Pheropsophus tripustulatus (Fabricius, 1792)

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 : 83

Pheropsophus tripustulatus ( FABRICIUS, 1792)

( Fig. 3 I , 5 H )

= Brachinus marginalis DEJEAN, 1825

= Pheropsophus amoenus CHAUDOIR, 1850

Ssp. Pheropsophus tripustulatus annulus FABRICIUS, 1801

Ssp. Pheropsophus tripustulatus curtus ARROW, 1901

Carabus tripustulatus Fabricius, 1792: 145 ; 1801: 218; Hope, 1838: 101; Motschulsky, 1855: 55; Andrewes, 1919: 124; 1921a: 155–159; 1921b: 346; 1924c: 592; 1930: 276.

Brachinus marginalis Dejean, 1825: 310 ; Heyne-Tasch, 1908: 14; Andrewes, 1921a: 149; 1930: 276.

Pheropsophus amoenus Chaudoir, 1850: 78 ; 1876: 36; Andrewes, 1930: 276.

Ssp. Pheropsophus tripustulatus annulus (described as Brachinus ) Fabricius, 1801: 217; Motschulsky, 1855: 55; Chaudoir, 1876: 47; Andrewes, 1921a: 164; 1930: 276.

Ssp. Pheropsophus tripustulatus curtus Arrow, 1901: 204 ; Andrewes, 1919: 198; 1930: 276.

Specimens examined (n=9): Verified specimen (H.E. Andrewes), labelled “ Pheropsophus 3-pustulatus F.: marginalis D.: amoenus C., compared with 3 types, H.E.A. Ex-Musaeo A. Kuwpert 1894, Ex. coll. R. Oberthur (Dejean’s type has less yellow at apex HEA)” (locality unknown), in BMNH .

Other specimens examined: 1 ex., locality: unknown, in ZMUK (wrongly labelled as P. hilaris ) ; 6 exs., India: Kerala: Palakkad, Hand picking, 26.XI.2017, coll. M.Divya ; 1 ex., India: Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore ( TNAU) .

Description. Length: 13.0 mm; TW: 5.6 mm

Colour: Head reddish yellow with a large blackish brown spot between the eyes; clypeus and labrum reddish yellow; antennae pale yellow-red; pronotum blackish brown with a large oblong yellow spot on each side along the outer edge; elytra black with humeral spot yellow, having a small posterior projection; yellow lateral margin; striations yellow towards apex; yellow apical band with a yellow spot in the middle; reddish yellow legs, apex of femur without black spot.

Head: Short, stout; protruding, prominent eyes; neck wrinkled.

Pronotum: Disc laterally with anterior 2/3 rd rounded, posterior 1/3 rd straight; anterior margin rounded, concave, posterior margin sinuate; disc with many deep punctuations; median furrow prominent.

Elytra: Subparallel, rectangular, base not narrowed; humeral spot large; striations wide, blunt towards apex.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Odisha: Barkuda Is. (Lake Chilka) ( Andrewes 1930); Tamil Nadu: Ennur, Chennai ( Andrewes 1930); Pondicherry ( Andrewes 1930); Kerala: Travancore ( Andrewes 1930); THAILAND ( Andrewes 1919).

Ssp. Pheropsophus tripustulatus annulus – INDIA: Tamil Nadu: Tharangambadi ( Chaudoir 1876).

Ssp. Pheropsophus tripustulatus curtus – INDIA: Karnataka: North Kanara ( Andrewes 1921b); Kerala: Mahe, Malabar ( Andrewes 1921b), Nilambur (New record).

Remarks. Similar to P. bimaculatus , but differs with narrow yellow spot on pronotum, large black spot on head, large elytral humeral spot with posterior projection, small, narrow elytral median band and yellow spot on elytral apical band on each elytron.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Dorsal habitus of A) Pheropsophus hilaris (Lectotype, ‘Ind.Or.’, ZMUK), B) P. hilaris (Paralectotype, ‘Ind. Or.’, ZMUK), C) P. discicollis (‘Ind. Or.’, MNHN), D) P. discicollis (‘Coimbatore’, ZMHB), E) P. discicollis (‘Ind. Or.’, ZMHB), F) P. sobrinus (Holotype, ‘Ind. Or.’, MNHN), G) P. sobrinus (Verified specimen, ‘India’, BMNH), H) P. sobrinus (Verified specimen, ‘India’, NHMW), I) P. tripustulatus (Verified specimen, ‘locality unknown’, ZMUK)

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.