Caledonica acentra Chaudoir, 1869

Kudrna, Arnošt, 2016, Revision of the genusCaledonica (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (2), pp. 567-628 : 611-614

Caledonica acentra Chaudoir, 1869

( Figs 56–60 , 84 )

Caledonica acentra Chaudoir, 1869: 23 (original description). FLEUTIAUX (1892): 31 (catalogue); FAUVEL (1903): 212 (key), 213 (noted); HORN (1910): 181 (catalogue); FLEUTIAUX (1911): 162 (catalogue); HORN (1926): 104 (catalogue); HORN (1936): 6 (catalogue); DEUVE (1981): 182 (key), 185 (redescription); WIESNER (1992): 76 (catalogue); DEUVE (2015): 81 (figure), 82 (noted).

Caledonica wormae Wiesner, 1991: 208 (original description). WIESNER (1992): 76 (catalogue); DEUVE (2015): 82 (synonymy).

Type localities. Caledonica acentra : ‘Nouvelle-Calédonie’; C aledonica wormae : ‘ New Caledonia, 200 m, N. Paita, Mt. Mou .’.

Type material examined. Caledonica acentra : LECTOTYPE (designated by DEUVE 1981): J, ‘ acentra Chaud. ’ [handwritten]; ‘Nouv. Calédonie, Montrouzier’ [handwritten]; ‘Lectotype’ [red, printed]; ‘Museum Paris, Nelle Calédonie, Coll. Chaudoir 1874’ [handwritten/printed]; ‘ Bavayi Fvl. ’ [handwritten] ( MNHN).

Caledonica wormae : PARATYPES: 1 J, 1 ♀, ‘ New Caledonia, 200 m., N Paita, Mt. Mou , 25.- 28.12. 1990 / 20.1. 1991, leg. Wiesner & Worm’ [violet, printed] ; ‘ Caledonica wormae n. sp., det. Wiesner 91’ [printed]; ‘Paratypus’ [red, printed] ( AKCB).

Additional material examined (64 specimens). NEW CALEDONIA: PROVINCE SUD: Pr. Sud, forest of Plato de Dogny, near Sarramea , 24.–27.xii.2004, 10 JJ, 8 ♀♀, A. Kudrna jr. lgt. ( AKCB) ; 3 km NW of Sarramea , 21°37′S, 165°50′E, 23.–30.xii.2011, 250– 550 m, 4 JJ, 4 ♀♀, A. Kudrna jr. lgt. ( AKCB) ; Col de la Pirogue, Mt. Mou , 22°04′S, 166°20′E, 7.–12.i.2005, 400– 600 m, 26 JJ, 6 ♀ ♀, A. Kudrna jr. lgt. ( AKCB) ; near Bouirou , cca. 20 km N of Bourail, 27.xii.2004 – 2.i.2005, 2 JJ, 2 ♀♀, A. Kudrna jr. lgt. ( AKCB) ; 15 km NE of Noumea, Forest of Mts. Koghis , 30.i.–4.ii.2005, 2 JJ, A. Kudrna jr. lgt .

Redescription. Body medium sized (more robust in female), length 13.10–14.40 (lectotype: 13.20) mm, width 4.15–4.75 mm in male ( Fig. 56 ); female length 14.30–15.70 mm, width 4.75–5.25 mm ( Fig. 58 ).

Head with large eyes, slightly narrower than elytra, dorsally dark olivaceous to bronze or cupreous with metallic reflections, frons and supraantennal plates in male shiny green, often with strong cupreous and red reflections; frons moderately to markedly convex, separated from clypeus by distinct suture, surface irregularly rugulose, rugae often more regularly longitudinally parallel on lateral areas; vertex moderately to distinctly convex, with variably deep posterior impression, mostly longitudinally or irregularly rugulose; orbital plates distinctly longitudinally parallel-striate with two setae on each side; occipital area irregularly wavy to vermicular-rugulose; genae glabrous, dark testaceous to green, finely parallel-striate with strong green, cupreous or golden reflections; clypeus dark testaceous, coriaceous, in male with strong green or cupreous lustre, in female with black, dark cupreous or greenish metallic reflections.

