Cerabilia (Cerabilia) laevis Larochelle and Larivière, 2024

Larochelle, Andre & Larivière, Marie-Claude, 2024, Synopsis of the genus Cerabilia Laporte de Castelnau in New Zealand (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Abacetini), Insecta Mundi 2024 (36), pp. 1-31 : 14

Cerabilia (Cerabilia) laevis Larochelle and Larivière , new species

Fig. 15, 21 , 36 , 45

Cerabilia (Cerabilia) laevis Larochelle and Larivière , new species. Holotype: male (NZAC) labeled “[ NEW ZEALAND MB] Mt [= Mount] Altimarlock Black Birch Ra [= Range ] Marlborough 1070m (hand-written) / J.C. Watt (typed) 21 Oct 70 (hand-written) / HOLOTYPE [male symbol] Cerabilia (Cerabilia) laevis Larochelle & Larivière, 2024 (red label; typed).” Paratype: one female (NZAC) from the same locality as the holotype, bearing a blue paratype label.

Description. Body length 6.4–7.5 mm; slender. Head, pronotum, elytra, and abdomen rufopiceous; antennae and palpi rufotestaceous; femora and tibiae rufopiceous; tarsi rufotestaceous. Microsculpture isodiametric and strong on head, pronotum, and elytra. Iridescence absent. Dull on head, pronotum, and elytra. Head. Eyes moderately large, moderately convex. Tempora not inflated. Frons wrinkled (with oblique strioles). Mentum with median tooth subtruncate apically. Palpi with terminal segment obtuse apically. Thorax. Pronotum slightly convex, unwrinkled, trapezoid, moderately wide compared to elytra, widest before middle; apex moderately emarginate; anterolateral angles well developed, obtuse; sides moderately rounded anteriorly, not sinuate or very slightly sinuate posteriorly; lateral beads narrow throughout; two setiferous punctures on each side (anteriorly and posteriorly), each anterior setiferous puncture close to lateral bead, distant by about one puncture width; median line incomplete apically and basally; posterolateral angles strongly obtuse; laterobasal foveae single, shallow, parallel; posterior bead incomplete, obsolete medially; base moderately emarginate, much narrower than apex. Tip of scutellum slightly projected behind elytral base. Prosternum wrinkled throughout, except anteriorly. Elytra. Oblong, widest about middle, slightly convex. Basal margin strongly arcuate, complete, reaching scutellum. Shoulder tooth well developed, obtuse. Sides slightly rounded. Scutellar setiferous pore absent. Striae shallow, deepening apically, incomplete basally (at least four striae obsolete). Intervals depressed, becoming convex apically; interval 3 without setiferous puncture. Umbilicate series with 12–14 setiferous punctures separated into two major groups (6(7)+6), with or without 1 seta in between. Subapical sinuations feeble. Apices obtusely rounded. Abdomen. Sternum VII of male with dense coarse punctures medially. Aedeagus. Lateral view ( Fig. 15 ): moderately arcuate, slender; base slightly convex dorsally, with basal lobe; middle slightly convex dorsally and ventrally; apex slightly concave dorsally and ventrally, with extreme tip narrow, very long, not curved downward. Dorsal view ( Fig. 21 ): apex narrow, rounded, not deflected to the left.

Material examined. 4 specimens ( NZAC).

Geographic distribution ( Fig. 45 ). South Island: MB–Mount Altimarlock, Black Birch Range. Wards Pass (vicinity), Molesworth.

Ecology. Montane. Epigean, silvicolous, xerophilous. Dry forests (beech). Shaded ground. Nocturnal; hides during the day under stones and in leaf litter.

Biology. Seasonality: October. Tenerals: March. Predacious (based on mouthpart morphology).

Dispersal power. Subapterous. Moderate runner.

Collecting techniques. Turning stones; sifting leaf litter.

Remarks. The name of this species is derived from the Latin adjective laevis (smooth), referring to the smooth (unwrinkled) surface of the pronotum. Cerabilia laevis is morphologically close to C. rugosa . In addition to diagnostic characters of the male genitalia, C. laevis has the following distinguishing features: slender; body length 6.4–7.5 mm; head, pronotum, and elytra rufopiceous; pronotum trapezoid, slightly convex, unwrinkled, moderately wide compared to elytra, with base much narrower than apex; elytra slightly convex; tip of scutellum slightly projected behind elytral base. Cerabilia laevis is known only from the Marlborough region (MB) of the South Island, while C. rugosa occurs in southern areas of the North Island (WA, WN) and northeastern areas of the South Island (MB, NC).

Figures

Figures 14–27.Aedeagus, lateral. 14) Cerabilia rugosa new species. 15) C. laevis new species. 16) C. rufipes. 17) C. aphela. 18) C. striatula. 19) C. oblonga. Aedeagus, dorsal view of apex.20) C.kaihoka new species.21) C. laevisnew species. 22) C. takaka new species. 23) C. rufipes. 24) C. aphela. 25) C. willi new species. 26) C. maori. 27) C. cordata new species.

Figures 36–39. Dorsal habitus. 36) Cerabilia laevis new species (abdomen missing). 37) C. aphela (teneral). 38) C. rufipes (teneral). 39) C. striatula. Scale line = 1 mm.

Figures 42–47. Species distribution maps. 42) Cerabilia aphela. 43) C. cordata new species. 44) C. kaihoka new species. 45) C. laevis new species. 46) C. major. 47) C. maori.