Trichotichnus (Bottchrus) panchhaseensis, Schmidt, 2017

Schmidt, Joachim, 2017, Brachypterous ground beetles of the Trichotichnus subgenus Bottchrus Jedlička (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from the Himalaya, with description of fifteen new species, Zootaxa 4323 (3), pp. 301-358 : 320-322

Trichotichnus (Bottchrus) panchhaseensis sp. n.

( Figs 41 , 53–59 , 151 , 7 )

Type material. Holotype: ♂, “ NEPAL Annapurna , Mt. Panchhase, 2000–2300 m, W Pokhara, 18.5.97, lg. Schmidt ” (cJS).

Paratypes: 17 ♂, 15 ♀, same data as holotype (cJS, ZIN); 1 ♂, 1 ♀, “ NEPAL HIMALAYA 20 km W Pokhara Mt . Panchhase ”, “NW slope, 2400 m, 21.V.1997, lg. Jäger” ( SMTD); 1 ♂, “ NEPAL central, Pokhara – Kande env., 4–18.VI.2015, lgt. E. Kučera ” (cKUČ).

Description. Habitus as in Fig. 41 . Body length 5.6–6.6 mm, width 2.4–2.8 mm.

Colour: Body piceous black, rather shiny on dorsum, with distinct blue tinge on elytra and pronotum; labrum, in some specimens also base of mandibles, very narrow margins of pronotum and apical portion of elytral margins slightly paler; palpi, antennae and legs brownish yellow, femora and metatrochanteres distinctly infuscate.

Head: Comparatively large, with wide neck (in males, HWmax/PWmax = 0.68–0.71, HWmin/PWmax = 0.53– 0.56; in females, these indices 0.71–0.73 and 0.56–0.59, respectively). Eyes moderately or markedly convex (in males, HWmax/HWmin = 1.25–1.28, and in females, 1.24–1.26), in lateral view wide oval, almost round, occasionally slightly elongate. Tempora about one third to half as long as eye, slightly convex, somewhat abruptly sloped to neck. Genae noticeably wider than width of antennomere 1, with few short setae. Lateral margin of head between antenna and eye, like in all the preceding species, slightly protruded laterally, forming an obtuse angle near eyes, distinctly bordered. Area between supraorbital furrow and upper margin of eye approximately as wide as or slightly shorter than width of antennomere 2 basally. Supraorbital setigerous pore located just behind level of posterior margin of eye, separated from supraorbital furrow approximately by distance slightly more than width of antennomere 3 apically. Labrum slightly concave anteriorly. Clypeus almost straight, only slightly emarginate along anterior margin, slightly convex basally, flatly sloped to apex, with a moderately large setigerous pore at each apical angle. Frons and vertex convex. Mentum and submentum completely fused, submentum with one long seta on each side, usually also with a short seta laterally of long seta. Left mandible not truncate, blunted at apex. Dorsal surface smooth, highly obliterate transverse meshes visible only laterally behind eyes. Antennae comparatively short, with antennomeres 4–8 slightly longer than wide, in male extended, in female not extended to basal edge of pronotum.

Pronotum: Moderately transverse (PWmax/PL = 1.30–1.37), widest at the end of anterior third, slightly or moderately narrowed posteriad (PWmax/PWmin = 1.21–1.30), with one lateral seta inserted slightly before the widest point. Sides rounded anteriorly, almost straight in basal third, and slightly sinuate in very short distance just before basal angles. Apical margin slightly emarginate, bordered almost throughout, border shortly interrupted at middle. Apical angles very slightly protruded anteriad, narrowly rounded at tip. Basal margin nearly straight, vaguely bordered laterally, slightly longer than apical margin and slightly shorter than base of elytra between humeral angles. Basal angles very slightly obtuse, subdenticulate. Pronotal disc moderately convex, strongly sloped to apical angles and moderately so to basal ones, not depressed basally, but slightly flattened at basal angles. Lateral gutter very narrow, indistinctly widened in apical half. Median line fine, not deepened, ended markedly before apical and basal margins. Basal foveae distinct, small, oval, very shallow. Surface sparsely, somewhat coarsely and irregularly punctate in basal and latero-basal areas before lateral seta, with few very fine punctures at apical margin. Pronotal disc with very obliterate microsculpture along sides.

