Brachinus (Aploa) pictus ( Hope, 1833 )

Akhil, S. V., Divya, M. & Sabu, K. Thomas, 2020, Bombardier beetles of genus Brachinus Weber, 1801 (Carabidae: Brachininae Brachinini) from India, Zootaxa 4816 (4), pp. 576-600 : 587-588

Brachinus (Aploa) pictus ( Hope, 1833)

Fig. 1g

= Brachinus figuratus Chaudoir, 1852

Brachinus pictus Hope, 1833: 92 ; Brullé, 1834: 223; Chaudoir, 1876: 54; Bedel, 1914: 311; Andrewes, 1919: 202; 1924a: 57; 1930a: 51; Hrdlička, 2003: 212; 2017: 472; Ullah et al. 2017: 176

Brachinus figuratus Chaudoir, 1852: 41 ; Hrdlička, 2003: 212; 2017: 476

Type locality. India: Maharashtra: Pune, Sykes collection .

Type depository. Type lost.

Specimens examined (n=3). 2 exs., (1 male, 1 female) labelled “ India: Andhra Pradesh: Cudappah dt, ‘ 181m Alt’ , 28.xi.04, coll. Dr. Prabhakar ”, det. S. V. Akhil ; 1 ex.; (male) labelled “ India: Kerala: Chinnar , x.2011, coll. K. V. Vinod & S. T. Raj, det. S. V. Akhil ” .

Description. Length 12.4 mm. Head, pronotum, basic colour of elytra, scutellum, legs and venter reddish yellow. Eyes, three markings on elytra, abdominal lateral margins and posterior segments black; antennae reddish brown with first four segments pale red. Pronotum with median groove and lateral margins reddish brown.

Head stout, as long as broad, glabrous, smooth, a patch of setae around the eyes; eyes prominent, protruding; neck smooth.

Pronotum broad, as long as wide, smooth, few setae near to base and apex, otherwise glabrous, symmetrically wrinkled on both sides of median groove; lateral beads broad, prominent, disc with posterior two-thirds convex, basal third parallel, without projecting laterally; apical and basal margins straight with lateral edge of apical margin projecting forward; median groove deep, deepest at both ends, not reaching the apical and basal margins.

Elytra longer than broad, slightly convex, pubescent, humerus straight, prominent, projecting; apex with a membranous lining, having a re-entrant angle; scutellum pointed; striations 1 and 2 (counting suture as 1) faint, 3–5 prominent, keel shaped, rest normal, intervals deep, pubescent along the intervals; surface with a black rectangular longitudinal band starting from the sides of scutellum covering the area between 1st and 3rd striations but ending just before the mid region of elytra, two comma shaped black spots near the lateral margin in the anterior half with a narrow projection towards the humerus, a black transverse band just before the apex with its lateral portions large and rounded.

Distribution. INDIA: Siwaliks; Delhi; Bengal; Haryana: Kalka; Jharkhand: Medininagar; Maharashtra: Pune, Nagpur; Andhra Pradesh: Cudappah; Karnataka: Belgavi, Bengaluru; Tamil Nadu: Chennai; Kerala: Thrissur, Chinnar. SRI LANKA: Hambantota; PAKISTAN: Lyallpur.

Remarks. Unique Indian Brachinus with basic colour of elytra reddish yellow with black spots, whereas all other species have black, bluish black or brownish black elytra. The type, which was in the Hope collection of BMNH, is presumed to be lost or misplaced ( Andrewes 1919).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal habitus of Indian Brachinus species: a) B. dryas Andrewes, 1936 (holotype, BMNH); b) B. inops Andrewes, 1932 (holotype, BMNH); c) B. hexagrammus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); d) B. sexmaculatus Dejean, 1825 (syntype, MNHN); e) B. tetracolon Chuadoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); f) B. tetragrammus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); g) B. pictus (Hope, 1833) (ZSIM); h) B. cinctellus Chaudoir, 1876 (syntype, MNHN); i) B. eucosmus Andrewes, 1937 (holotype, BMNH)