Brachinus stevensi Andrewes, 1924

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 : 592-593

Brachinus stevensi Andrewes, 1924

Fig. 3a

Brachinus stevensi Andrewes, 1924a: 107 ; 1930a: 52; Hrdlička, 2003: 216; 2017: 478

Type locality. India: Gielle Khola, Teesta Valley , coll. H. G. Stevens, 28.xi – 3.xii.1919 .

Type depository. BMNH .

Specimen examined (n=1). Holotype labelled “Giellle Khola, Tista Valley, Darjiling. 28.xi-3.xii. 19, 600 ft., coll. H. Stevens, ‘H. E. Andrewes Coll. B.M. 1945-97 ’, det. H. E. Andrewes”.

Description. Length 5.0– 6.5 mm. Head, pronotum, scutellum, region around scutellum, sutural line and base of elytra dark reddish yellow; first four segments of antennae, lateral margin of elytra and legs reddish yellow; elytra brownish black, eyes pitch black.

Head convex, almost smooth, shiny, frontal foveae shallow, vertex smooth, region around the eyes, frons, neck punctated, pubescent; antennae long, reaching the middle of elytra, segment 3 longest, longer than segments 1 and 2 combined.

Pronotum narrower than head, longer than broad, disc rough, with wrinkles, sparsely pubescent; apical margin of disc straight, with lateral region of apical margin projecting forward, posterior margin bisinuate; disc laterally with anterior two-thirds convex, posterior third divergent, hind angles pointed, acute, projecting laterally; median groove shallow, not reaching the apical and basal margin.

Elytra subparallel, punctated, pubescent, with golden brown setae; base narrowed, rounded, humerus obliterate; surface matt; apex straightly truncate without re-entrant angle, having broad membranous border; scutellum small, blunt; striations weak; sutural colour broadest at basal quarter covering the base, narrows down till basal fourth of the elytra, then straight with uniform thickness to the apex; pale yellow lateral margin beginning just below the humerus, widening to apex, forming a pale reddish yellow apical border.

Distribution. INDIA: Assam: Kobo, Dihing river; Sikkim: Teesta Valley; Bengal: Kalimpong; Himachal

Pradesh: Kangra; Uttarakhand: Garhwal: Dhikala, River Sarda Gorge , Ranikhet, Dehra Dun .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Dorsal habitus of Indian Brachinus species (cont.): a) B. stevensi Andrewes, 1924 (holotype, BMNH); b) B. suturellus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); c) B. vigilans Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN)