Austrocyphon bidens, Zwick, Peter, 2013

Zwick, Peter, 2013, Australian Marsh Beetles (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) 4. Two new genera, Austrocyphon and Tasmanocyphon, Zootaxa 3706 (1), pp. 1-74 : 18

Austrocyphon bidens , sp. n.

( Figs. 28–31 )

Type material. TAS: Holotype: ♂, 41.50S 148.03E TAS Pelion Hut 3 km S Mt.Oakleigh, 860m, 30.Nov.1990 – 8.Jan.1991, Malaise 2, closed forest ( ANIC). Paratypes: 1♂, Henty R. Tasmania J.Armstrong ( ANIC); 1♂, L. Margaret Tasmania J.Armstrong (AMS K249517); 2 ♂, TAS Raglan Creek 20 km E Gormaston 29/11/00, C.H.S.Watts; 1 presumed ♀ with same data, no type status ( SAMA).

Additional material studied. TAS: From series of specimens originally mounted in groups on cards and labelled as syntypes of an intended new species by J. Armstrong: Tasmania Lake Margaret J.Armstrong: 5♂ (MV), 25♂, 21 probable ♀ ( ANIC). 5♂, Tasmania Henty River, J.Armstrong ( ANIC). Arthur Plains SW Tas, 6.3.65, 3♂; 8.2.65, 8 specimens including males (MV).

Habitus. BL 1.9–2.2 mm, BL/BW about 1.9. Dark brown, no elytral pattern.

Male. T9 with strong apodemes and sharply curved caudal claws. Plate bare, about twice as long as wide at base, apex truncate. S9 exceptional, caudally ending in long acute sclerotized tips, plate with a few inconspicuous setae and anteriorly a pale middle strip.

Penis not flanged, waisted. Transverse bridge near middle, trigonium about 1/3 total width, apex finely spinulose, centema simple. Membranous foramen barely larger than the trigonium it surrounds.

Tegmen a slender U-shaped structure with thin, sharply pointed parameres.

Female (presumed). Ovipositor not distinctive. During dissection an elongate oval object was found inside the genital duct of some specimens, perhaps a spermatophore. It has one short tubular end, the other end is flat, with longitudinal folds. See also account of A. doctus .

Etymology. The sharply bidentate sternite 9 resembles the characteristic seeds of genus Bidens (Latin, with two teeth; Asteraceae ). A noun in apposition.

Notes. Endemic to Tasmania. Males are immediately recognized by the two sharp points of S9 which often project from the abdominal tip, for example in most males glued in groups on cards by J. Armstrong. These were identified without further dissection.

Figures

FIGURES 24 – 31. Austrocyphon bifidus sp. n. (24 – 27, male) and A. bidens sp. n. (28 – 30, male; 31, female). 24, T 9; 25, S 9; 26, penis; 27, tegmen and parameres. 28, S 8, T 8 and T 9 (from bottom to top); 29, S 9; 30, penis and tegmen with parameres. 31, structure recovered from inside oviduct. All to the same scale.