Elytra: In lateral and caudal view convex, in dorsal view oval, comparatively elongate (in males, EL/EW = 1.41–1.47; EL/PL = 2.38–2.45; EW/PWmax = 1.24–1.27; in females, these indices 1.41–1.45, 2.43–2.48, 1.25– 1.29, respectively), widest slightly behind middle, with somewhat acute apex. Humeri prominent, angularly rounded at tip, without denticle. Subapical sinuation very shallow. Sutural angle rectangular, not blunted at tip. Basal edge nearly straight, slightly curved just at humerus, forming a sharp, obtuse angle with lateral margin. Striae slightly impressed along entire length. Intervals slightly convex throughout, weakly narrowed posteriad. Parascutellar setigerous pore large. Parascutellar striole short, at most as long as distance from parascutellar pore to suture, with apex free. Interval 3 with a small discal setigerous pore at stria 2 behind middle. Marginal umbilicate series widely interrupted at middle, with 6–8 pores in anterior group and 8–9 pores in posterior group. Microsculpture not evident even at high magnification.

Hindwings: Reduced to tiny scales.

Ventral surface: Prosternum and metasternum finely pubescent. Metepisternum ( Fig. 53 ) markedly wider than long, moderately narrowed posteriad. Apex of last visible (VII) abdominal sternite in male widely rounded ( Fig. 54 ), in female narrowly or angularly rounded ( Fig. 55 ).

Legs: Protibia very finely longitudinally sulcate in basal third, occasionally sulcus extremely short. Profemur with five to seven setae on anterio-ventral margin. Tarsi short, metatarsus noticeably shorter than HWmin, with metatarsomeres (particularly 2–4) markedly widened posteriad, metatarsomere 1 approximately as long as metatarsomeres 2+3. Tarsomere 5 with two pairs of ventro-lateral setae. In male, pro- and mesotarsi moderately widened.

Female genitalia: Laterotergite (hemisternite) symmetrical, with two thick setae apically. Basal stylomere with one preapical spine on external margin. Apical stylomere moderately curved, with a peg-like spine at both ventral and dorsal edges of outer margin.

Male genitalia: Median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 56–59 ) in lateral view arcuate, C-shaped, strongly bent ventrad just after basal bulb and not bent ventrad in its apical third, with slightly convex ventral margin in its apical half; in dorsal view slightly curved to right, somewhat evenly narrowed to apex in distal half. Terminal lamella ( Fig. 58 ) short, narrowed to apex, slightly sinuate at sides just before capitulum. Apical capitulum in lateral view ( Fig. 56 ) more markedly prominent dorsally than ventrally, strongly oblique, with ventral flange situated much more proximally than dorsal flange, in caudal view ( Fig. 59 ) somewhat elongate oval. Internal sac with characteristic pattern of longitudinal spiny folds, without larger spines.

Etymology. The specific name refers to the Mt. Panchhase on the southern slope of the Annapurna Himal where the new species occurs.

Comparison. In size, general appearance and short metepisterna, T. (B.) panchhaseensis sp. n. is similar to T. (B.) holzschuhi and the other species described above, but may be discriminated among them in the following combination of the distinctive characters: body comparatively more elongate, with relatively long pronotum and elytra; pronotal base straight nearly throughout, not oblique laterally; protibia very finely longitudinally sulcate in basal third; median lobe of aedeagus arcuate but not bent ventrad in its apical portion, with convex ventral margin in apical half and with very short terminal lamella ( Figs 56–58 ); its apical capitulum more strongly prominent dorsally than ventrally, with ventral flange situated much more proximally than dorsal flange, in caudal view ( Fig. 59 ) somewhat elongate oval; internal sac without spines. The most distinctive characters also include mentum completely fused with submentum, pronotal lateral gutters slightly widened in apical half, microsculpture on pronotal and elytral discs not developed, humeral denticle absent, last visible (VII) abdominal sternite in female narrowly or angularly rounded at apex ( Fig. 55 ), and femora distinctly infuscate. Trichotichnus (B.) panchhaseensis sp. n. distinctly differs from the sympatric T. (B.) parvulus sp. n. in having greater size (5.6–6.6 mm versus 4.8–5.4 mm), mentum and submentum completely fused [in T. (B.) parvulus sp. n., separated medially], protibia finely sulcate, elytral sutural angle less strongly produced posteriad, almost rectangular at apex, last visible (VII) abdominal sternite in female narrowly or angularly rounded at apex [in T. parvulus sp. n., more widely rounded ( Fig. 24 )], and the penis structure as described above [for comparison, the median lobe of T. (B.) parvulus sp. n. with longer terminal lamella, its apical capitulum in lateral view oblique, with acute dorsal flange located less distally than rounded ventral flange ( Figs. 25, 29 ), in caudal view apical capitulum somewhat triangular ( Figs 26, 30 ), and internal sac with a small group of small spines medially].

