Mecyclothorax punctipennis (MacLeay)

Liebherr, James K., 2018, Taxonomic review of Australian Mecyclothorax Sharp (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Moriomorphini) with special emphasis on the M. lophoides (Chaudoir) species complex, Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 65 (2), pp. 177-224 : 177

Mecyclothorax punctipennis (MacLeay) Figures 2M, 6D, 15 D–E, 16D, 17D, 18D, 19D

Cyclothorax punctipennis MacLeay, 1871: 105.

Mecyclothorax punctipennis Csiki, 1929: 487.

Cyclothorax obsoletus Blackburn, 1889: 1389 (synonymy Moore, 1984: 162).

Cyclothorax ambiguus Sloane 1898: 472 (misidentification).

Diagnosis

(n = 5). For purposes of this review, all diagnostic external characters that distinguish this species from M. ambiguus -and therefore all other Australian species–are presented under M. ambiguus . Standardized body length 5.0-5.8 mm. Setal formula ++/++/+2++.

Male genitalia (n = 3). Aedeagal median lobe gracile, narrow dorsoventrally relative to length, the apex well extended beyond ostium, the tip downturned (Fig. 15D); ostial ventroapical operculum well developed, an elongate triangular sclerite; flagellar plate large, bearing longitudinal sclerotic ridges (Fig. 15E); base of aedeagal internal sac bearing a ventral spicular sclerite; right paramere narrow, elongate, bearing>12 setae along the ventral margin, 4 small setae long dorsal margin (Fig. 16D); left paramere narrow basally, narrowed to elongate, attenuated whip-like apex.

Female reproductive tract (n = 2). Bursa copulatrix elongate, columnar, length about 2 × diameter when pressed under cover slip, surface thickened, wrinkled, (Fig. 17D); spermathecal duct entering bursa copulatrix mediodorsally, duct length about 2 × length of spermathecal reservoir; spermathecal gland duct long, ~1.5 × length of spermathecal reservoir; basal gonocoxite apical margin with 3 setae, 1 seta at apicomedial angle, and several smaller setae along medial margin (Fig. 18D); apical gonocoxite broad basally with 2 acuminate lateral ensiform setae, apex acuminate; apical nematiform setae in subbasal sensory furrow.

Type information.

For M. punctipennis , lectotype male (ANIC): Gayndah, Queensland ( Moore 1984). For C. obsoletus Blackburn, two syntypes (SAMA): Port Lincoln, S.A. ( Moore 1984, Moore et al. 1987).

Distribution and habitat.

This species is broadly distributed in numerous habitats across Australia (Fig. 19D). Recorded collection localities range in elevation from sea level to over 2000 m near the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko. These beetles are at home in leaf litter on the floor of Eucalyptus forests, under dense mats of dead leaves surrounding the bases of Xantharrhoea ( Asphodelaceae ) grass trees, in tussock grass clumps of high-elevation grasslands, under wrack on sea beaches, and in home gardens in urban settings. The species is monomorphically macropterous, with adults often collected at lights in great profusion.

Even given this speciesʼ catholic ecological preferences and propensity for winged flight, its geographic distribution is discontinuous across Australia (Fig. 19D). Moreover, the Western Australian populations of this bicentric species distribution interact little if at all with coastal populations east of the Great Australian Bight, based on geographic restriction of polymorphic male genitalic chiral antisymmetry to the populations inhabiting Western Australia ( Liebherr and Will 2015). In contrast, all eastern populations monomorphically comprise males with plesiomorphic genitalic torsion, whereby the right side of the aedeagus is held ventrally when in repose. The Western Australian populations vary greatly in the proportions of left- and right-torsioned males, demonstrating that their mutual geographic isolation is great enough to preclude extensive homogenizing dispersal among populations.

Baehr (2000) reported a 1998 record for M. punctipennis from Rocky Cape N. P. as the first Tasmania record. However, Darlington material (MCZ) indicates M. punctipennis was present at Hobart in 1956-1957 ( Liebherr and Will 2015). Tasmanian localities and repositories represented in material examined for this review (Fig. 19D) include: Corinna, West Tasmania (MCZ, 4); Hobart (MCZ, 8); Great Lake, north end (MCZ, 5); Waldheim nr. Cradle Mtn. (MCZ, 1); Zeehan, north (MCZ, 3).