Abstract
A new species of the genus Platynus Bonelli, Platynus daviesi, is described from specimens collected in the Appalachian Mountains. The species is structurally most similar to Platynus parmarginatus Hamilton but differs in having the coloration of the body dorsally darker on average, the elytra proportionally longer and wider, the vertex and disc of pronotum with well impressed microsculpture, the elytral interval 3 with four or five discal setae in most specimens, and the median lobe of aedeagus less curved overall. DNA barcoding was performed on several species of eastern North American Platynus species and Platynus daviesi was found to be genetically distinct from Platynus parmarginatus. A key to the 12 species of Platynus found east of the Mississippi River is provided.
Highlights
The genus Platynus Bonelli is a large, inadequately understood, and probably polyphyletic group belonging to the tribe Platynini
While curating the Nearctic carabids of the Canadian National Collection of Insects, I found that two species were mixed under the name Platynus parmarginatus Hamilton
The following measurements were taken on several specimens of the new species and P. parmarginatus: length of the head (LH) from the anterior edge of the clypeus at middle to an imaginary line between the posterior edges of the eyes; width of head (WH) across the eyes; length of pronotum (LP) along the midline; maximum width of pronotum (WP); length of elytra (LE) measured from the tip of the scutellum to the apex of the right elytron; and maximum width of elytra (WE)
Summary
The genus Platynus Bonelli is a large, inadequately understood, and probably polyphyletic group belonging to the tribe Platynini. In Mexico alone, the genus contains an estimated 300 species (Liebherr and Will 1996: 301). The North American (north of Mexico) Platynus are much less diversified and relatively well known. Yves Bousquet / ZooKeys 163: 69–81 (2012)
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