Distribution ( Fig. 151 , 7 ). Slopes of Mt. Panchhase approximately 20 km west of Pokhara city in western Central Nepal, Kaski District, at altitudes of 2000–2400 m. The species occurs there sympatricly with T. (B.) parvulus sp. n. ( Fig. 151 , 3).

Figures

FIGURE 151. Distribution of the Himalayan species of Trichotichnus subgenus Bottchrus. 1, T. holzschuhi Kirschenhofer, 1992; 2, T. baglungensis sp. n.; 3, T. parvulus sp. n.; 4, T. bubsaensis sp. n.; 5, T. schawalleri sp. n.; 6, T. obliquebasalis sp. n.; 7, T. panchhaseensis sp. n.; 8, T. siklesensis sp. n.; 9, T. pusillus sp. n.; 10, T. ganeshensis sp. n.; 11, T. minutus sp. n.; 12, T. cyanescens Ito, 1998; 13, T. martensi sp. n.; 14, T. opacus Ito, 1998.

FIGURES 38 – 41. Himalayan species of Trichotichnus subgenus Bottchrus, photographs of habitus. 38, T. schawalleri sp. n., holotype; 39, T. obliquebasalis sp. n., paratype, male; 40, T. siklesensis sp. n., paratype, male; 41, T. panchhaseensis sp. n., paratype, male.

FIGURES 53 – 59. Trichotichnus (Bottchrus) panchhaseensis sp. n. (53 – 55, paratypes; 56 – 59, holotype). 53, left metepisternum; 54, apex of last (VII) abdominal sternite, male; 55, same, female; 56 – 57, median lobe of aedeagus; 58, terminal lamella; 59, apical capitulum. 53 – 55, ventral view; 56, lateral view; 57 – 58, dorsal view; 59, caudal view. Scale bars = 0.25 mm (A: Figs 53 – 57; B: Figs 58 – 59).

FIGURES 5 – 13. Trichotichnus (Bottchrus) holzschuhi Kirschenhofer, 1992 (5 – 7, paratype; 8 – 13, specimens from Sete). 5, terminal lamella of aedeagus; 6 – 8, 11, median lobe of aedeagus; 9, apical capitulum; 10, left metepisternum; 12, apex of last (VII) abdominal sternite, male; 13, same, female. 5, 7, 8, dorsal view; 6, 11, lateral view; 9, caudal view; 10, 12, 13, ventral view. Scale bars = 0.25 mm (A: Figs 5 – 8, 10 – 13; B: Fig. 9).

FIGURES 22 – 31. Trichotichnus (Bottchrus) parvulus sp. n. (22 – 24, 28, paratypes from Mt. Panchhase; 25 – 27, holotype; 29 – 31, paratype from Krapa Danda mountain range). 22, mentum and submentum; 23, apex of last (VII) abdominal sternite, male; 24, same, female; 25, 27, 29, 31, median lobe of aedeagus; 26, 30, terminal lamella and apical capitulum of aedeagus; 28, left metepisternum. 22, 24, 28, ventral view; 25, 29, lateral view; 27, 31, dorsal view; 26, 30, caudal view. Scale bars = 0.25 mm (A: Figs 22 – 25, 27 – 29, 31; B: Figs 26 – 30).