Lissotes krakei Bartolozzi, de Keyzer, and Zilioli

Bartolozzi, Luca, Keyzer, Roger De & Zilioli, Michele, 2014, Contribution to the Knowledge of the Australian Stag Beetles, with Description of a New Species ofLissotesWestwood, 1855 (Coleoptera: Lucanidae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 68 (3), pp. 345-350 : 346-348

Lissotes krakei Bartolozzi, de Keyzer, and Zilioli , new species

( Figs. 1–7 )

Type Material. Holotype male: “Victorian

Alps, Mt. Wills, 7.Dec.1999, leg. S. Smith/ COL-

115022/ Mus. Vic. Ento 2012-15L/ L. alpinus G. K.”. Holotype deposited in MV. Paratypes: 3♂♂ with same collecting data as holotype ( LB and 2 RDK) ; 1♂ Australian Alps , Vic, Jan 1940, C. Oke / COL-86147/ ( MV) ; 1♂ Glen Wills , Vic, 22 Feb 1952, F.E. Wilson /COL-86143/ ( MV) ; 1♀ 2♂♂ Strawberry Saddle , Bogong High Plains, Vic, 8 March 2002, J. Balderson ( AP) ; 2♂♂ same location data, 26 Dec 1992 and 30 Jan 1996, J Balderson ( AP) ; 2♂♂ Langford West Viaduct , Bogong High Plains, Vic, 25 Dec 1992, J. Balderson ( AP) ; 1♂ same location data, 5–13 Feb 1994, J. Balderson ( AP) ; 1♀ same location data, 28 Jan 1996, J. Balderson ( AP) ; 3♂♂ Buckety Plain , Bogong High Plains, Vic, 10 Feb 1994, J. Balderson & P.K. Christensen ( AP) ; 5♂♂ Mt Wills , 2 km N. of Sunnyside, Vic, 9 Jan 1997, R. de Keyzer & A. Sundholm ( RDK and AS) ; 1♂ Mt Wills , 8.8 km N. of Sunnyside, Vic, 9 Jan 1997, R. de Keyzer & A. Sundholm ( RDK) ; 4♂♂ Mt Wills , 6.2 km N. of Sunnyside, Vic, 9 Jan 1997, R. de Keyzer & A. Sundholm ( RDK and AS) ; 5♂♂ 1♀ Mt Wills , 6.2 km N. of Sunnyside, Vic, 25 Oct 1997, R. de Keyzer & A. Sundholm ( RDK and AS) ; 6♂♂ Mt Wills , Mt Wills track, 200 metres below summit, 25 Oct 1997, R. de Keyzer & A. Sundholm ( RDK and AS) .

Description. Holotype. Male ( Fig. 1 ). Length 20.2 mm; width (at prothorax) 8.0 mm; width (at elytra) 7.6 mm. Color uniformly black. Head: Form short, transverse, about twice as long as wide; clypeus very small, subtrapezoidal, flat, shiny, with some punctures and golden hairs distally; frons concave, with medial, slightly bilobate, strong protuberance; eyes rather small, canthus small, somewhat triangular, running about 1/3 length of the eye, postocular margin slightly protruding; surface of head punctate, except an almost smooth area under medial protuberance; mandibles strong, slightly longer than head, with a strong, vertically directed medial tooth on upper margin; tip of tooth curved inwards; apex pointed, inner side concave, inferior margin with a very small basal tooth followed by a large lamina with irregular border; mentum small, subrectangular, finely punctate; antennae 10-jointed, scape about as long as funicle and club together, club consisting of 3 antennomeres. Prothorax: Transverse, large, with longitudinal, shallow medial groove; anterior and posterior borders straight, lateral margins slightly convex, anterior angles present; surface shiny with rather dense punctures, except along the anterior margin; scutellum very small, semicircular; underside strongly and finely punctate. Hindwings absent. Elytra: Fused, slightly longer than mandibles, head, and prothorax together; sides slightly convex; apex regularly rounded; surface with dense punctures in longitudinal rows, very short golden pubescence inside the punctures along lateral margins and at declivity. Abdomen: Segments strongly and finely punctate. Legs: Short, slender; protibiae very slightly curved inwards with apical fork and 4 small teeth on the outer margin, and a strong, sharp apical spine; mesotibiae straight with a sharp postmedial tooth on the outer margin, preceded by 2 very small ones, at apex 2 spines, 1 longer than the other; metatibiae straight with a postmedial tooth on the outer margin, at apex 2 strong spines, one longer than the other; all tarsi slender. Aedeagus: Shape typical of Lucaninae, with parameres shorter than basal piece, and with very short, golden pubescence on their distal margin; permanently everted internal sac about as long as parameres and basal piece together ( Figs. 4–6 ).

