Pristosia championi ( Andrewes, 1934 )

Schmidt, Joachim & Hartmann, Matthias, 2009, Pristosia Motschulsky, 1865 from the Nepal Himalaya: Taxonomy and Biogeography (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Sphodrini), Zootaxa 2009, pp. 1-26 : 5-8

Pristosia championi ( Andrewes, 1934)

Figs. 15–17 .

Catalogue: Calathus championi Andrewes, 1934: 214 . Type locality: N India, Kumaon Himalaya, Uttaranchal district, Gori Valley, ca. 1500–3000 mNN.

Pristosia championi (Andrewes) : Lindroth, 1956: 549.

Pristosia championi (Andrewes) : Hovorka & Sciaky, 2003: 530.

Pristosia championi (Andrewes) : Lorenz, 2005: 400.

Type material: Holotype male, with label data „ Type “ (round and red bordered printed label), „Gori R. Gorge, N Kumaon, India. 5–9000 ft. H.G.C.“, „IG 34-300“, “ Calathus championi Type Andr. H.E. Andrewes det.” (the latter handwritten by H.E. Andrewes) ( NHML).

Paratypes: 1 female with same label data as holotype, but „ Paratype “ (round and yellow bordered printed label), and “ Calathus championi Cotype Andr. H.E. Andrewes det.” (the latter handwritten by H.E. Andrewes) ( NHML).

Redescription: Two specimens studied.

Body length 10.5–10.8 mm.

Colour: Dorsal and ventral surface of body and basal 2/3 of femora dark brown, distal portion of femora, tibiae, tarsi, antennae and palpi yellowish brown. Male dorsal surface shiny throughout; female shiny on head and pronotum but with elytra dull.

Microsculpture: Meshes on head and pronotum very weakly engraved, visible under high magnification (100x), head with mesh pattern isodiametric, pronotum with mesh pattern transverse. Meshes of microsculpture on elytra in male weakly engraved, slightly transverse; in female isodiametric, much more deeply engraved and scale-like in anterior 2/3, but weakly engraved and slightly transverse in posterior 1/3.

Head: Antennomeres I–III with very fine and sparsely arranged hairs in apical 1/ 5 in addition to apical primary setation.

Pronotum: Ratio PW/PL 1.09–1.13, PW/HW 1.43–1.44. Sides straight or very slightly concave in posterior quarter, hind angles somewhat obtuse (110°) ( Fig. 15 ).

Elytra: Oval, ratio EL/EW 1.56–1.58, EW/PW 1.49–1.51. Basal groove moderately concave, forming an almost right angle with scutellar stria and an obtuse angle with lateral groove.

Legs: Tarsi completely smooth dorsally and laterally.

Male genitalia: Form of median lobe in dorsal view remarkable slender, with sides parallel and apex short, and with apical lamella almost triangular ( Fig. 16 ).

Identification: P. championi is easily distinguished from other Pristosia species of eastern Kumaon and western Nepal Himalaya, with the exception of P. nepalensis sp. n., by the presence of two setigerous pore punctures behind middle of elytra, and by the remarkably elongated aedeagal median lobe ( Figs. 16–17 ). For additional differential characters concerning the sympatric species P. a t re m a Andrewes, 1926, see diagnosis of the latter below. P. nepalensis sp. n. from western Nepal Himalaya is a similar species, but has a different form of pronotal hind angles, a slightly different form of aedeagal median lobe, and a different elytral microsculpture in the female; for more details see diagnosis of the latter, below. P. l e p t o d e s Andrewes, 1934, of western Kumaon Himalaya also has two setigerous pore punctures behind middle of elytra, but is smaller (body length 6.5–7 mm), and has a shorter aedeagal median lobe (see Lindroth 1956: p. 550, Fig. 31 H).

Distribution: Fig. 42 . The species is hitherto known only from the type locality, the Gori Valley on south eastern slope of Nanda Devi massif near the Indian-Nepalese border.

Habitat: In his original description Andrewes (1934) did not give any note about species habitat and the species was not found afterwards or rather, no subsequent findings where documented in literature. However, a closely related species was recently found in adjacent Nepal Himalaya, with probably similar if not identical habitat preferences (see P. nepalensis , below).

Figures

FIGURE 42. Distribution of Pristosia in Nepal and adjacent parts of the Himalaya.

FIGURES 5 – 15. Pristosia spp., pronotum. Fig. 5, P. dahud polita ssp. n., Paratype, male. Fig. 6, P. dahud Morvan, 1994, non-type, male, Rara Lake. Fig. 7, P. dahud Morvan, 1994, non-type, male, Maharigaon. Fig. 8, P. dahud Morvan, 1994, non-type, male, Khari Lagna (transitional form). Fig. 9, P. dahud Morvan, 1994, non-type, male, Khari Lagna (typical form). Fig. 10, P. similata sp. n., Paratype, male. Fig. 11, P. glabella sp. n., Paratype, male. Fig. 12, P. amaroides (Putzeys, 1877), non-type, female, India, Darjeeling. Fig. 13, P. a t re m a (Andrewes, 1926), Holotype. Fig. 14, P. nepalensis sp. n., Paratype, male. Fig. 15, P. championi (Andrewes, 1934), Holotype. Scale bar = 2 mm.

FIGURES 16 – 23. Pristosia spp., aedeagal median lobe, dorsal view (Figs. 16, 18, 20, 22) and left lateral view (Figs. 17, 19, 21, 23, with exception of P. crenata, the internal sac is figured only in dorsal view). Figs. 16, 17, P. championi (Andrewes, 1934), Holotype. Figs. 18, 19, P. nepalensis sp. n., Paratype. Figs. 20, 21, P. crenata (Putzeys, 1873), nontype, Nepal, Dailekh. Figs. 22, 23, P. amaroides (Putzeys, 1877), non-type, Nepal, Deorali to Sheldoti. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURES 30 – 35. Pristosia spp., aedeagal median lobe, dorsal view (Figs. 30, 32, 34) and left lateral view (Figs. 31, 33, 35, the internal sac is figured only in dorsal view). Figs. 30, 31, P. dahud polita ssp. n., Paratype. Figs. 32, 33, P. dahud Morvan, 1994, non-type, Khari Lagna (transitional form). Figs. 34, 35, P. dahud Morvan, 1994, non-type, Khari Lagna (typical form). Scale bar = 1 mm.