Aulacopodus Britton, 1940

Kipling, Will, 2020, Phylogeny and classification of the genus-group taxa of Loxandrina (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Abacetini), Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 67 (2), pp. 151-182 : 151

Genus Aulacopodus Britton, 1940

Type species.

Pterostichus sharpianus Broun, 1893: 163, by original designation.

Selected literature.

Keys and descriptions in papers by Britton (1940), Moore (1965), and Larochelle and Larivière (2007, 2016).

Described species and range.

Four species restricted to New Zealand.

Adult characteristics.

Species are very typical looking pterostichines, similar to a medium sized unadorned species of Notonomus or Pseudoceneus Tschitschérine, 1901. All are reddish-brown to black, 8-12 mm in length, and brachypterous.

Life history notes.

Larochelle and Larivière (2007) list three of the four species as very hygrophilous and all are reported as forest dwelling species.

Discussion.

Moore (1965: 9, in key) included this taxon in his loxandrine series and asserted that Zeodera "comes closest" to this genus. Based on couplet #35 in Moore’s key, Aulacopodus species would have an "absent or vestigial" parascutellar striole. However, as stated by Britton (1940: 491), all species have the parascutellar stria "well marked" and the abs1 is present." Subsequent authors have followed Moore’s implied informal classification, but apparently without examination of specimens. Additionally, the metacoxal sulcus ends near the mid-line well short of the coxal apex, the male protarsi are expanded but not asymmetrical, and the right paramere in the male is narrow and blunt.

In general, Aulacopodus species are not particularly loxandrine-like. Specifically the truncate metacoxal sulcus and the abs1 are not known from any loxandrine species. All the other characters noted above are found in some loxandrine species but never in combination as in Aulacopodus . The combination of two or three setiferous punctures on elytral interval 3 and the short metacoxal sulcus is typical for Setalis series species (sensu Moore (1965)), which are part of the larger euchroine clade ( Will 2000). However, the female reproductive tract in Aulacopodus is not the goose-neck form as typically found in Euchroines. Aulacopodus species have a cup-like bursa, with both the spermatheca and appended gland present, but no additional diverticulae. This form of female tract is typical of taxa attributed to the Notonomus series (sensu Moore (1965)). Unlike Notonomus series taxa the pygidial gland reservoirs of Aulacopodus species do not have a distinct dorsal lobe. Both Aulacopodus and Pseudoceneus have a narrowed right paramere in the male genitalia and lack the parascutellar setigerous puncture. Aulacopodus and Pseudoceneus are also otherwise so similar that they may prove to be synonymous. Analysis of DNA sequence data consistently places Aulacopodus and Pseudoceneus as sister taxa, with both of these allied with the Notonomus series taxa, and never close to any Abacetini taxa ( Will 2015a, Will unpub.).