Austrelatus moreguinensis, Shaverdo & Hájek & Hendrich & Surbakti & Panjaitan & Balke, 2023

Shaverdo, Helena, Hajek, Jiri, Hendrich, Lars, Surbakti, Suriani, Panjaitan, Rawati & Balke, Michael, 2023, Austrelatus gen. nov., a new genus of Australasian diving beetles (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Copelatinae), with the discovery of 31 new species from New Guinea, ZooKeys 1170, pp. 1-164 : 1

17. Austrelatus moreguinensis sp. nov.

Figs 77 , 81 , 84

Type locality.

Papua New Guinea: Central Province, Moreguina, 10°00'57"S, 148°28'27"E.

Type material.

Holotype: male "Papua New Guinea: Central, Moreguina [10°00'57"S, 148°28'27"E] 16.viii.2008 Posman (PNG183)", “3819” [green label] (ZSM).

Paratypes: 1 male, 1 female with the same label as the holotype (NHMW, ZSM).

Description.

Body size and form: Beetle small, with oblong-oval habitus (Fig. 77 ).

Measurements: TL 4.8-5.5 mm, TL-H 4.3-4.95 mm, MW 2.3-2.7 mm, TL/MW 2.04-2.09; PL 0.75-0.8 mm, PW 2-2.2 mm, PL/PW 0.36-0.4; DBE 0.85-0.95 mm, DBE/PW 0.43-0.44.

Holotype: TL 4.8 mm, TL-H 4.3 mm, MW 2.3 mm, TL/MW 2.09; PL 0.75 mm, PW 2.05 mm, PL/PW 0.37; DBE 0.9 mm, DBE/PW 0.44.

Colouration: Dorsally piceous, with reddish head and pronotal sides, and yellowish red basal band and apical spot on elytron (Fig. 77 ).

Head yellowish red to brown, darker narrowly behind eyes. Pronotum brown to piceous, paler towards sides, yellowish red to brown on them. Elytron dark brown to piceous, with yellow to yellowish red basal band usually almost reaching suture (sometimes shorter, only to striae 4) but not lateral margin; with almost straight posterior margin; elytron with distinct, elongate spot apically. Scutellum brown. Antennae and other head appendages yellow. Pro- and mesolegs yellow and metalegs yellowish red proximally and darker distally. Venter mostly reddish brown to brown, with yellowish red to reddish brown prosternum and abdominal ventrites that paler laterally.

Surface sculpture: Elytron with 11 complete dorsal striae; submarginal stria present: 11+1 (Fig. 77 ).

Head with strioles between eyes or without them, with rather dense punctation (spaces between punctures 1-3 × size of punctures); punctures relatively large (diameter of punctures equal to or slightly larger than diameter of cells of microreticulation); head with a row of setigerous punctures along inner margin of each eye and a short row at frontal angle of each eye; a slightly longer puncture row forms fronto-clypeal depression at each head side; head with relatively strong microreticulation. Pronotum with numerous strioles in whole surface or they absent on disc; without longitudinal wrinkles; pronotal punctation slightly sparser than on head but equally coarse; setigerous punctures form a broad row along pronotal margins, absent in posterior middle; disc of pronotum with thin, longitudinal median scratch. Pronotal microreticulation distinct. Elytron with 11 dorsal striae; striae weakly to strongly impressed; odd striae shortly reduced apically; striae 1 and 10 sometimes shortly reduced basally, striae 1-3, 9, 10 sometimes interrupted; submarginal stria present, well-developed, sometimes reaching ½ of elytron. Elytron with distinct punctation and microreticulation. Ventral part with fine, inconspicuous punctation, slightly visible on metaventrite and metacoxae and stronger on abdominal ventrites; prosternum smooth medially; metaventrite and metacoxae with distinct microreticulation; on abdominal ventrites microreticulation almost invisible; metacoxal plates with short, numerous, rather dense, distinctly impressed longitudinal strioles, abdominal ventrites 1 and 2 with numerous, long, longitudinal strioles from margin to margin, on abdominal ventrites 3 and 4 strioles situated laterally and turn to middle, almost horizontal, abdominal ventrites 5 and 6 without strioles but with fine punctation that sparser medially and forms a dense lateral area at each side.

Structures: Head relatively broad. Pronotum short and broad; lateral margins distinctly convergent anteriorly. Base of prosternum straight anteriorly, slightly convex medially; blade of prosternal process relatively narrow, convex in middle.

Male: Protibia straight, not modified. Proclaws simple, relatively short, subequal. Median lobe of aedeagus with two lobes of dorsal sclerite rather narrow; left lobe distinctly shorter than right one; in lateral left view, left dorsal lobe with long lateral crest and apex curved downwards; its dorsal surface without denticulation; right dorsal lobe with distinct, almost laterally situated median impression in right lateral view and with “swollen”, slightly elongate apex. Lobes of ventral sclerite weakly sclerotised laterally, visible in left and right lateral views, mostly membranous, subequal (right part can be protruding), straight apically; sclerotised part of left ventral lobe long and straight apically, 2/3 or more of length of left dorsal lobe. Paramere with setae divided into distal and proximal; proximal setae distinctly sparser and shorter than distal ones (Fig. 81 ).

Female: As male.

Variability.

There is a variation in the colouration and dorsal striolation described above.

Affinities.

The species is similar to A. rajaampatensis sp. nov. but differs from it by elytron with 11+1 complete and well-developed striae and different shape of the dorsal sclerite lobes of the median lobe.

Etymology.

The species is named after Moreguina Village. The name is an adjective in the nominative singular.

Distribution.

New Guinean endemic. Papua New Guinea: Central Province. The species is known only from the type locality area (Fig. 84 ).

Habitat.

The species was collected in stream-side puddles.

Figures

Figure 81. Austrelatus moreguinensis sp. nov., median lobe A left lateral view B right lateral view C ventral view D left paramere in external view E right paramere in internal view. Scale bar: one unit - 0.1 mm (A-C).

Figure 84. Map of New Guinea showing distribution of 14 Austrelatus species.

Figures 74 - 77. Habitus and colouration of 74 Austrelatus sarmiensis sp. nov. 75 A. rugosus sp. nov. 76 A. debulensis sp. nov. 77 A. moreguinensis sp. nov.