Paratrichapus bismarckensis ( Chûjô, 1966 ) Souza-Gonçalves & Lopes-Andrade, 2024

Souza-Gonçalves, Igor & Lopes-Andrade, Cristiano, 2024, On the Ciidae (Coleoptera) described by Michio Chûjô deposited in the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Zootaxa 5506 (1), pp. 137-144 : 141-142

Paratrichapus bismarckensis ( Chûjô, 1966) comb. nov.

Fig. 5A–D

Cis (Cis) bismarckensis Chûjô, 1966: 527 (original description).

Comments. From the Dyaul island, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. This species was described based on two specimens (a holotype and a paratype). The procoxae projecting beyond the level of the prosternal process, which is incomplete and acute, exclude it from Ciini and justify its inclusion in Orophiini. Among the Orophiini genera, Hyalocis Kawanabe, 1993 has an elongated body, glabrous and shining dorsally, and 9-segmented antennae ( Kawanabe 1993); Octotemnus has a more or less cylindrical body, subglabrous on dorsum, and 8-segmented antennae ( Kawanabe 2002; Lawrence 2016); and Xylographus Mellié, 1847 has the first labial palpomere conspicuously elongate ( Sandoval-Gómez et al. 2014). The remaining two Orophiini genera, Ropalodontus Mellié, 1847 and Paratrichapus Scott, 1926 , are similar to C. bismarckensis in the body covered by short to moderately long, erect, fine hairs, and in the 10-segmented antennae. But in Ropalodontus the outer apical angle of all tibiae is produced and rounded, without a clear distinction between apical and outer edges, and the row of spines goes from the apical edge to the outer apical angle; additionally, male Ropalodontus have the abdominal sex patch covered by a triangular flap. In most described species of Paratrichapus , there is no clear distinction between apical and outer edges in the protibiae (except in P. sechellatum Scott, 1926 ), however these edges are clearly distinct in the meso- and metatibiae in all described species. Additionally, in P. fultoni ( Broun, 1886) and P. sechellarum , the males have the abdominal sex patch fully exposed, without a triangular flap; in the other described Paratrichapus species, males do not even have an abdominal sex patch. In C. bismarckensis the row of spines is restricted to the apical expansion of tibiae: “(...) all tibiae very strongly expanded terminally like an elongate triangular lobe and distinctly denticulate at its outer anterior border, pro- and mesotibia nearly equal in size, metatibia not so much expanded as the two anterior tibiae.” ( Chûjô 1966). In the lateral image of the holotype ( Fig. 5B ; arrow) it is clear that the row of spines is restricted to the apical edge at least in the metatibia. Ropalondotus has its peak of diversity in the Palaearctic region, with one species in the Nearctic ( R. americanus Lawrence, 1971 ) and one in the Oriental region ( R. lawrencei Ruta, 2003 , from Thailand). In contrast, Paratrichapus is diversified in the Australian and Oriental regions (Souza-Gonçalves et al. 2018). Therefore, based on the abovementioned morphological characteristics and geographic distribution, we decided to transfer C. bismarckensis to Paratrichapus , rather than to Ropalodontus . Paratrichapus bismarckensis comb. nov. differs from all other species in the genus by the pronotum with microreticulate interstice of punctures. Besides P. bismarckensis , P. fultoni and P. sechellatum , Paratrichapus encompasses seven other described species: P. australis Souza-Gonçalves et al., 2018 , P. burwelli Souza-Gonçalves et al., 2018 , P. christmasensis Souza-Gonçalves et al., 2018 , P. javanus ( Pic, 1937) , P. lobipes ( Broun, 1895) , P. metallonotum Souza-Gonçalves et al., 2018 and P. peckorum Souza-Gonçalves et al., 2018 ; beyond several undescribed species. The genus occurs in the Australian and New Zealand subregions (Australian region), Malagasy subregion (Ethiopian region), Indo-Chinese subregion (Oriental region), and Indo-Malayan transition zone.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Paratrichapus bismarckensis (Chûjô, 1966) comb. nov., holotype (A–D) from Sumuna (Dyaul, Bismark Archipelago, Papua New Guinea): A. Dorsal view. B. Lateral view; note the row of spines restricted to the apical edge of the metatibia (arrow). C. Ventral view. D. Labels. Scale bar: 0.5 mm (A–C).