Dendrocellus bicoloripennis Liang and Kavanaugh, 2007

Liang, Hongbin & Kavanaugh, David H., 2007, Review of the Genus Dendrocellus Schmidt-Göbel (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Dryptini), with Descriptions of Seven New Species, The Coleopterists Bulletin (Oxford, England) 61 (1), pp. 1-39 : 1-39

Dendrocellus bicoloripennis Liang and Kavanaugh , New Species

( Figs. 109–112 )

Types. Holotype: a male ( CBNH), ‘‘ Malawi: Chitipa District, Jembya Reserve , 18 km SSE Chisenga. 10-08S, 33-27E, 1,870 m. 11–20 Dec 1988, J. Rawlins, S. Thomson’ ’/‘‘ HOLOTYPE, Dendrocellus bicoloripennis Liang & Kavanaugh n. sp., designated by H. B. Liang & D. H. Kavanaugh 2006’’ [red label]. Paratypes (total 4 specimens): 3 females (1 in CAS, 2 in CBNH), same collecting locality and collectors but ‘‘ 1–10 Jan 1989 ’’; 1 female ( CBNH), same collecting locality and collectors but ‘‘ 11–20 Jan 1989 ’’.

Type locality. 18 km SSE of Chisenga, Jembya Reserve , Malawi .

Diagnosis. Pronotum reddish brown; elytra with bluish-green luster at basal three-fourths, black or dark purple at apical fourth; hind femora with apical half or two-thirds black, tibiae black; tarsal claw pectinations very short, the longest pectination shorter than one-forth width of claw base.

Description. Length: 9.8–11.3 mm, width: 3.2–3.4 mm. Head and abdominal sterna with blue luster; neck, pronotum, scutellum, thoracic sterna, episterna, and epimera, Ant 2–11, and basal half of femora red or brown; elytra with bluish-green luster at basal three-fourths, black or dark purple at apical fourth with an anteriorly directed triangular extension along suture; apical half or two-thirds of femora, tibiae, tarsomeres 1–3, and apical third of Ant 1 black; basal two-thirds of Ant 1, Ant 2–11, tarsomeres 4–5 brown or yellow. Head densely punctate on vertex; labrum with medial lobe slightly protruded anteriorly; Ant 1/Ant 3 5 3.22 (3.13– 3.31); genae developed, strongly tumid; eyes large, convex, 1.8 times as long as genae. Pronotum short, cylindrical, widest slightly before middle, PL/PW 5 1.29 (1.26–1.35), HW/PW 5 1.15 (1.14–1.16); slightly widened from apical angles to middle, then narrowed posteriad, strongly sinuate before basal angles; basal angles obtuse, strongly protruded laterally. Elytra wide, densely punctate throughout; lateral margins nearly parallel in basal forth, distintly widened posteriad to apical fourth, then narrowed to apex; EL/EW 5 1.69 (1.63–1.73), EW/PW 5 2.16 (2.11– 2.25); striae effaced, almost invisible (only striae 1–3 traceable in apical regions); outer apical angles nearly round, only vaguely angulate. Protarsomere 3 strongly asymmetrical in male; tarsal claws with 5–6 min pectinations, length of the longest pectination less than one-fifth width of claw base ( Fig. 110 ). Aedeagus stout, with apical lamella moderately long, thin, linguiform, rounded at apex ( Figs. 111–112 ).

Distribution. Malawi.

Etymology. This species is named for the pattern of two different colors on the elytra.

Remarks. Members of this new species are similar to those of African Dryptini species Drypta ruficollis Dejean, 1831 , Drypta thoracica Boheman, 1848 , and Dendrocellus australis Péringuey in having red pronota, but differ from them in having slender tarsal claws with short pectinations (in Drypta ruficollis and Drypta thoracica specimens, the tarsal claws are smooth; and in Dendrocellus australis specimens, the tarsal claws have long pectinations). The bicolored elytral color pattern and effaced elytral striae appear to be unique in the genus (in other members of the genus, the elytra are unicolored, and all striae are distinct).

Figures

Figs. 109–112. Dendrocellus bicoloripennis (holotype). 109) Habitus; scale line 5 2.0 mm. 110) Tarsal claws of right hind tarsus; scale line 5 0.1 mm. 111) Male genitalia, dorsal view; scale line 5 1.0 mm. 112) Male genitalia, left lateral view; scale line 5 1.0 mm. Note: The existence of this new species, D. bicoloripennis, became known to us, based on specimens provided by one of the reviewers, only after submission of our manuscript for publication. All figures for this species are presented together here to avoid reorganization and renumbering of all the other figures throughout the manuscript.