Brachinus peltastes Andrewes, 1931

Akhil, S. V., Divya, M. & Sabu, K. Thomas, 2020, Bombardier beetles of genus Brachinus Weber, 1801 (Carabidae: Brachininae Brachinini) from India, Zootaxa 4816 (4), pp. 576-600 : 587

Brachinus peltastes Andrewes, 1931

Fig. 2g

Brachinus peltastes Andrewes, 1931: 518 ; Hrdlička, 2003: 216; 2017: 478

Type locality. India: Dehra Dun: Dobhalwala, coll. H. E. Andrewes.

Type depository. BMNH .

Specimen examined (n=1). Holotype labelled “Dehra Dun: Dhobalwala, ‘ 2,304 ft. ’, H. E. Andrewes Coll. B.M. 1945-97, ‘bought from Staudinger & Bang-Haas, 1930, det. H. E. Andrewes”.

Description. Length 6.0 mm. Head, pronotum, scutellum, region around scutellum, sutural line reddish brown; first four segments of antennae, palpi and legs pale reddish yellow; eyes grey; elytra black.

Head stout, wider than long, shiny, glabrous, vertex smooth, frons, region around eyes and neck wrinkled; eyes protruding; last segment of palpi pointed; antennae stout, just reaching the middle of elytra; 3rd segment of antennae shorter than 1st and 2nd combined.

Pronotum broad, wider than long, punctated, pubescent, shiny; disc with apical margin inwardly sinuate, lateral portion of apical margin not projecting forward, basal margin slightly outwardly sinuate; disc laterally with anterior three-fourths convex, posterior fourth parallel, hind angle blunt, slightly obtuse, not projecting laterally; median groove deep, reaching the apical and basal margins; apical transverse furrow visible, shallow; lateral bead moderately wide, lateral margin dark brown.

Elytra shiny, pubescent, covered with short yellow setae; base narrow, rounded, humerus obliterate; apex straight with less evident re-entrant angle, having a membranous border; suture not closed completely towards apex; scutellum small, pointed; striations weak, narrow, keel shaped, intervals broad setae covering both striations and intervals; sutural colour extending till middle of elytra, widest near base extending between 1st and 4th striae, narrowing gradually towards apex.

Distribution. INDIA: Uttarakhand: Dehra Dun: Dobhalwala.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dorsal habitus of Indian Brachinus species (cont.): a) B. flaviventris Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); b) B. hazardi Andrewes, 1930 (holotype, BMNH); c) B. illotus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); d) B. limbellus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); e) B. limbicollis Chuadoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); f) B. modestus Schmidt-Göbel, 1846 (holotype, NMPC); g) B. peltastes Andrewes, 1931 (holotype, BMNH); h) B. reyi Andrewes, 1924 (holotype, BMNH); i) B. sordidus Andrewes, 1933 (holotype, BMNH)