A new species of Loricera Latreille from Eocene Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Loricerinae)

Abstract

Cai, C., Liu Y. & Huang, D., February 2017. A new species of Loricera Latreille from Eocene Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Loricerinae). Alcheringa xx, xxx-xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.Loricerinae is a small, distinctive subfamily of ground beetles, comprising only one genus Loricera Latreille. Only one fossil species is known to date. Here, we describe a new species, Loricera groehni sp. nov., belonging to Loricera based on a well-preserved adult in Eocene Baltic amber. Loricera groehni is tentatively attributed to the obsoleta group of the subgenus Loricera s.str. based on the relatively long antennomere 3 and punctate elytral interval 7. The discovery of a new species morphologically close to the extant Loricera species from western China and northern India suggests that the obsoleta group was more widespread in the Eocene than it is at present. The distribution pattern of Chinese Loricera is probably relictual. The fossil species, possessing conspicuous stiff setae on the basal antennomeres, was probably a specialized predator of springtails.Chenyang Cai [cycai@nigpas.ac.cn], Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Ye Liu [liuye198282@126.com], Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China; Diying Huang [dyhuang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China.