Labrum with four setae and acute anterolateral teeth in both sexes; in male ( Fig. 57 ) testaceous with darkened lateral margins and darkened apices of anterolateral teeth (labrum exceptionally entirely testaceous), shorter than wide, length 1.30–1.45 mm, width 1.70–1.95 mm, median lobe rather short with distinct or reduced anterior teeth and only very rarely and weakly indicated median blunt tooth; female labrum ( Fig. 59 ) longer, testaceous except for distinctly black lateral margins, nearly as long as wide, length 1.90–2.15 mm, width 1.90–2.20 mm, with prominent, sharply tridentate median lobe of acute teeth which are bent downwards, so their acute shape is not obvious in dorsal view.

Mandibles subsymmetrical, brownish-testaceous with paler basolateral part, teeth often with black margins; each mandible with three teeth and basal molar; the third teeth in left mandible slightly larger than that in right.

Labial and maxillary palpi in both sexes testaceous, in male usually with somewhat darkened apices of terminal palpomeres; in female often with slightly to distinctly darkened terminal palpomeres; in maxillary palpi also penultimate palpomere darkened.

Antennae in male reaching two thirds of elytra, testaceous (antennomeres II–IV often only slightly darkened), terminal antennomere black; antennae in female shorter, reaching only one elytral third and generally darker.

Thorax. All portions glabrous. Pronotum in male 2.10–2.55 mm long, 3.25–3.75 mm wide (on average 1.49 times wider than long); in female 2.25–2.65 mm long, 3.50–4.20 mm wide (on average 1.55 times wider than long), anterior and posterior sulci well pronounced, anterior and posterior lobe approximately of the same width, lateral margins of disc distinctly convex with markedly elevated notopleural sutures obvious in dorsal view in form of wide, flat lateral ribs that are markedly extended in middle and gradually effaced towards anterior and posterior sulci; dorsal pronotal surface mostly olivaceous green to bronze, rarely nearly black or dark cupreous with metallic reflections, occasionally with shiny, green or cupreous lateral areas, irregularly wavy to vermicular-rugulose, rugae becoming more regularly transverse and wavy along rather distinct median line and on surface of lateral ribs; proepisterna, mesepisterna and metepisterna in male dark testaceous with green to cupreous metallic reflections, in female dark metallic cupreous usually with shiny green lateral areas; proepisterna finely striate to nearly smooth, mesepisterna and metepisterna finely to more coarsely striate (mesepisterna in some females nearly smooth), female mesepisternal coupling sulci in form of a deep, rather large pit placed in the dorsal mesepisternal half, metepisterna with rather deep impression at posterior suture; pro-, meso-, and metasternum dark testaceous with strong metallic green or rarely cupreous areas, metasternum with deep fovea-like impression placed at dorsolateral corner.

Elytra elongate, length 8.50–9.70 mm in male, 9.25–10.10 mm in female, anteapical angles rounded, apices blunt to arcuate, slightly to indistinctly emarginate towards short sutural spine; juxtahumeral impressions and basodiscal convexity moderate, apical impressions indistinct; each elytron between basodiscal convexity and apical impression with two longitudinal (discal and sublateral) costae that are in basal half of each rarely mutually connected by additional, short transverse costa; interspaces between costae and suture impressed; elytral surface anteriorly densely and deeply punctate (juxtahumeral impression punctate only sporadically); punctures on lateral areas of basodiscal convexity often with wide interspaces forming elevated irregular chains, punctures towards apex becoming smaller and shallower and very indistinct on apical area, punctures on flat interspaces between the costae and also between suture are nearly effaced; sparse setigerous punctures with rather long, white hairlike setae are distributed on anterior area; elytral coloration mostly olivaceous-green to cupreous with metallic lustre; interspaces between costae and also along the suture notably iridescent silvery-bronze, silvery-cupreous or reddish-cupreous, the iridescence changing to dull depending on angle of illumination; elytral maculation ochre-white, in both sexes consisting of three maculae: humeral macula which is elongate, curved and visible in dorsal view, median macula which is rather short, transverse and obliquely directed backwards, reaching or more often slightly overlapping sublateral costa and anteapical macula of irregularly circular shape.

