A new Brachypsectra LeConte from Australia (Coleoptera: Brachypsectridae) with comparative notes on adults and larvae

John F Lawrence,Geoffrey B Monteith,Chris A.M Reid

doi:10.11606/1807-0205/2020.60.special-issue.02

Abstract

A new species, Brachypsectra cleidecostae Lawrence, Monteith & Reid sp. nov., is described from Australia on the basis of one reared adult female from inland Queensland and larvae from the type locality and two other widely separated semi-arid localities in South Australia and Western Australia. Two of the four larval collections were from under tree bark and one was from ground litter. The species is differentiated on both adult and larval characters. The broader mandible with retention of a retinacular tooth may indicate a sister relationship with species of the genus from other continents.

Highlights

The genus Brachypsectra LeConte, 1874, contains seven named species from widely separated localities across the globe, but primarily arid regions
In the following paper we describe the first adult, a female, of the Australian species and present further larval notes and records for this species from arid regions in western Queensland and South Australia
The relationships of the latter genus need confirmation. Adults of both species appear to be more heavily sclerotised than any Brachypsectra species, and have elytral window punctures, very narrow mandibles, 12‐segmented, bilamellate antennae, projecting, more or less conical procoxae, and a narrower mesoventrital process with a deep cavity continued posteriorly as a median groove. These features are absent in the Australian adult, which we describe in Brachypsectra

Summary

Introduction

The genus Brachypsectra LeConte, 1874, contains seven named species from widely separated localities across the globe, but primarily arid regions. Brachypsectra is an unusual genus with relatively small, lightly sclerotized and nondescript adults, rarely collected and probably short-lived, and an extraordinary type of larva, which was not associated with adults until 25 years after its first description by Barber (1905) (Blair, 1930) This larval type is short, broad, flattened, dorsally covered with numerous tubercles and tubules bearing complex, scale-like setae, armed on each side with 14 slender, branched lobes lined with setiferous tubules, and with a flexible head and a narrow, elongate, articulated, apically acute ninth tergite. These larvae are ambush predators, which are capable of pinning small arthropods on the dorsal surface between the tail spine and the perforate sucking mandibles. Further comments on the biology of the North American Brachypsectra fulva are given in Costa et al (2006), and available information on the habitat and habits of the new species are included below

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Conclusion