Caledonica affinis ( Montrouzier, 1860 )

Kudrna, Arnošt, 2016, Revision of the genusCaledonica (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (2), pp. 567-628 : 603-606

Caledonica affinis ( Montrouzier, 1860)

( Figs 51–55 )

Oxycheila affinis Montrouzier, 1860: 234 (original description).

Distipsidera affinis: FAUVEL (1862) : 130 (redescription); LUCAS (1862): 27 (noted); LUCAS (1863): 112 (noted).

Caledonica affinis: CHAUDOIR (1865) : 15 (catalogue); GEMMINGER & HAROLD (1868): 32 (catalogue); FAUVEL (1882): 223 (key), 226 (redescription); FLEUTIAUX (1892): 31 (catalogue); FAUVEL (1903):213 (key), 214 (noted); HEYNE & TASCHENBERG (1908): 8 (noted); HORN (1910): 181 (catalogue); FLEUTIAUX (1911): 162 (catalogue); HORN (1926): 105 (catalogue); HORN (1936): 6 (catalogue); DEUVE (1981): 182 (key), 184 (redescription); WIESNER (1992): 76 (catalogue); DEUVE (2015): 83 (noted).

Caledonica fasciata Chaudoir, 1860: 313 (original description). CHAUDOIR (1865): 15 (synonymy).

Distipsidera fasciata: LUCAS (1863) : 112 (noted).

Caledonica affinis var. lerati Fleutiaux, 1911: 162 (original description), syn. nov.

Caledonica affinis ssp. lerati: HORN (1926) : 105 (catalogue); HORN (1936): 6 (catalogue).

Caledonica affinis var. lerati: DEUVE (1981) : 185 (noted).

Type localities. Oxycheila affinis : ‘Nouvelle-Calédonie’; Caledonica fasciata : ‘Nouvelle-Calédonie’; Caledonica affinis lerati : ‘Hienghéne’.

Type material examined. Oxycheila affinis : LECTOTYPE (designated by DEUVE 1981): ♀, ‘Muséum Paris, NelleCalédonie, Mestro 53.56’ [printed/handwritten]; ‘Lectotype’ [red, printed] ( MNHN).

Caledonica affinis var. lerati : SYNTYPE: 1 spec., studied but label data not recorded ( MNHN).

Additional material examined (56 specimens). NEW CALEDONIA: NelleCalédonie , 2 JJ ( MNHN). PROVINCE NORD: 10 km SE Koumac, 20°37′S, 164°20′E, 1.–7.i.2012, 0–50 m, 8 JJ, 3 ♀♀, A. Kudrna jr. lgt. ( AKCB) ; 3 km SW of Ouegoa , 20°20′S, 164°23′E, 30.–31.i.2012, 20 m, 26 JJ, 12 ♀♀, A. Kudrna jr. lgt. ( AKCB). PROVINCE SUD: near Bouirou, cca 20 km N of Bourail, 27.xii.2004 – 2.i.2005, 2 ♀♀, A. Kudrna jr. lgt. ( AKCB) ; village Bouirou , cca 20 km N of Bourail, 9.–10.xii. 2008, 500 m, 3 ♀♀, A. Kudrna jr. lgt. ( AKCB) .

Redescription. Body medium-sized (more robust in female), male ( Fig. 51 ) length 11.30– 13.80 mm, width 3.40–4.20 mm; female ( Fig. 53 ) length 13.70–14.90 (lectotype: 15.00) mm, width 4.20–5.05 (lectotype: 5.05) mm.

