Somoplatus girardi Basilewsky, 1986

Schüle, Peter, 2009, Notes on the genus Somoplatus Dejean, 1829 (Coleoptera: Carabidae), with descriptions of five new species, African Invertebrates 50 (2), pp. 461-461 : 472

Somoplatus girardi Basilewsky, 1986

Figs 7 , 15 , 22 , 29

Somoplatus girardi: Basilewsky 1986: 243 .

New country record: 1 ♂ 2♀‘ IVORY COAST, NE, Comoé National Park , v. 2000, Philippe Moretto leg., inside termite hill‘ ( PSC).

Distribution: Guinée, Mt Nimba; Ivory Coast; Nigeria, Zaria; Democratic Republic of Congo, Garamba National Park.

Remarks: The specimens from Ivory Coast have been compared to two specimens of the type series from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The median lobe of the aedeagus with the characteristic tongue-shaped extension covering the apial orifice and the shape of stylomere 2 of the female ovipositor were found to be similar. The only difference is in the macrosculpture of the head surface: the wrinkles between frons and orbital plates are shallow, subcircular, dimple-like in the specimens from Ivory Coast instead of deep and arcuate in the type specimens.

Figures

Figs 1–8. Habitus of Somoplatus spp.: (1) S. depilis sp. n., _ holotype; (2) S. pilicollis sp. n., ^paratype, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (3) S. morettoi sp. n., _ holotype; (4) S. fulvus ^, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (5) S. septentrionalis, ^, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (6) S. ivoirensis sp. n., _ holotype; (7) S. girardi, _; (8) S. genierorum sp. n., _ holotype. Scale bars = 2 mm.

Figs 9–16.Antennae of Somoplatus spp.: (9) S. depilis sp. n., _ holotype; (10) S. pilicollis sp. n., ^paratype, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (11) S. morettoi sp. n., _ holotype; (12) S. fulvus, ^, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (13) S. septentrionalis, ^, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (14) S. ivoirensis sp. n., _ holotype; (15) S. girardi, _; (16) S. genierorum sp. n., _ holotype. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Figs 17–23. Aedeagi of Somoplatus spp.: (17) S. depilis sp. n., holotype; (18) S. pilicollis sp. n., holotype; (19) S. morettoi sp. n., holotype; (20) S. fulvus (after Basilewsky 1986); (21) S. ivoirensis sp. n., holotype; (22) S. girardi, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (MRAC); (23) S. genierorum sp. n., holotype. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

Figs 24–30. Stylomere 2 of Somoplatus spp. ^: (24) S. depilis sp. n., paratype, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (25) S. pilicollis sp. n., paratype, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (26) S. fulvus, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (27) S. septentrionalis, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (28) S. ivoirensis sp. n., paratype; (29) S. girardi, Ivory Coast, Comoé National Park (PSC); (30) S. genierorum sp. n., paratype, Burkina Faso, Forêt de Nazinga. Scale bar = 0.5 mm in Figs 24, 25, 28–30; 2 mm in Figs 26, 27.