Pheropsophus consularis (Schmidt-Goebel, 1846)

Venugopal, Akhil S. & Thomas, Sabu K., 2019, Bombardier beetles of the genus Pheropsophus Solier 1833 (Carabidae: Brachininae: Brachinini) from Indian subcontinent, Zootaxa 4608 (1), pp. 65-89 : 72

Pheropsophus consularis (SCHMIDT-GOEBEL, 1846)

( Fig. 1 G )

= Pheropsophus stenoderus CHAUDOIR, 1850

Brachinus consularis Schmidt-Goebel, 1846: 75 ; Bates, 1891b: 336; 1892b: 392; Andrewes, 1923: 44; 1924a: 116; 1930: 272; Jedlička, 1963: 531; Hrdlička, 2017: 479; Ullah et al., 2017: 180

Pheropsophus stenoderus Chaudoir, 1850: 77 ; 1876: 41; Arrow, 1901: 204; Andrewes, 1924a: 56; 1930: 272; Mani, 1955: 486.

Specimens examined (n=1): Syntype, labelled “ Burma ”, type in NMPC

Description. Length: 15.8–16.9 mm

Colour: Head pale reddish yellow, with beret/”V” shaped black spot; first 4 segments of antennae yellow, the remaining darker, brownish; pronotum black with two longitudinally elongate reddish yellow spots; elytra black; legs pale reddish yellow with coxa, trochanter brownish yellow; femur, tibia pale reddish yellow; tarsi dark brown; black spot on the apex of femur. Venter with mentum, mandibles and last segment of palpi brownish black; submentum, gula and gena reddish yellow; prosternum brownish black with prosternal lobe having reddish yellow colour; metasternum and metepisternum reddish yellow with reddish brown borders; third abdominal sternite yellowish posteriorly.

Head: Elongated and narrow, small eyes, a pair of flat impressions between the eyes.

Pronotum: As broad as the head, longer than broad, almost straight laterally, posterior portion as broad as anterior, with pronounced anterior transverse impression, the anterior margin straight; two elongated, narrow, dark reddish yellow spots on both sides of the shallow median furrow that converge backwards.

Elytra: Twice as wide and three times as long as the pronotum, narrow, sub parallel, less constricted towards the base, almost straight. Humerus almost erased with round humeral spot; median band transverse, strongly serrated; striations narrow, pointed, intervals rounded, broad, apex of the striations yellowish; very narrow apical border.

Venter: With well-marked gular sutures; prosternal process having 4 long apical setae.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Assam: Silonibari (Andrewes 1923), Sibsagar (Andrewes 1923); Bengal: Siliguri (Andrewes 1923); Arunachal Pradesh: Rotung ( Andrewes 1930); Himachal Pradesh: Kangra, Spiti: Gharry ( Andrewes 1930); Bihar: Chapra (Andrewes 1923); Uttarakhand: Dehra dun ( Andrewes 1930). Ranikhet ( Andrewes 1930); Jharkhand: Tetara ( Bates 1891a), Konbir ( Bates 1891a); Odisha: Surada ( Andrewes 1924a); MYANMAR: Bhamo. Karen Hills. Tanintharyi (Tennasserim). Karin cheba. Palon ( Bates 1892b); BANGLADESH: Dhaka (Andrewes 1923). Sardah (Andrewes 1923); PAKISTAN: Islamabad. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Swat. Maidan ( Ullah et al. 2017).

Remarks. Pheropsophus consularis is similar to P. javanus but differs from it by having unique ‘V’/Beret shaped black spot over its head, broader elytral median transverse band, smaller humeral spot and smaller black spot over the apex of femur.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal habitus of Pheropsophus from India – A) Pheropsophus andrewesi (Holotype, ‘India: Assam’, ZMHB), B) P. aptinoides (Holotype, ‘East Indies’, MNHN), C) P. bimaculatus (Holotype, ‘Ind.Or.’, LSUK), D) P. cardoni (Syntype, ‘Chota Nagpore, Nowatoli’, ZMHB), E) P. catoirei (Holotype, ‘Bengalia’, MNHN), F) P. chaudoiri (Holotype, ‘Nepal’, BMNH), G) P. consularis (Syntype, ‘Burma’, NMPC), H) P. javanus (Holotype, ‘Java’, MNHN), I) P. lineifrons (Holotype, ‘Ind.Or.’, ZMHB)