Parena (Parena) ferruginea ( Chaudoir, 1878 )

Shi, Hongliang & Liang, Hongbin, 2023, Taxonomic revision of the genus Parena Motschulsky, 1860 (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini, Metallicina), Zootaxa 5286 (1), pp. 1-144 : 134-136

[44] Parena (Parena) ferruginea ( Chaudoir, 1878)

Habitus: Fig. 80A .

Chaudoir, 1878: 151 (original: Ceroglossa ; type locality: Zanzibar; holotype in MNHN); Alluaud, 1917: 86 ( Crossoglossa ); Basilewsky, 1955: 129 (misidentification of Parena africana ).

Type material examined. Ceroglossa ferruginea Chaudoir : Holotype (MNHN, Fig. 80A ): female, body length = 9.7 mm, pin mounted, " Zanzibar / Raffray", "TYPE / ferruginea " [red label], " ferruginea / Chaudoir / Zanzibar / ile Raffray " [ex Chaudoir's box label], "MUSEUM PARIS / 1952 / Coll. R. OBERTHUR" [blue label].

Comparisons. This species differs from other African Parena by the combination of dorsum uniformly reddish brown, postgenae without suborbital setae, elytral striae very shallowly incised, antennae distinctly bicolored, and tarsomeres much darker than tibiae.

Among specimens that we examined in collections, two other African species with completely brown elytra were misidentified as P. ferruginea by previous experts, including P. fulva sp. n. and the pale form of P. africana . P. fulva sp. n. differs from P. ferruginea in having postgenae with suborbital setae and antennae uniformly yellow. The pale form of P. africana differs from this species in having elytral striae slightly deeper, pronotal lateral margins stronger sinuate before posterior angles, and tarsomeres nearly the same color as the tibiae.

Description. Body length 9.7 mm. Dorsum reddish brown, moderately polished, without pattern; antennomeres 5–11 very dark brown, distinctly darker than basal four ones; venter reddish brown; legs same color as dorsum, tarsomeres nearly black, distinctly darker than tibiae. Vertex with fine punctures; postgenae without suborbital setae; mentum with a pair of short setae, shorter than terminal labial palpomere; antennae barely extended to elytral base. Pronotum sub-cordate, PW/PL = 1.38, slightly wider than head, PW/HW = 1.04; widest at anterior third, lateral margins evenly rounded before middle, very gently sinuate before posterior angles; posterior angles rounded-obtuse, not prominent; lateral explanations slightly wide; disc with fine punctures aside median line. Elytra slightly dilated to apex; with shallow isodiametric microsculpture; striae very shallowly incised before middle, not incised on posterior half, with fine puncture rows; intervals flat, with sparse fine punctures; discal depressions shallow, subtriangular, near basal third of intervals 3 to 6; apical truncation indistinct, evenly curved, outer apical angles fully rounded; sutural angles indistinct. Apex of abdominal sternite VII straight, with two setae on each side in females. Ovipositor not studied. Male unknown.

Distribution ( Map 14 , green). Only known from the holotype from Zanzibar.

Remarks. The pale form of P. africana was misidentified as P. ferruginea by Basilewsky (1955). He noticed the differences between these specimens and the type of P. ferruginea : tarsi not black but at most dark brown; eight apical antennomeres dark brown ( Basilewsky, 1955). We found two more differences between them: the elytra striae in P. africana are evidently deeper, shallow but incised throughout their length, while the elytra striae are shallower and not incised on the apical half of elytra in P. ferruginea ; the pronotal lateral margins in P. africana are strongly sinuate before posterior angles, but only very gently sinuate in P. ferruginea . Because the above two characters are constant in P. africana , we treat these as two distinct species for now. However, whether the above external characters can support the validity of these two species is still in doubt because the male genitalia of the typical P. ferruginea are unknown.

Figures

MAP 14. Distributions for species in the Parena (Parena) plagiata group

FIGURE 80. Habitus of Parena (Parena) plagiata species group. A Holotype of Parena ferruginea (Chaudoir). B P. plagiata Motschulsky, male from The Republic of South Africa (Durban). C Lectotype of Parena africana (Alluaud). D P. africana (Alluaud), male from Senegal, the pale form. E P. africana (Alluaud), male from Cameroon, the dark form. F P. africana (Alluaud), female from the Central Africa Republic, the dark form. Scale bars = 2 mm.