Omophron (Omophron) severini Dupuis, 1911: 90

Anichtchenko, Alexander & Valainis, Uldis, 2023, Revision of the subgenus Omophron (s. str.) Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Carabidae Omophron) of the Afrotropical region, Zootaxa 5284 (2), pp. 201-246 : 232-235

Omophron (Omophron) severini Dupuis, 1911: 90

Loc. Typ.: “Kinshassa (Stanley Pool, Congo Belge)”

Omophron (Omophron) dissimile Deleve, 1924: 108 syn. n.

Loc. Typ.: “ Bena-Makima (Kasaï)”, “ Ngombe ” and “ Luebo ” [-5.335575, 21.422610] .

Omophron (Omophron) ghesquierei Deleve, 1924: 109 syn. n.

Loc. Typ.: “Luluabourg-Ilunga, X-1921 ” [-5.952602, 22.350629]-[-5.687269, 26.885466].

Material examined. CAMEROON: Cameroon, Conradt [4.378593, 11.288840](2♁, 1♀, ETHZ); DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Kinshasa, 30.05.1899, Waelbroeck leg. [-4.304068, 15.275352] (Holotype, ♀, ISNB) ; Beni Bendi, Sankuru, 1895, Cloetens leg. [-4.979109, 23.460213] (1 ex, ZMHB) .

Material examined of O. dissimile Deleve, 1924 : DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: Bena Makima , 08.08.1921, Ghesquière leg. [-4.979553, 21.088821] (Holotype ♁; Allotype; Paratypes 12 ♀, 12 ♁, MRAC); Kasai Bena Makima, 08.08.1921, Ghesquière leg. (1 ♁, ETHZ) .

Material examined of O. ghesquierei Deleve, 1924 : DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Congo belge, Libenge , 04.01.1948, R. Cremer — M. Neuman leg. [3.657719, 18.627791] (3 ♀, ISNB) ; Congo belge, Libenge, Zambi , 06.01.1948, Cremer & Neuman leg. [3.164186, 18.633570] (1 ♁, ISNB) ; Museum Paris, Cours du Congo, entre Leopoldville & Stanleyville, L. Burgeon 1918 [-0.062291, 18.168161] (1 ♀, MNHN) .

Differential diagnosis. Members of this species can be confused with those of species in the “capense”-group, but are easily distinguished from them in having elongate and flattened elytra, densely punctate coxae, and ventrites I–III densely punctate laterally.

Redescription. Body length 5.27–6.0 mm; width 3.52–3.9 mm. Habitus ( Figs. 76–78 ).

Color: Elytra, sides of pronotum, labrum, antennae and legs beige. Head and pattern on elytra and pronotum varied, from dark brown with green tinge to deep green.Venter, excluding epipleura, pale reddish brown. Proepipleura and elytral epipleura yellowish brown.

Head moderately flat, coarsely punctate laterally and posteriorly, slightly wrinkled around eyes. Clypeus wrinkled and coarsely punctate, bisetose. Front margin of clypeus formed by two straight lines meeting at an obtuse angle. Labrum with slightly bisinuate front margin, with six setae. Subocular ridge well developed. Antennal scape unisetose at apex, antennomeres 3 and 4 smooth, with a few longer setae around the apex, 5–11 pubescent. Gula smooth, gena wrinkled, coarsely and densely punctate near eyes. HW: 1.74–1.80 mm.

Pronotum (PL: 1.28–1.32 mm, PW: 3.01–3.13 mm.) moderately convex, transverse, base bisinuate, sides almost straight near base, moderately rounded near hind angles, hind angles nearly acute. Pattern on pronotum with diffused boundaries. Sides and anterior margin of pronotum with wide yellow border. Pronotum coarsely and densely punctuate, especially along median line and on the base. Median line barely visible. Prosternum coarsely and densely punctate, proepisternum coarsely but sparsely punctate, proepipleura only with a few coarse punctures.

Elytra (EL: 3.27–3.34 mm, EW: 3.52–3.61mm) moderately convex, ovate, sides unevenly rounded, widened behind shoulders. Elytra with 15 complete striae. Striae deep, punctures dense. Intervals moderately convex on disc and strongly convex laterally. Elytral pattern with distinct boundaries, consisting of transverse three bands.

Venter ( Fig. 79 ). Metasternum coarsely and densely punctate, metepisternum and metepimeron coarsely but sparsely and irregularly punctate. Basal two ventrites coarsely and irregulary punctate, others smooth.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 81–83 ). Median lobe slender, ventral side evenly arcuate from base to apex. Apical lamella in dorsal view acute, sides straight and convergent to the narrowly rounded tip. Apex slightly downturned in lateral view. Endophallus ( Figs. 74–75 ) with two narrow and parallel groups of spines; the right one is long, the left one is only one-third as long ( Figs. 74–75 ).

Comments. O. severini was described based on a single female specimen from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Later, two other species were described from DRC: O. ghesquierei , based on a single male, and O. dissimile , based on a long serie of specimens ( Deleve, 1924). Our study of the type material, as well as additional material, suggests that they are synonyms. The distinguishing features indicated in the description are most intraspecific variation. No distinct differences in the shape of the aedeagus and sac were not found. More material is needed for a final decision, but we propose both names as new synonymies here.

Distribution. Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (Map. 4).

References. Csiki 1927; Deleve 1924; Dupuis 1911.

Figures

FIGURES 76–78. Habitus, dorsal view:76—O. (O.) ghesquierei; 77—O. (O.) dissimile syn. n. (Paratype); 78—O. (O.) severini (Holotype). Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 79–80. Habitus, ventral view: 79—O. (O.) ghesquierei syn. n. = O. (O.) severini. 80—O. (O.) oligoxanthum. Scale bar 5 mm.

FIGURES 81–83. Aedeagus structure. a—right lateral view; b—apex, dorsal view: 81—O. (O.) dissimile syn. n. (Paratype); 82—O. (O.) ghesquierei syn. n.; 83—O. (O.) severini (Holotype). Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 72–75. Endophallus structure, dorsal view: 72—O. (O.) madagascarensis; 73—O. (O.) amandae; 74—O. (O.) ghesquierei; 75—O. (O.) dissimile syn. n. (Paratype). Scale bar 1 mm