Pheropsophus prophylax HELLER, 1903

(Fig. 2 F)

Pheropsophus prophylax Heller, 1903: 247; Andrewes, 1930: 275; Saha and Halder, 2000: 33; Kirschenhofer, 2010: 60; Hrdlička, 2017: 480.

Specimen examined (n=1): Holotype, labelled “ India Or. Manipur, Doherty, Fry Coll. 1905.100, Pheropsophus prophylax Heller H.E. Andrewes det.”, type in BMNH

Description. Length: 18.0–19.0 mm

Colour: Glossy brownish black; head, pronotum, elytra black; eyes grey; yellowish spot over the epistome; middle of the forehead with a crescent-shaped bright transverse spot; reddish brown border towards pronotum which extends laterally towards the base of eyes; antennal segments 1–2 light reddish brown, 3–4 brownish black and rest dark brown legs with coxa reddish brown; trochanter and femur pale reddish yellow with femur having a dark black ring on the posterior end (apex black); tibia more reddish brown and tarsi brownish; ventral side of head yellowish-brown with gula reddish yellow, gular sutures black; prosternum and mesosternum black while metasternum having reddish yellow patch in the middle.

Head: Pentagonal, eyes protruding; wrinkled neck; with long supra orbital setae.

Pronotum: Narrow, longer than wide, anterior a little wider; hind angle obtuse-right; lateral margins convex anteriorly, straight posteriorly; anterior margin concave, posterior straight; surface glabrous (but with two long setae in the center of disc towards the lateral margin); median furrow absent.

Elytra: Convex with base narrowed, wider towards apex (posterior region just before the apex the widest); humerus obliterate, striations flattened; entirely black without any spots.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Assam: Sibsagar (Andrewes 1930) ; Arunachal Pradesh and Assam: Dafla Hills (Andrewes 1930); Meghalaya: Garo Hills, Chandkira (Andrewes 1930) ; Manipur (Heller 1903).

Remarks. Pheropsophus prophylax is quite similar to P. aptinoides from which it differs by black head; long, narrow pronotum. It is endemic to the Indo-Burma hotspot of biodiversity.