Austrelatus kaszabi (Guignot, 1956) Shaverdo & Hájek & Hendrich & Surbakti & Panjaitan & Balke, 2023

Shaverdo, Helena, Hajek, Jiri, Hendrich, Lars, Surbakti, Suriani, Panjaitan, Rawati & Balke, Michael, 2023, Austrelatus gen. nov., a new genus of Australasian diving beetles (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Copelatinae), with the discovery of 31 new species from New Guinea, ZooKeys 1170, pp. 1-164 : 1

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1170.103834
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:17F0C88A-2F0B-414A-AA7C-8B0AB89B6E6E
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/87ACB6E8-87E8-53FF-AD24-FE5989192D1D
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Austrelatus kaszabi (Guignot, 1956)
status	comb. nov.

Treatment

11. Austrelatus kaszabi (Guignot, 1956) comb. nov.

Figs 12 View Figure 12 , 59 View Figures 58–61 , 63 View Figure 63 , 83 View Figure 83 , 87 View Figures 87, 88 , 90 View Figures 89, 90

Copelatus kaszabi Guignot 1956: 52 (orig. descr.); Guignot (1956: 53); Guéorguiev (1968: 9); Guéorguiev & Rocchi (1993: 159); Nilsson & Hájek (2023: 64).

Type locality.

Papua New Guinea: Madang Province, Stephansort, 05°26'38.4"S, 145°44'47.8"E. In Guignot (1956: 53), as Stephansort, Astrolabe Bay.

Type material.

Holotype: male "N. Guinea Biró 97.", "Stephansort Astrolabe Bai // 18.V. [hw on reverse side]", "Holotypus 1956 Copelatus Kaszabi Guignot" [red border label, partly hw by Guignot], “Type” [on reverse side], "Dr F. Guignot., 1955 Copelatus Kaszabi n.sp. Holotype ♂" [partly hw by Guignot] (HNHM).

Paratypes: 3 males, 1 female "N. Guinea Biró 1898", "Simbang Huon Golf// IX.17. [hw on reverse side]", one male and female additionaly with "Paratypus 1956 Copelatus Kaszabi Guignot" [red border label, partly hw by Guignot], 2 males additionaly with "Paratypus 1957 Copelatus Kaszabi Guignot" [red border label, partly hw by Guignot] (HNHM). 1 male "N. Guinea Biró 97.", "Stephansort Astrolabe Bai", "Paratypus 1957 Copelatus Kaszabi Guignot" [red border label, partly hw by Guignot], "Staatl. Museum für Tierkunde Dresden" (MTD).

Additional material.

See Appendix 1.

Description.

Body size and form: Beetle small to medium-sized, with oval to oblong-oval habitus (Fig. 59 View Figures 58–61 ).

Measurements: TL 5-6.45 mm, TL-H 4.5-5.8 mm, MW 2.6-3.15 mm, TL/MW 1.92-2.05; PL 0.75-0.9 mm, PW 2.2-2.7 mm, PL/PW 0.33-0.34; DBE 0.9-1.05 mm, DBE/PW 0.38-0.41.

Holotype: TL 5.4 mm, TL-H 4.9 mm, MW 2.8 mm, TL/MW 1.93; PL 0.8 mm, PW 2.35 mm, PL/PW 0.34; DBE 0.9 mm, DBE/PW 0.38.

Colouration: Dorsally piceous, with yellowish red head, pronotal sides, and on elytron with a basal band and apical spot, often connected with narrow lateral band (Fig. 59 View Figures 58–61 ).

Head yellow to reddish brown, piceous narrowly behind eyes. Pronotum dark brown to piceous on disc and paler towards sides, yellow to reddish brown on them, especially towards anterior angles. Elytron piceous, with a distinct yellow to reddish brown basal band (often notched on posterior margin, not reaching suture and lateral margin) due to confluence of three spots on elytral base: one between striae 1 and 2 or 3 sometimes reduced, rarely completely absent; two other spots always well-developed, large and confluent; elytron with a distinct, elongate, small to very large apical spot; usually a narrow lateral band present, confluent with apical spot; sometimes apical spot strongly developed occupying whole apex and protruding as narrow band between striae 4 and 5; rarely strongly reduced together with lateral band. Scutellum yellow to brown. Antennae, other head appendages, and pro- and mesolegs proximally yellow, distally yellowish red; metalegs yellowish red, darker distally. Venter with yellowish red prosternum, dark brown meso- and metaventrites and metacoxae, and reddish brown abdominal ventrites; abdominal ventrites 5 and 6 sometimes with a yellowish red lateral spot on each side. Teneral beetles paler. The holotype is a teneral specimen.

Surface sculpture: Elytron with 11 distinct, complete dorsal striae; submarginal stria present: 11+1 (Fig. 59 View Figures 58–61 ).

