Pheropsophus prophylax HELLER, 1903

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 : 79-80

Pheropsophus prophylax HELLER, 1903

( Fig. 2 F )

Pheropsophus prophylax Heller, 1903: 247 ; Andrewes, 1930: 275; Saha and Halder, 2000: 33; Kirschenhofer, 2010: 60; Hrdlička, 2017: 480.

Specimen examined (n=1): Holotype, labelled “ India Or. Manipur, Doherty , Fry Coll. 1905.100, Pheropsophus prophylax Heller H.E. Andrewes det.”, type in BMNH

Description. Length: 18.0–19.0 mm

Colour: Glossy brownish black; head, pronotum, elytra black; eyes grey; yellowish spot over the epistome; middle of the forehead with a crescent-shaped bright transverse spot; reddish brown border towards pronotum which extends laterally towards the base of eyes; antennal segments 1–2 light reddish brown, 3–4 brownish black and rest dark brown legs with coxa reddish brown; trochanter and femur pale reddish yellow with femur having a dark black ring on the posterior end (apex black); tibia more reddish brown and tarsi brownish; ventral side of head yellowish-brown with gula reddish yellow, gular sutures black; prosternum and mesosternum black while metasternum having reddish yellow patch in the middle.

Head: Pentagonal, eyes protruding; wrinkled neck; with long supra orbital setae.

Pronotum: Narrow, longer than wide, anterior a little wider; hind angle obtuse-right; lateral margins convex anteriorly, straight posteriorly; anterior margin concave, posterior straight; surface glabrous (but with two long setae in the center of disc towards the lateral margin); median furrow absent.

Elytra: Convex with base narrowed, wider towards apex (posterior region just before the apex the widest); humerus obliterate, striations flattened; entirely black without any spots.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Assam: Sibsagar ( Andrewes 1930) ; Arunachal Pradesh and Assam: Dafla Hills ( Andrewes 1930); Meghalaya: Garo Hills , Chandkira ( Andrewes 1930) ; Manipur ( Heller 1903).

Remarks. Pheropsophus prophylax is quite similar to P. aptinoides from which it differs by black head; long, narrow pronotum. It is endemic to the Indo-Burma hotspot of biodiversity.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dorsal habitus of Pheropsophus from India (cont.)–A) Pheropsophus lissoderus (Holotype, ‘Tibet’, MNHN), B) P. nanodes (Verified specimen, ‘S.E.Tibet’, BMNH), C) P. picicollis (Syntype, ‘Siam (now Thailand)’ MNHN), D) P. nigricollis (Holotype, ‘Bangalore’, BMNH), E) P. occipitalis (Verified specimen, ‘China’, BMNH), F) P. prophylax (Holotype, ‘Manipur’, BMNH), G) P. scythropus (Holotype, ‘Gopaldhara’, BMNH), H) P. scythropus dissolutus (‘Laos’, BMNH)