Head with large eyes, slightly narrower than elytra, dorsally dark bronze, black or olivaceous-green (frons in males occasionally cupreous) with metallic reflections, clypeus and supraantennal plates in male and occasionally indistinctly also in female shiny blue or green; frons convex, separated from clypeus by distinct suture, surface irregularly rugulose, rugae often shallow and sometimes more regularly arcuately radiate; vertex convex, with posterior impression, shallowly to deeply longitudinally or irregularly rugulose, rarely nearly smooth with only few rugae; orbital plates distinctly longitudinally parallel-striate with two setae on each side; occipital area irregularly wavy to vermicular-rugulose; genae glabrous, finely parallel-striate, in male metallic green, in female predominantly metallic cupreous; clypeus dark coriaceous, in male shiny green to blue, in female mostly shiny dark cupreous.

Labrum with two setae (rarely with additional seta on anterior area), in both sexes with acute anterolateral teeth; male labrum ( Fig. 52 ) shorter than wide, length 1.10–1.45 mm, width 1.45–1.75 mm, median lobe short or rather prominent, truncate, anterior teeth absent or reduced, testaceous, usually with brown to black margins of anterolateral teeth and rarely with darkened lateral margins; female labrum ( Fig. 54 ) longer, only slightly shorter than wide, length 1.65–2.00 mm, width 1.75–2.05 mm, testaceous, often with very distinctly darkened lateral margins, with prominently tridentate median lobe of acute teeth which are bent downwards, thus their acute shape is not obvious in dorsal view.

Mandibles nearly symmetrical, brownish-testaceous to black with paler basolateral portion; each mandible with three teeth and basal molar; the third tooth in right mandible only slightly smaller than in left; teeth margins often black.

Labial and maxillary palpi in male testaceous with darkened apices of terminal palpomeres; palpi in female testaceous except for partly or entirely black terminal palpomeres and often darkened penultimate palpomeres of maxillary palpi.

Antennae longer in male, reaching or exceeding half of elytral length in male, one third in female; scape in both sexes testaceous, in male with darkened apex, in female darkened area more extended; pedicel and antennomeres III–IV usually partly brown to black, V–XI testaceous, progressively darkened, last two or three antennomeres black.

Thorax.All thoracic portions glabrous. Pronotum in male 1.95–2.25 mm long, 2.60–3.25 mm wide (on the average 1.41 times wider than long); in female 2.10–2.45 mm long, 3.15–3.55 mm wide (on the average 1.46 times wider than long), anterior and posterior sulci well-pronounced, anterior lobe only slightly wider than posterior; disc with convex lateral margins and elevated notopleural sutures which are obvious in dorsal view in form of flat lateral ribs that are indistinct or distinct in form of narrow band running parallel with major parts of lateral margins; coloration dark bronze, cupreous or black with metallic lustre, lateral margins, anterior and posterior sulci often with shiny green reflections, surface of pronotum mostly irregularly wavy to vermicular-rugulose except for usually more regularly transverse rugae along indistinct median line, rugae variable in shape and depth; lateral sterna in male metallic green or blue-green usually with shiny red or cupreous central areas; in female dark cupreous to black with metallic reflections, surface nearly smooth or shallowly irregularly vermicular-rugulose, rugae more distinct and deeper on male mesepisterna and metepisterna; female mesepisternal coupling sulci placed in dorsal mesepisternal half in form of a pit of variable diameter and depth, sometimes rather indistinct; metepisterna with impression at posterior suture; prosternum, mesosternum and metasternum in male metallic green to blue-green, occasionally with red areas, in female metallic dark green or dark blue, changing to ochreous or alternatively black on lateral areas; metasternum with deep fovea-like impression placed at dorsolateral corner.

