Austrocyphon flagellifer, Zwick, Peter, 2013

Zwick, Peter, 2013, Australian Marsh Beetles (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) 4. Two new genera, Austrocyphon and Tasmanocyphon, Zootaxa 3706 (1), pp. 1-74 : 68-69

Austrocyphon flagellifer , sp. n.

(Figs. 227–232)

Type material. QLD: Holotype ♂, Mossman Gorge, N.Qld. 23 Apr,1967, D.H.Colless. Paratypes: 1♂, Cardstone 19.xi.1966 J.G.Brooks; 2♂, Cardstone N.Q. 16.xii.65 at light K.Hyde; 1♂, Cardstone, N.Q., 7–8.i.66, K.Hyde (all ANIC).

Habitus. BL 1.9–2.1 mm, BL/BW 1.4. Regularly oval. Uniformly dark brown, legs and antennae lighter brown. The holotype from Mossman Gorge has a distinctly brighter, almost yellow pronotum. Punctuation of pronotum exeedingly fine, much finer than on head and especially on elytra.

Male. T8 large, plate transverse. Apodemes strong, barely longer than plate onto which they continue. Apodemes connected by a strong arched antecostal sclerite. Plate with membranous areas, divided into two caudolateral lobes and a central cone. The caudolateral lobes project as swellings on the ventral face of the tergite. Their tips are directed mediad and have some fine setae. The central cone with two longitudinally separate sclerites, some long setae on irregularly shaped apices. A large circular membranous area on each side of segment was only seen in a completely pigmented specimen (Fig. 232). In front of this area the cuticle had longitudinal wrinkles.

S8 large, with unpaired handle-like base and two wide sclerotized bare plates medially separated by a deep Ushaped notch.

T9 consisting only of apodemes and their caudal prolongations, plate membranous. Apodemes with two pairs of fine transverse outgrowths not meeting medially. Caudally, each apodeme supports a long ribbon-like flagellum, its medial face with fine trichomes in the basal two thirds.

S9 a slender oval sclerite with unpaired short basal sclerite forking into two parallel ribs ending before the bilobed apex of the plate. Along edge of each lobe stand 6–8 short peg-like hairs each of which is only 3–4 times longer than the diameter of its insertion ring. Area between ribs caudally pale, less sclerotized.

Penis small in comparison with other parts, in dorsoventral view lanceolate. Pala narrow, widening caudally to almost midlength, contour then continuously restricted to the narrow tip. The penis is gently angled in dorsoventral direction at the level where the pala widens. Trigonium only 1.5 times longer than wide, rising from a curved base, no basal spur. Distal half covered with spicules, apex parabolic, no centema. Membranous foramen 1.5 times longer than the trigonium. In side view the base of the pala stands at an oblique angle to the rest.

Parameres slender, forming a V-shaped pattern with a very short common base (tegmen). Caudal ends form weakly sclerotized hooks surrounded by membranes (Fig. 230).

Notes. Before dissection, the flagella projected from the abdominal tip of the beetles like a bird's tail feathers.

The corkscrew-like appearance in Fig. 229 is an artifact during preparation. At first glance, T8 of the fully pigmented specimen seemed to be very different from the other specimens but there is no structural difference. Etymology. The Latin specific name means “carrier of flagella” and is a noun in apposition.

FIGURES 227–232. Austrocyphon flagellifer sp. n., male. 227, T8; 228, S8; 229, T9; 230, S9, tegmen and parameres; 231, penis; 232, T8 of another, fully pigmented individual in ventral view. 227–231 to the same, 232 not to scale.