Brachinus (Metabrachinus) sexmaculatus Dejean, 1825

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 : 589

Brachinus (Metabrachinus) sexmaculatus Dejean, 1825

Fig. 1d

Brachinus sexmaculatus Dejean, 1825: 312 ; Chaudoir, 1876: 63; Andrewes, 1930a: 52; Saha et al., 1992: 52; Hrdlička, 2003: 216; 2017: 478

Type locality. India: India oriental, coll. Dejean.

Type depository. MNHN .

Specimens examined (n=2). Syntype labelled “‘Indes orient’, ‘6-maculatus’, coll. Dejean ”; 1 ex., (1 female), labelled “ India: Tamil Nadu: Rajapalayam, ‘ Light’ , 15.X.2017, coll. & det. S. V. Akhil ” .

Description. Length 9.0–11.0 mm. Head, pronotum, antennal segments and scutellum reddish brown; legs and spots on elytra reddish yellow; margin around eyes and elytra black.

Head short, punctated, pubescent, neck glabrous; antennae short, stout, not reaching the middle of the elytra; eyes prominent.

Pronotum elongated, longer than broad, glabrous, shiny, faint wrinkles in middle of the disc, highly wrinkled in basal and apical portion of disc; lateral sides of disc convex with anterior two-thirds highly convex, posterior third divergent; apical margin convex with lateral portion of apical margin projecting forwards, basal margin sinuous, hind angles acute, pointed; median groove deep, reaching the anterior and posterior margins.

Elytra subparallel, long, narrow, humerus obliterate, rounded; apex rounded without re-entrant angle; scutellum pointed; striation clear, visible, broad, intervals weak, smooth, shallow; three reddish yellow spots over each elytron, first and third longitudinal, along the corners of base and apex respectively, second rounded, just below the middle of elytra, not reaching either the suture or the lateral margin, a reddish yellow line running from the first spot to the apex forming a apical yellow band; elytral sutures not closed apically.

Distribution. INDIA: Bengal: Kolkata; Himachal Pradesh; Sikkim; Arunachal Pradesh; Uttar Pradesh; Tamil Nadu: Rajapalayam. SRI LANKA. MYANMAR: Tharrawaddy. BHUTAN ( Hrdlička 2003, 2017). PAKISTAN ( Hrdlička 2003, 2017).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal habitus of Indian Brachinus species: a) B. dryas Andrewes, 1936 (holotype, BMNH); b) B. inops Andrewes, 1932 (holotype, BMNH); c) B. hexagrammus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); d) B. sexmaculatus Dejean, 1825 (syntype, MNHN); e) B. tetracolon Chuadoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); f) B. tetragrammus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); g) B. pictus (Hope, 1833) (ZSIM); h) B. cinctellus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); i) B. eucosmus Andrewes, 1937 (holotype, BMNH)