Nornalupia, M, 2002

M, B., 2002, A New Genus And Species Of The Subtribe Anisodactylina From South-Western Australia (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalini), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 48 (3), pp. 173-179 : 174-177

Nornalupia gen. n.

Type species: Nornalupia megacephala sp. n.

Diagnosis – Head very large, punctate dorsally and with small eyes widely separated from buccal fissure ventrally; fronto-clypeal suture deepened and continuing to deep clypeo-ocular prolongation; mentum with prominent medial tooth andseparatedfromsubmentum bycompletetransverse suture;ligulanotexpanded at apex and with only two ventroterminal setae; elytra each with one discal pore on 3rd interval and without scutellar stria; first metatarsomere rather long; and anal sternite in male with one pair of setae at apical margin.

Description – Wingless. Body small, elongate and convex, glabrous on dorsal side.

Head very large, longer and only a little narrower than pronotum, distinctly, even if finely and sparsely, punctate dorsally, with small flat eyes very broadly separated from buccal fissure ventrally; genae broad, nearly as wide as eyes ( Fig. 1 ). Temples long, very convex and rather abruptly descending to neck. Fronto-clypeal suture clearly deepened, continuing posterio-laterally towards eyes as rather deep clypeo-ocular prolongation reaching inner margin of eye; additional groove extended from clypeus to apical portion of supraorbital furrowexternally of clypeo-ocular prolongation and parallel to it forming convex bead at base of mandible. Labral apex not concave, more or less straight. Clypeus with one lateral setigerous pore on each side, scarcely emarginate anteriorly and labral base not exposed. Mandibles stout, left clearly truncate at apex ( Fig. 2 ). Labium ( Fig. 7 ) with mentum and submentum completely separated by transverse suture. Submentum with two lateral setae on each side (inner seta much longer than external). Mentum with well developed acute median tooth and with a pair of median setae. Ligular sclerite moderately broad, not expanded apically, with two ventroterminal setae and without dorsal setae. Paraglossae glabrous, narrow, notably extending beyond ligular sclerite and separated distally from it by deep notch. Penultimate labial palpomere approximately as long as terminal, with two long and several (3–4) shorter setae at anterior margin and with one ventroapical seta. Antennae slender, pubescent from apical half of 3rd segment on.

Pronotum relatively small and convex, with unisetose sides convergent basad. Anterior margin bordered only laterally, bead along posterior margin complete. Surface, except for small central part, coarsely punctate. Basal pronotal edge glabrous.

Elytra oblong-oval, moderately convex, with prominent angulate humeral angles and somewhat deep subapical sinuations. Striae slightly deepened, either smooth or irregularly punctate and weakly crenulate. Ninth stria separated from lateral furrowby narrowflat area. Seventh stria with ocellateporebeforeapex.Scutellarstriaabsent,basalporelarge,separatedfrombasaledge.Intervals weakly convex, in some specimens covering by indistinct punctation. Third interval with one discal pore behind middle (in one specimen with two on one elytron); 5th and 7th intervals without pores. Marginal series widely interrupted medially, consisting of basal and apical groups of umbilicate pores. Basal elytral edge glabrous.

Ventral surface of body, except for obligatory setae and very fine pubescence on pro- and metasternum, glabrous. Apex of prosternal lobe with several setae. Anal sternite rounded at apex (in male sometimes scarcely truncate), with one pair of setigerous pores along apical margin in male and with two pairs in female. Apex of anal tergite in both sexes roundly angulate but in male more narrowly than in female.

Legs slender. Fore tibia with two apical spines at outer margin and one spine at apex of very small ventroapical tubercle; apical spur slender, lanceolate. Hind femur with two setigerous pores at hind margin. Tarsi dorsally impunctate and glabrous; fifth segment with usually two, sometimes three pairs of latero-ventral setae. Metatarsus shorter than width of head measured at neck constriction;1stsegmentslender,approximatelyaslongas2ndand3rdtogetherandaboutthreetimesaslong as wide at its apical part. Pro- and mesotarsi of male weakly dilated and carring spongy adhesive vestiture underneath.