Head without strioles, with rather dense punctation (spaces between punctures 1-3 × size of punctures); punctures relatively fine (diameter of punctures equal to diameter of microreticulation cells); head with a row of coarse setigerous punctures along inner margin of each eye and a short row at frontal angle of each eye; a slightly longer puncture row forms fronto-clypeal depression at each head side; microreticulation weak. Pronotum with several weak strioles on sides or with numerous distinct strioles; with numerous, fine longitudinal wrinkles at posterior margin; pronotal punctation finer and denser than on head; setigerous punctures form a row along pronotal margins, absent in posterior middle; disc of pronotum with indistinct longitudinal median scratch. Pronotum with fine microreticulation. Elytron with 11 distinct dorsal striae; stria 1 usually and stria 10 sometimes shortly reduced basally; striae 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 reduced apically; seldom striae 1, 3, 6, and 7 interrupted, especially basally; submarginal striae present, weakly developed, sometimes interrupted, often only apically present. Elytron with fine punctation and microreticulation. Ventral part with fine, inconspicuous punctation, invisible on metaventrite and metacoxae and weak on abdominal ventrites; prosternum smooth medially; metaventrite and metacoxae with weak microreticulation; on abdominal ventrites microreticulation almost invisible; metacoxal plates with numerous, distinctly impressed longitudinal strioles, abdominal ventrites 1 and 2 with numerous, long, longitudinal strioles from margin to margin, on abdominal ventrites 3 and 4 strioles situated laterally and turn to middle, almost horizontal, abdominal ventrites 5 and 6 without strioles but with fine punctation that very sparse medially and forms a dense, rugose lateral area at each side.

Structures: Head relatively broad. Pronotum short and broad; lateral margins distinctly convergent anteriorly. Base of prosternum broadly rounded anteriorly, convex medially; blade of prosternal process long, narrow, convex in middle.

Male: Protibia straight, not modified. Proclaws rather short, subequal in length. Median lobe of aedeagus with two lobes of dorsal sclerite rather narrow; left dorsal lobe distinctly shorter that right one, with long lateral crest; apex of left dorsal lobe curved downwards and not to left; its dorsal surface without denticulation, invisible in left lateral view due to strong curvature downwards; right dorsal lobe with distinct, but shallow, elongate median impression; apex of right dorsal lobe pea-like “swollen”, rounded; lobes of ventral sclerite weakly sclerotised, with large membranous areas medially; sclerotised area of left ventral lobe shorter than left dorsal lobe, with slightly curved to left apex, hidden under the membranous parts of the left and right ventral lobes; therefore, only slightly visible in lateral left view and invisible in ventral view; right ventral lobe membranous, with small sclerotised area, protruding. Paramere with setae not clearly divided into distal and proximal; more distally situated setae slightly denser and longer than more proximal ones, sometimes with several the most proximal setae standing separately (Figs 12 View Figure 12 , 63 View Figure 63 ).

Female: Dimorphic. Matt form with strioles rare; ratio shiny to with strioles is 5:1 in the locality 33/2013.

Variability.

There is a variation in the body size, colouration and insignificantly in dorsal striolation. The median lobes sclerites can vary in length and shape. The specimens with more strongly developed yellow apical spot on elytron are characteristic for New Britain populations and seldom in Madang and Sandaun. In New Britain specimens, sclerotised area of the left ventral lobe seems to be shorter, with its apex more strongly curved.

Affinities.

In elytral striolation and dorsal colouration, the species is similar to A. vague sp. nov. and especially to A. garainensis sp. nov. The species can be distinguished from them by its smaller size, more intensive yellow colouration of the elytron, and sometimes more oval habitus, as well as by shape of its median lobe sclerites, especially by the sclerotised area of the left ventral lobe hidden under the membranous parts of the left and right ventral lobes, not well visible in lateral left view and invisible in ventral view, with its apex curved to left like a slight hook.

Distribution.

New Guinean endemic. Literature records: in Guignot (1956: 53), Stephansort, Asrolabe Bay (Madang), paratypes are also from Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen (Madang) and Simbang, Huon Golg (Morobe); repeated by Guéorguiev (1968: 9) and Guéorguiev and Rocchi (1993: 159). Our records show that the species is more widely distributed in NG: It is known from IN: Nabire, Sarmi, and Puncak regencies, and is more numerous in PNG: Sandaun, East Sepik, Madang, and East New Britain provinces (Fig. 83 View Figure 83 ).

Habitat.

At the locality PAP028, the species was collected in a large forest stream (Fig. 90 View Figures 89, 90 ); at the Nabire-Ilaga track, in a small forest pool (Fig. 87 View Figures 87, 88 ).