Austrocyphon wattsi, Zwick, Peter, 2013

Zwick, Peter, 2013, Australian Marsh Beetles (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) 4. Two new genera, Austrocyphon and Tasmanocyphon, Zootaxa 3706 (1), pp. 1-74 : 31

Austrocyphon wattsi , sp. n.

( Figs. 86–91 )

Type material. Holotype: ♂, NSW New England NP Banksia Point 22/11/06 CHS Watts beating rainforest veg nr creek. Paratypes: 1♂, same data as holotype; 1♂, NSW New England NP Thungutti Camp 22/11/06 CHS Watts (all SAMA). 1♂, Comboyne N.S.W. J.Armstrong / Cyphon ? pictus Blackb. Id. by J.Armstrong ( ANIC). 1♂, Australia NSW, Tom's Cabin Point Lookout, New England NP 30°29'54''S, 152°23'52.6''E, 13 November 2006, coll. D.Britton / Subalpine woodland adjacent to beech forest M-Lamp Britton 2006/057 (AMS K255618).

Additional material studied. NSW: 4♀ taken together with the holotype and 4♀ taken with the paratype at Thungutti Camp ( SAMA). 1♀, S.E.Border N.S.W. - Qld. M. Davidson ( ANIC).

Habitus. BL 2.4–2.7 mm. BL/BW ~1.6. Head blackish, remainder of dorsal face dark brown except narrow rufous periphery of pronotum. Pronotal granules quite strong, almost half as large as elytral punctures. Mouthparts, base of antennae, and legs yellowish brown. Middle flagellar segments ca. twice as long as apical width, each distinctly narrowed towards base, distal segments of similar length but wider.

Male. T8 transverse, caudal margin almost triangular. Apodemes thin, antecosta distinct. S8 fairly large, Vshaped and slender, caudolateral ends with some sensory pores and setae.

Apodemes of T9 short and thin. Plate weakly sclerotized except two hairless tongue-shaped lobes on either side of a wide and deep notch. Each lobe supported by an oblique sclerite coming from the apodeme. S9 oval with soft pointed base and shallowly emarginate caudal edge, lobes pilose, an oval area between them unpigmented.

Penis with slender parallel-sided pala. Distal frame formed by the narrow parameroids much wider. The large foramen not nearly filled by the short parallel trigonium with sharp, claw-shaped centema.

Parameres arising from a weakly sclerotized rectangular capulus, rod-shaped, slender, ending in membranous lobes.

Female (probable). Resembles male but each elytron has close to the suture on the declivous section behind midlength a small elongate area covered with very fine procumbent pilosity which under the microscope appears as a small greyish spot. Apodemes of S8 anteriorly separate, a weakly sclerotized tubular section deep in the genital tract. Receptacle with the usual circular surface elements. No distinctive genital sclerites.

Note. The modified pilose area on the elytra of females is unique in Austrocyphon .

Etymology. Named for the collector, C.H.S. Watts, in recognition of his path-breaking studies of Australian Scirtidae .

Figures

FIGURES 86 – 91. Austrocyphon wattsi sp. n, male. 86, T 8; 87, S 8; 88, T 9; 89, parameres; 90, S 9; 91, penis. All to the same scale.