Median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 8–9 ) without any apical capitulum, with apical orifice in dorsal position and with membranous area widely extending to large basal bulb.

Female genitalia ( Figs 10–11 ): valvifer broad, weakly sclerotized apically and with 1–3 fine distal setae. Stylus with basal segment rather short, markedly widened apically, with two short distal setae;apicalsegmentarcuate,somewhatsharpapically,withonesetaoninnermarginbeforeapex.

Etymology – The generic name is female, referring to the type locality, Nornalup-Walpole Nature Park.

Included species – The newgenus includes a single species Nornalupia megacephala sp. n. from south-western Australia.

Remarks – In appearence, this newgenus resembles some small representa - tives of the genus Chydaeus CHAUDOIR, 1854 but possesses the labium with mentum and submentum separated by a complete transverse suture and therefore, like all the other Australian taxa of the subtribe Anisodactylina , belongs to the notiobioid main branch sensu NOONAN (1973). Within this branch, the genus seems to be rather separated from other groups and is well recognizable on the basis of the combination of characters listed in the diagnosis. Some of these characters (small eyes, well dentate mentum, comparatively narrow apex of ligula, one pair of setae on anal sternite of male) are common to both Nornalupia gen. n. and the NewZealand genus Allocinopus BROUN, 1903 , but the latter is easily distinguished by having the frontal fovea punctiform, metepisterna wider than long, anal sternite of female with only one pair of setae and median lobe of aedeagus with shorter membranous area. Based on rather long first segment of hind tarsus and bium (7). Scales : A = 1 mm ( Figs 1, 3–4 ), B = 0.5 mm ( Figs 2, 6, 7 ), C = 1 mm ( Fig. 5 )

presenceofonlyonediscalporeonthirdelytralinterval,thenewgenusseemstobe most related to the genus Notiobia PERTY, 1830 represented in Australian Region by the subgenus Anisotarsus CHAUDOIR, 1837 (= Diaphoromerus CHAUDOIR, 1843 ) but well differs in rather peculiar characteristics of the head (great size, presence of dorsal punctation, very broad genae, deepened fronto-clypeal suture continuing to deep clypeo-ocular prolongation, etc.). It is apparent that at least some of these features, in particular the great size of head and very broad genae, are adaptive but, unfortunately, the mode of life of the newgenus is still unknown to under - stand their real functional significance. The unique morphological features of the newgenus and its locality suggest that this taxon may be an old relict. It is well known that south-western corner of Western Australia is one of the major centers of endemism of Australian fauna and flora with many old elements related to the temperate forms of South America, more rarely of South Africa (e. g. MARCHANT 1973, HOWDEN 1981, MAIN 1981). In this connection it should be interesting to compare in detail the newgenus with the unknown to me in nature, monobasic genus Nemaglossa SOLIER, 1849 from Chile, which, according to BALL (in REICHARDT 1977: 424), also belongs to the notiobioid complex. This genus is dissimilar to other groups of Neotropical Anisodactilina and has been included in the subtribe Pelmatelina formerly. Some of its distinctive generic features listed by BALL (l. c.), in particular small size, very short metepisterna and reduced wings, are similar to those of the Nornalupia gen. n. Based on the original description ( SOLIER 1849), Nemaglossa differs from the newgenus at least in lesser head, broader paraglossae and impunctate dorsum.

Figures

Figs 1–7. Nornalupia megacephala sp. n. Head and pronotum, lateral apect (1). Apex of left mandible, frontal aspect (2). Right margin of pronotum (3–4). Habitus (5). Right metepisternum (6). La-

Figs 8–11. Nornalupia megacephala sp. n. Median lobe of aedeagus, dorsal (8) and lateral (9) aspects. Stylus, lateral aspect (10). Stylus and valvifer, ventral aspect (11). Scale: 0.5 mm