Pheropsophus nanodes BATES, 1892

Venugopal, Akhil S. & Thomas, Sabu K., 2019, Bombardier beetles of the genus Pheropsophus Solier 1833 (Carabidae: Brachininae: Brachinini) from Indian subcontinent, Zootaxa 4608 (1), pp. 65-89 : 77

Pheropsophus nanodes BATES, 1892

( Fig. 2 B )

Pheropsophus nanodes Bates, 1892b: 391 ; Andrewes, 1930: 274; Hrdlička, 2017: 480.

Specimen examined (n=1): Verified specimen ( Andrewes ), labelled “ China: SE Tibet: Zayul, Rong Chu Valley, 6000 ft, 10.V.1933, F. Kingdon Ward & R.J.H. Kaulback ”, det. H.E. Andrewes.

Description. Length: 9.0 mm

Colour: Body black, shiny; head bi-coloured with frontal yellow and posterior black, yellow frontal spot between the eyes continue to the margin of eyes; clypeus brownish yellow, labrum brown coloured with yellow bor- der; antennal segments 1–2 light brownish yellow coloured, segments 3–11 dark brown; pronotum brownish black; elytra deep black; legs with coxa, trochanter, femur and tibia reddish yellow; tarsi reddish brown; prosternum, mesosternum and metasternum reddish yellow; ventral side of head entirely reddish yellow including palpi, mentum and submentum.

Head: Oval, eyes protruding, smooth, neck punctuated and wrinkled.

Pronotum: Wider than long, with round yellow spots on both sides of the median furrow, disc laterally with anterior 3/4 th rounded, posterior 1/4 th narrow, hind angle sub-acute; lateral bead raised, broad; disc sparsely punctuated.

Elytra: Short, convex, narrow towards base, humerus erased, disc with narrow striations; with small yellow spot in the middle; very narrow apical yellow band.

Geographical distribution. INDIA: Assam: Sadiya ( Bates 1892b), Panji ( Andrewes 1930); Arunachal Pradesh: ‘between Pasighat and Kobo’, Dosing, Yambung, ‘below Damda’ ( Andrewes 1930); CHINA: SE. Tibet: Zayul: Rong Chu Valley (6000ft) (Andrewes 1933).

Remarks. The smallest Indian Pheropsophus recorded. It is morphologically similar to P. nigricollis but differs by having head bi-coloured with anterior yellow and posterior black, broad lateral bead of pronotum, obliterate humerus without spot, with median spot instead of median transverse band. Endemic to Eastern Himalaya hotspot of biodiversity.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dorsal habitus of Pheropsophus from India (cont.)–A) Pheropsophus lissoderus (Holotype, ‘Tibet’, MNHN), B) P. nanodes (Verified specimen, ‘S.E.Tibet’, BMNH), C) P. picicollis (Syntype, ‘Siam (now Thailand)’ MNHN), D) P. nigricollis (Holotype, ‘Bangalore’, BMNH), E) P. occipitalis (Verified specimen, ‘China’, BMNH), F) P. prophylax (Holotype, ‘Manipur’, BMNH), G) P. scythropus (Holotype, ‘Gopaldhara’, BMNH), H) P. scythropus dissolutus (‘Laos’, BMNH)