, Holotype)

FIGURE 5. Pheropsophus male genitalia, Right lateral aspect–A) Pheropsophus devagiriensis sp. nov. (Holotype, ‘India: Tamilnadu: Courtallam’), B) P. indicus sp. nov. (Holotype, ‘India: Kerala: Palakkad’), C) P. bimaculatus (‘India: Kerala: Nilambur’), D) P. lissoderus (‘India: Kerala: Kalpetta’), E) P. occipitalis (‘India: Kerala: Kalpetta’), F) P. picicollis (‘India: Kerala: Chelari’), G) P. sobrinus (‘India: Kerala: Palakkad’), H) P. tripustulatus (‘India: Kerala: Nilambur’). Scale Bar 1 mm.