Coptodera (Coptoderina) eluta Andrewes

Hunting, Wesley & Yang, Man-Miao, 2019, A taxonomic review of the pericaline ground-beetles in Taiwan, with descriptions of new species (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini), ZooKeys 816, pp. 1-164 : 58-60

Coptodera (Coptoderina) eluta Andrewes Figs 39, 40 A–C, 57b, 59

Coptodera eluta Andrewes, 1923: 30 (without type designation); Andrewes 1930: 336; Csiki 1932: 1370; Louwerens 1956: 225; Jedlička 1963: 341; Habu 1967: 93; Lorenz 2005: 457; Park et al. 2011: 103.

Coptodera interrupta Schmidt-Goebel, 1846: 53; Chaudoir 1869: 194; Bates 1886: 203; Bates 1892: 411.

Coptodera elegantula Schmidt- Goebel, 1846: 54; Bates 1889: 111; Bates 1892: 411.

Coptoderina eluta reductemaculata Nakane & Ohkura, 1956: 46; Habu 1959: 259; 1961: 45; Jedlička 1963: 350; Shibata 1964: 40.

Coptodera madara Habu, 1957: 114; Jedlička 1963: 350.

Types and other material examined.

Holotype (male) labeled: "Tenasserim/Vall Houmdanau/Fea. Maggio 1887" [black border]; H. E. Andrewes Coll./B.M.1945-97."; “TYPE” [rectangular, red paper]; " Coptodera / eluta /Type Andr./H. E. Andrewes det.". Cotype (female) and three other specimens of C. eluta (one male and two females); for further details see EH Strickland Virtual Entomology Museum Database.

Type locality.

(Myanmar) Burma.

Taxonomic note.

Jedlička (1963) suggested that there was a unique form of C. eluta from Taiwan that he called ab. unicolor. His justification was that specimens he observed had elytra with no maculae visible basally and only small maculae apically. This pattern of coloration falls within the normal variability of coloration in C. eluta and because of this his delineation has no taxonomic value.

Diagnosis.

This species is easily distinguished from other Taiwanese Coptodera by a combination of small size, spined elytral apex, and elytra with two setae in basal 1/3 of stria 3.

Description.

OBL 6.08 - 6.66 mm. Length (n = two males, three females): head 0.72 - 0.76, pronotum 1.00 - 1.04, elytra 3.92 - 4.00, metepisternum 0.88 - 0.92 mm; width: head 1.44 - 1.52, pronotum 1.80 - 1.92, elytra 2.67 - 3.17, metepisternum 0.52 - 0.60 mm.

Body proportions. HW/HL 1.89 - 2.11; PWM/PL 1.80 - 1.88; EL/EW 1.26 - 1.47; ML/MW 1.53 - 1.77.

Color. Fig. 39. Various. Dorsum of head and clypeus rufo-brunneous to piceous, labrum, antennae, and palpi rufo-brunneous; disc of pronotum rufo-brunneous to brunneous, lateral margins somewhat translucent, rufo-brunneous to testaceous; elytral disc brunneous to brunneo-piceous, with six testaceous to rufo-testaceous maculae, two anterior, two meso-posterior and two posterior, anterior macula variable, just above the second fixed seta of stria 3 and centered in interval 4, this can range from a hardly visible light spot, to a stretched ovoid shape in interval 4 only, to a larger ovoid shape extending into interval 3 and 5, meso-posterior macula variable, +/- half-crescent shape with crescent open towards apex of elytra, extended from stria 3-7, widest in interval 4 and 5, posterior macula variable, a small patch extended across intervals 2 and 3 but uneven, portion of macula on interval 2, shorter then portion on interval 3; margins of elytra somewhat translucent, rufo-brunneous to testaceous; ventral surface brunneous to brunneo-piceous with exception of proepipleuron and elytral epipleuron which are brunneous to testaceous; legs with trochanter and femora brunneous to rufo-brunneous, tibia rufo-brunneous to rufo-piceous.

Microsculpture. Dorsum of head with microsculpture somewhat granulate, easily visible at 50 × magnification, slightly transverse to almost isodiametric; pronotum somewhat granulate, transverse mesh pattern easily visible at 50 ×; elytra with transverse sculpticells, mesh almost touching center of striae, throughout length; ventral surface of head with microsculpture transverse, faintly visible at 50 ×; prosternum, proepipleuron, mesepisternum and metepisternum with sculpticells forming a shallow transverse mesh.

Macrosculpture and pilosity. Dorsum of head finely rugulose medially, with finely scattered setigerous punctures, visible only in side view at 50 ×, 2-3 furrows along contour of eye; pronotum with finely scattered setigerous punctures, visible in side view at 50 ×, outside margin of disc to lateral margin shallowly rugulose; elytra with intervals broadly rounded, single row of fine setigerous punctures in the center of each interval, striae narrow, single row of setigerous punctures in each stria, hardly visible at 50 ×.

Fixed setae. Elytra with two setae in basal 1/3 of stria 3, two setae in apical 1/3 of stria 2.

Luster. Head capsule and pronotum moderately dull; elytra moderately glossy; ventral thoracic sterna and abdominal sterna moderately glossy.

Head. Mandibles curved at apex, relatively short and narrow in form, mostly covered by labrum; labrum bilobed, emargination triangular in form, somewhat elongate and rounded towards apex.

Pronotum. Disc with one round shallow depression on either side; anterior transverse impression shallow; posterior transverse impression deep, median longitudinal impression moderately deep; lateral margins explanate, apico-lateral margins broadly rounded and curled up at margin, posterio-lateral margins slightly sinuate, obtuse.

Elytra. Apex with small spine.

Legs. A few small squamo-setae on tarsomere 2 of mid-leg, males with one notch apically on ventral side of mid-tibia.

Male genitalia. Fig. 40 A–C. Length 1.16 mm. Ostium left pleuropic. Phallus cylindrical, distinctively wide medially, apical area with short, bluntly rounded apex, curved to the right when viewed from ventral aspect; endophallus only viewed through phallus, one basal endophallic spine apparent (es), other sclerotized areas may also be present but have not been confirmed. Habu (1961) suggested that the endophallus contained "two small copulatory pieces".

Female genitalia. Fig. 57B. Width 1.00 - 1.04 mm. One spermatheca (sp1), cylindrical, ribbed laterally along length; one spermathecal accessory gland (sg), large and somewhat cylindrical, from apex of duct appears as two chambers, a small chamber followed by a constriction approximately the width of the gland duct, to a larger apical chamber; spermathecal gland duct (sgd) more than twice as long as length of spermatheca, attachment site medially on large diverticulum (div) of spermatheca; bursa copulatrix (bc) with distinctive sac at apical end, large and somewhat cylindrical, coming to a point at the apex (bs).

Habitat, habits, and seasonal occurrence.

The known elevational range of C. eluta is from 100 to 220 meters. Adults of this species are found in mixed forest of montane areas. Little is known of the habits of this species. Specimens have been collected from June and September in Taiwan and methods of collecting include "at light" and hand collecting.

Geographical distribution.

Coptodera eluta has a wide, Asian distribution. It is known from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Indo-China, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Ceylon, India, and Taiwan. For Taiwan collecting localities see Figure 59.