Elytra elongate and narrow, length 7.30–9.50 mm in male, 9.10–10.50 mm in female, lateral margins subparallel, anteapical angles rounded, obliquely constricted towards narrow rounded apices that are only slightly emarginate towards short sutural spines; juxtahumeral impressions and basodiscal convexity moderate, apical impressions distinct or indistinct; each elytron between basodiscal convexity and apical impression with two longitudinal (discal and sublateral) costae that are in their basal or central area rarely mutually connected with additional, short, transverse costa; interspace between costae and suture impressed; whole elytral surface densely punctate, punctures in anterior part often deep and large (juxtahumeral impression with several punctures), punctures on impressed flat interspaces between costae and suture mostly shallow; sparse setigerous punctures with rather long white hairlike setae are distributed on anterior area; elytral coloration dark bronze, cupreous or black with metallic lustre; interspaces between costae and along the suture iridescent silvery-bronze to cupreous, changing to dull depending on angle of illumination; elytral maculation in both sexes ivory, consisting of three maculae: humeral macula which is mostly of a square-like shape, median macula which is transverse-oblong, either overlapping or more rarely only reaching discal costa, and anteapical macula of irregular, mostly reniform shape.

Abdomen. Ventrites glabrous, in male metallic green to blue-green, rarely with limited orange areas, in female darker, dark metallic green to blue with copper or blackish areas.

Legs. Coxae and trochanters testaceous; femora testaceous, usually with somewhat darkened apices (more distinctly on meso- and metafemora), in female often with dark areas more expanded, ocassionally covering most of the femoral surface; tibiae generally darker in female, testaceous with darkened apices (particularly on metatibiae); tarsi in female and protarsi in male dark testaceous with black apices to entirely black, meso- and metatarsi in male testaceous with darkened apices (terminal or also penultimate tarsomeres very rarely entirely black); claws testaceous.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 55 ) notably elongate and moderately curved in middle, 4.75–5.00 mm long, 0.60–0.65 mm wide; apical part directed ventrally, then conically attenuated into narrow and short apex.

Differential diagnosis. Superficially resembling C. mediolineata . Distinguished by elytra with shorter median band and much larger anteapical macula, narrower body (3.40–5.05 mm in C. affinis , 4.00– 5.50 mm in C. mediolineata ), labrum with only two setae, and differently shaped aedeagus ( Fig. 55 ).

Biology and distribution. Caledonica affinis is a rare species. Southeast of Koumac adults were found on tree trunks of Casuarina sp. along a dusty road in predominantly grassy area, just next to a sandy ocean beach.

In the locality near Bouirou a few female adults were taken from wide and partly burnt solitary trunks of Niaouli trees ( Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) S. T. Blake ; Myrtaceae ). These trees were mixed with sparsely planted Pinus caribaea Morelet in grassy clearings surrounded by primary forest. This population represents a very dark form with black elytra.

In January 2012 in the vicinity of Ouegoa, adults were active in masses together with adults of C. bavayi in forest close to a small river. The forest was more open and with only limited lower vegetation or shrub layer due to the frequent presence of a large herd of cattle. Remarks. FLEUTIAUX (1911) proposed the variety lerati of Caledonica affinis from Hienghéne and provided only very short description: ‘Robust, close to C. mediolineata in form. [translated from French]’. Subsequent authors considered the taxon a subspecies of C. affinis ( HORN 1936) or its synonym ( DEUVE 1981, WIESNER 1992) but without providing any additional comments. Therefore the taxon was never clearly commented on and synonymized. In order to clarify the situation I hereby synonymize the variety lerati with the nominotypical C. affinis as the only known specimen (deposited in MNHN) is similar to the typical C. affinis .

Figures

Figs 46–55. 46–50 – Caledonica mediolineata (Lucas, 1862): 46 – habitus, J, neotype, Port Boisé, 13.1 mm (MNHN); 47 – frontal view, ibid.; 48 – habitus, ♀, Nyamié creek, 13.8 mm (AKCB); 49 – frontal view, ibid.; 50 – aedeagus, Nouméa (MNHN). 51–55 – C. affinis (Montrouzier, 1860): 51 – habitus,J, SE Koumac, 14 mm (AKCB); 52 – frontal view, ibid.; 53 – habitus, ♀, SW Ouegoa, 15 mm (AKCB); 54 – frontal view, ibid.; 55 – aedeagus, SE Koumac (AKCB). Scale bars = 1 mm.