Cambridge Entomological Club, 1874
PSYCHE

A Journal of Entomology

founded in 1874 by the Cambridge Entomological Club
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This is the CEC archive of Psyche through 2000. Psyche is now published by Hindawi Publishing.

P. J. Darlington, Jr.
A New Flightless Dolichoctis (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from Sumbawa.
Psyche 76(4):387-389, 1969.

This article at Hindawi Publishing: https://doi.org/10.1155/1969/56120
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A NEW FLIGHTLESS DOLICHOCTIS
(COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) FROM SUMBAWA*
BY P. J. DARLINGTON, JR.
Museum of Comparative Zoology
The genus Dolichoctis, of the tribe Lebiini, includes a large num- ber of small Carabidae of the Oriental-Australian area. They are characterized by size (length often c.
5 mm or less), by details
of the mouthparts (which need not be given here - see Darlington 1968, 124), and almost always by presence of 2 minute punctures without setae on the posterior half of the third interval of each elytron. Most are arboreal, occurring often in under-story foliage of rain forest, although a few species probably occur in leaf litter on the ground. All previously known Dolichoctis are fully winged, so far as I know. The finding of a species in which wing atrophy has occurred is therefore of special interest. Atrophy of wings is in fact rare among all the Lebiini of the Indo-Australian islands: of 160 members of the tribe found on New Guinea, only one has reduced wings (Nototarus papua Darlington 1968, 186). Of course wing atrophy is very common among some other Carabidae in some other parts of the world (Darlington 1936; 1943). Dolichoctis pedestris n. sp.
(Fig. I)
Description. With characters of genus; form as in Fig. I; dark brown, reflexed elytral margins, legs, mouthparts, and antenna1 bases brownish-yellow, antennae darker from parts of 3rd segments; reticulate microsc~~lpture heavy and isodiametric on front, distinct and somewhat transverse on pronotum, lighter and more transverse on elytra. Head 0.75 and 0.73 width prothorax; 2 strong pre- sumably formerly seta-bearing punctures over each eye. Prothorax subcordate ; width/length I .22 and I .27 ; base/apex 0.92 and I .02 ; lateral margins moderate and moderately reflexed, without setae or seta-bearing punctures; disc weakly convex, with virtually entire impressed middle line, transverse impressions obsolete, baso-lateral impressions weak, surface across base irregular but not distinctly punctate. Elytra short, wide; width eIytra/prothorax 1.77 and 1.86 (proportions approximate, because elytra slightly spread in all specimens) ; apices obliquely truncate with sutural angles narrowly *Manuscript received by the editor January 28, 1970 387




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Psyche
[December
Fig. 1.
Dolichoctis pedestris n. sp., Holotype.
rounded; striae entire,. impressed, not distinctly punctate; intervals slightly convex, 3rd with 2 small impressed points without setae behind middle. Lower surface virtually impunctate; abdomen not pubescent. Inner wings reduced to vestiges less than % length of elytra,. Legs slender ; 4th hind-tarsal segments long, subtruncate ; 5 th segments without obvious accessory setae (latter probably small, weak, and mostly broken off) ; claws each with c. 4 teeth. Secondary sexual characters: J1 front tarsi apparently not dilated and appar- ently without squamules (condition of specimens prevents certain determination of presence or absence of squamules) ; I seta each
side last ventral segment in both sexes. Mea~ur~nzents: length c. 4.8-5.5; width c. 2.3-2.7 mm.
Types. Holotype J1 (sex determined by dissection) and 3 para- types (I in M. C. Z., Type No. 31,675) all from "B. Aroe Hassa," Sambawa (Sumbawa), 2000-5000 ft. (about 600-1 500 m) , Sept., Oct. (Doherty ) .
Notes. The atrophy of the wings is unique in this genus, so far as I know, and loss of the lateral prothoracic setae is exceptional also. Otherwise, in Jedlicka's (1963, 356) key to East Asiatic (Oriental) Dolichoctis, the present new species runs to D. gilvipes Dejean of the Philippines, but terrestris is larger, with eyes less prominent and prothorax narrower and with sides much less sinuate



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19691 Darlington - Flightless Dolichoctis 389 posteriorly; and in my (1968, 126) key to New Guinean Doli- choctis, it runs to couplet 2 but has the prothorax much narrower than striata Schmidt-Goebel and the elytra much wider and without the maculation of microdera Andrewes.
Atrophy of wings and loss of prothoracic setae suggest that this insect, although derived from a primarily arboreal, winged, mainly lowland stock, is adapted to a mountain habitat, perhaps to living in leaf litter on the ground in montane rain forest. REFERENCES
DARLINGTON, P. J., JR.
Variation and atrophy of flying wings of some carabid beetles. Ann. Ent. Soc. America 29 (1) : 136-179. Carabidae of mountains and islands: data on the evolution of isolated faunas, and on atrophy of wings. Ecological Mono- graphs 13 (1) : 37-61.
The carabid beetles of New Guinea. Part 111. Harpahae (con- tinued) : Perigonini to Pseudomarphini. Bull. Mus. Comp. 2001. 137 (1) : 1-253.
ARNOST.
Monographic der Truncatipennen aus Ostasien. Ent. Abhand- lungen 28 (7) : 269-579.




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