Paratypes. Males as in holotype except varying as follows: Length 17.6–24.0 mm; width (at prothorax) 6.5–9.4 mm; width (at elytra) 6.4–8.7 mm; frontal protuberance less developed in small males to distinctly bilobed in large males; mandible with vertically directed medial tooth on upper margin becoming more pronounced and apex flattened in large males; protibial outer margin with 3–6 small teeth; mesotibiae with 2–3 small, sharp teeth preceding sharp postmedial tooth on outer margin. Females ( Figs. 2–3 ) as in holotype except as follows: Length 18.1–18.7 mm; width (at prothorax) 7.2–7.7 mm; width (at elytra) 7.3–8.2 mm. Color uniformly black to dark reddish brown. Head ( Fig. 3 ): Form short, transverse, about twice as wide as long, less than 2/3 width of pronotum; frons with concave area on each side, no medial protuberance, sparsely punctate; eyes small; surface punctate except for smooth area at middle of vertex; mandibles simple, shorter than head, with outer edge gently curved towards apex and single median tooth on inner edge; mentum with sparse, golden hairs. Prothorax: Anterior border and angle narrower than posterior border; surface less densely punctate along medial area of anterior margin, with shiny, very finely punctate area on both anterior sides of the medial groove. Elytra: Longer than mandibles, head, and prothorax together; sides more convex and apex more tapered than in males. Legs: Protibial outer margin with 4–6 small teeth; mesotibiae with 3–4 small, sharp teeth preceding much longer sharp postmedial tooth on outer margin; metatibiae with strong, sharp medial tooth.

Etymology. This species is named in honor of Mr. Graeme J. Krake, with whom one of us (LB) has been in friendly correspondence for many years and who kindly donated a specimen of the new species.

Distribution. Lissotes krakei seems to be endemic to the Victorian Alps, which extends over 3,000 km 2 at over 1,200 m elevation. The collecting sites, Mount Wills, Buckety Plain, and Bogong High Plains, are located in Alpine National Park.

Diagnosis. Lissotes krakei is closely related to Lissotes darlingtoni Benesh, 1943 and Lissotes furcicornis Westwood, 1871 . The males of the three species can be easily distinguished by the different shapes of heads and mandibles ( Figs. 7–10 ). In L. krakei , the frons has a medial protuberance which is missing in the two other species; the canthus shape is also peculiar and totally different from the other taxa. The mandibles of L. krakei ( Fig. 7 ) are rather similar to those of L. darlingtoni ( Fig. 8 ), but they lack the strong basal tooth on the inferior margin; in L. furcicornis ( Fig. 9 ), the mandibles have a much stronger medial vertical tooth, and the apex is not sharply pointed but has a double point. The female of L. krakei can be easily distinguished from the females of L. darlingtoni and L. furcicornis by the shape of the canthus and by the punctures and shape of the head and pronotum ( Fig. 3 ).

Figures

Figs. 1–2. Lissotes krakei, habitus in dorsal view. 1) Male (total length 20.2 mm); 2) Female (total length 18.4 mm).

Fig. 3. Lissotes krakei, female, head and prothorax.

Figs. 4–6. Lissotes krakei, aedeagus. 4) Dorsal view; 5) Ventral view; 6) Lateral view.

Figs. 7–10. Lissotes species, male heads and mandibles. 7) L. krakei; 8) L. darlingtoni; 9) L. furcicornis;