Nothocyphon taurus, Zwick, Peter, 2015

Zwick, Peter, 2015, Australian Marsh Beetles (Coleoptera: Scirtidae). 7. Genus Nothocyphon, new genus, Zootaxa 3981 (3), pp. 301-359 : 311-312

Nothocyphon taurus , n. sp.

( Figs. 17−20 , 166, 173 )

Type material: 1♂ holotype, 1 ♀ paratype: Paluma, N.Q. 10.i.68, J.G.Brooks ( ANIC).

Additional paratypes: 1♂: Mt.Lewis 800m QLD 26.Dec.1986 H&A.Howden flight intercept.trap; 6♀: Mt.Spec N.Q. 1/67 G.B. \ J.G. Brooks, Bequest; 1♂, 1♀: Mt.Spec N.Q. 1/69 G.B. \ J.G. Brooks, Bequest [originally on one card]; 1♀: Cardstone N.Q. 16.xii.65 at light K.Hyde (all ANIC). 1♀: Australia: N.Qld, 7 km WNW Paluma, 16.xii.1988 – 13.i.1989 Storey & Dickinson MDP 1 Malaise trap ( QDPC).

Additional material examined: 1 ♀: Paluma, N.Q. 10.i.68, J.G.Brooks (no prehensor; ANIC).

Habitus. BL 2.4−2.8mm, BL/BW ~1.5. Broadly oval with brown spot on yellow to light ochre elytron, fairly convex ( Fig. 173 ). One dark specimen has a partly brown pronotum and a brown macula behind the scutellum next to the suture but the sutural interval remains pale ( Fig. 166 ).

Male ( Figs. 17−19 ). A slender hollow spine between S9 and penis. Penis slender, the pala is an elongate caudally narrowing oval. Trigonium inserted near 3/5th of penis length, wide, short, caudally truncate, the caudal edges extended into large caudo-laterally curved horns, each with a few coarse spines at tip. Parameroids much longer than trigonium, with a long paramedian sclerite strip ending in a sinuous tip. Laterally, an extension of the sclerite resembling a fish hook supports delicate membranes. Apical area of parameroids with sensory pores.

Tegmen lying over penis base, sides downcurved and continued caudad as slender parameres which are longer than the trigonium but shorter than the parameroids. Caudo-laterally each paramere with several sharp hooklets.

Female ( Fig. 20 ). Abdominal sternites unmodified except last sternite indistinctly truncate. The ovipositor and the segment 8 resemble N. lindensis . Prehensor: The wrinkly internally spiny oviduct widens to a parallel-sided pocket which is weakly sclerotized and has a scaly inner surface. Caudally the pocket narrows, the tip seems to be extensible. Inside the pocket lie two anteriorly diverging sclerite bands with several strong teeth. Laterally from their truncate caudal ends are groups of hair-like slender spines. Opposite the sclerite bands lies an arched line from which originates a pair of thread-like sclerites with sharp teeth.

Notes. Represents the lindensis -group in the tropics. Association of sexes is by agreement in habitus and pigmentation, in combination with common occurrence. The spine-like cone beneath the penis is very similar to N. lindensis , N. ypsilon , and N. banksiae n. sp. while the prehensor resembles those of N. donnabuangi n. sp. and N. imitator n. sp., see below.

Etymology. The scientific name of buffalos (a noun in apposition) was chosen because in ventral view the trigonium resembles the horned front of a bull.

Figures

FIGURES 17 – 24. Nothocyphon lindensis - group, N. taurus (17 − 20) and N. banksiae (21 − 24). 17, dorsal view of male terminalia as extracted from abdomen, superimposed components seen by transparency; semi-diagrammatic, setae of S 8 and microtrichia on T 8 not shown; 18, tips of penis and parameres of another specimen, ventral view; 19, T 9 and S 9 superimposed, caudal edge of T 9 and base of S 9 are transparent, the hollow spine lies between them; 20, prehensor; 21, T 8 and the (inverted) S 8; 22, T 9; 23, S 9; 24, dorsal view of penis and superimposed tegmen and parameres. 18 − 20 and 21 − 23 to the same scales, respectively. Abbreviations: aT 9, apodeme of T 9; hs, hollow spine; pd, parameroid; pe, paramere; tr, trigonium.

FIGURES 165 – 173. Habitus of Nothocyphon spp.: 165, N. lindensis; 166, N. taurus; 167, N. taeniatus; 168, N. denticulatus; 169, N. donnabuangi; 170, N. imitator; 171, N. frater; 172, N. frater, lateral; 173, N. taurus, lateral. To similar sizes, not to scale.