Abdomen. Ventrites glabrous, dark testaceous with green or cupreous metallic reflections.

Legs. Coxae and trochanters testaceous; in both sexes profemora testaceous with dark testaceous to black stripe on posterior area that is often expanding onto lateral margin, meso- and metafemora testaceous with darkened apex and variably extended black stripes (more distinctly in female, in male sometimes reduced); tibiae testaceous, sometimes with somewhat darkened apices; tarsi testaceous with darkened apices, rarely tarsomeres 2 and 3 in male protarsi entirely darkened; claws testaceous.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 60 ) 5.00– 5.40 mm long and 1.00– 1.15 mm wide; with almost straight ventral margin, dorsally notably convex, then arcuately narrowed in middle and constricted into rather long, slightly dorsally hooked tip.

Differential diagnosis. Related and similar to Caledonica bavayi , but distinguished by testaceous to dark testaceous labial and maxillary palpi in female, metatarsi in female predominantly testaceous with dark-testaceous apices. Moreover, the body is generally larger (13.10–15.70 mm in C. acentra , 10.80–15.20 mm in C. bavayi ). Other similar species is C. lunigera , from which it differs in having distinctly larger body (10.60–12.80 mm in C. lunigera ), labrum with darkened margins, and lateral margins of pronotal disc with notopleural sutures markedly extended in the middle. From both of these species it is also distinguishable by its aedeagus with longer and slightly dorsally hooked tip ( Fig. 60 ).

Biology and distribution. Caledonica acentra is known only from the southern half of the main island Grande Terre. Its northernmost locality known to me is situated in the vicinity of Bourail in the central part of the island. Therefore the data ‘Mt Panié, Wewec, 410 m, 20°35′41.80″S- 164°43′42.37″’ cited by DEUVE (2015) are rather surprising and should be confirmed before being accepted.

This species almost exclusively inhabits primary forest. Most specimens (including the type series of the synonymous C. wormae ) came from Mont Mou, where they were collected together with C. myrmidon and C. mniszechii along a trail leading through primary forest. In forests in the vicinity of Sarramea this species occurs together with C. rivalieriana sp. nov., C. mniszechii , and C. bavayi .

Remarks. WIESNER (1991) was the first to recognise two distinct species among specimens considered to be C. acentra . However, when describing C. wormae , he neither examined the lectotype of C. acentra nor the syntypes of C. bavayi . My examination of the type specimens of these taxa revealed that the type specimens of C. wormae fully correspond with that of C. acentra . Recently, DEUVE (2015) considered C. wormae a junior synonym of C. acentra as well.

Caledonica acentra was probably unknown to FAUVEL (1882) as he did not mention it and compared his C. bavayi to C. mniszechii and C. lunigera , while C. bavayi is actually most similar to C. acentra .

Figures

Figs 56–65. 56–60 – Caledonica acentra Chaudoir, 1869: 56 – habitus,J, Sarramea, 13.7 mm (AKCB); 57 – frontal view, ibid.; 58 – habitus, ♀, Sarramea, 15 mm (AKCB); 59 – frontal view, ibid.; 60 – aedeagus, Sarramea (AKCB). 61–65 – C.bavayi Fauvel,1882:61 – habitus,J, NW Koumac, 12.5 mm (AKCB); 62 – frontal view,ibid.; 63 – habitus, ♀, N Bourail, 15.4 mm (AKCB); 64 – frontal view, ibid.; 65 – aedeagus, Mt. Colnett (AKCB). Scale bars = 1 mm.

Figs 83–86. Habitats and adults. 83 – Province Sud, Sarramea, Plato de Dogny, a path through forest with saplings of Coffea arabica, a biotope of Caledonica mniszechii (Thomson, 1856) and C. bavayi Fauvel, 1882; 84 – Province Sud, Mt. Koghis, a biotope of C. mniszechii, C. acentra Chaudoir, 1869, C. rivalieri Deuve, 1981 and C. bavayi; 85 – a mating pair of C. mniszechii, Plato de Dogny; 86 – C. luiggiorum sp. nov. on the trunk of young Acacia spirorbis tree in a garden, Province Nord.