Australopachylopus, Lackner, Tomas & Leschen, Richard A. B., 2017

Lackner, Tomas & Leschen, Richard A. B., 2017, A monograph of the Australopacific Saprininae (Coleoptera, Histeridae), ZooKeys 689, pp. 1-263 : 3

Australopachylopus gen. n. Figs 1, 2-9, 10-13, 14-16, 17-25, 752

Type species.

Saprinus lepidulus Broun, 1881: 665.

Diagnosis.

Cuticle dark brown to black with faint metallic luster; pronotum almost glabrous, only with faint scattered lateral punctation; elytra punctate and striate; frontal stria weakened, occasionally absent; pronotal hypomeron, prosternum, disc of mesoventrite, lateral disc of metaventrite, metepisternum + fused metepimeron and lateral sides of all abdominal ventrites setose; pronotal depressions present; prosternal foveae absent; prosternal apophysis strongly constricted between procoxae, prosternal process thence strongly expanded; carinal prosternal striae present as vague rudiments on prosternal apophysis; lateral prosternal striae absent; meso- and metafemora thickened, with rows of setigerous punctures. Eighth sternite of the male genitalia fused medially, apices with a row of sparse setae. Eighth tergite densely covered in pores and pseudopores. Spiculum gastrale dilated on both ends. Aedeagus narrow, parameres fused on their basal two-thirds. The densely setose venter in combination with coarsely punctate elytra will readily distinguish this New Zealand endemic from all other Saprininae present in the country.

Biology.

A psammophilous taxon, found usually in carcasses or under coastal wrack. Several specimens were collected from pitfall traps.

Distribution.

Australopachylopus is endemic to New Zealand and is found on both North and South Islands, but has not been recorded from the Chatham Islands so far (Fig. 752).

Etymology.

Generic epithet of this new genus has been created combining the Latin word for south ‘austral’ and generic name Pachylopus .

Remarks.

Six species are included in the genus Neopachylopus Reichardt, 1926 ( Mazur 2011: 211). In the published phylogenetic analysis of Saprininae by the first author ( Lackner 2014d) Neopachylopus lepidulus falls separately from the other two members of the genus ( N. sulcifrons (Mannerheim, 1843) and N. kochi Thérond, 1963)) which were likewise included in the analysis in order to test the monophyly of the genus. All three taxa ( N. lepidulus , N. sulcifrons and N. kochi ) were recovered inside a large polytomy of global, mostly psammophilous species united by one ‘strong’ and three ‘weak’ synapomorphies. N. lepidulus , in fact, comes out as sister to the clade uniting another New Zealand endemic Reichardtia Wenzel and Reichardtiolus pavlovskii Kryzhanovskij, 1959; although this purported monophyletic group is not strongly supported (see more in the discussion of Reichardtia ). It is interesting to note, however, that the male genitalia of both Reichardtia and Australopachylopus share several similarities, e.g. overall gestalt of the eighth sternite and tergite (including the numerous pores and pseudopores; compare Figs 17-19 and 256-258), a tuft of short setae situated on the apices of eighth sternite, and, very similarly shaped aedeagus (observed from the lateral view; compare Figs 25 and 262). The on-going molecular studies by the senior author will hopefully shed more light on the relationships between New Zealand Saprininae , since all higher taxa have been included. We place N. lepidulus into a new genus based on the setose underside and prosternal apophysis strongly constricted between procoxae, strongly expanded prosternal process; carinal prosternal striae present as vague rudiments on prosternal apophysis; and absent lateral prosternal striae. All of these characters are different from the type species of Neopachylopus ( N. sulcifrons ).