Omophron (Omophron) minutum Dejean 1831
Creators: name: Anichtchenko, Alexander
name: Valainis, Uldis
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Omophron
Omophron minutum

description: Omophron (Omophron) minutum Dejean, 1831: 583
Loc. Typ.: „parties supérieures du Sénégal ”.
Material examined. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Congo (1 ♀, ISNB). MALI: Haut Senegal, Khayes, 06.08.1882, Nodier leg. [14.463585, -11.473446] (1 ♁, BMNH; 2 ♁, 4 ♀, MNHN); Khayes, Ht Senegal (1 ♁, 1 ♀, SAM-COL-A006515); Thies Region, Khayes, 6–8.1882, Nodier leg. (3 ♁, 5 ♀, ETHZ; 1 ♁, 1 ♀, MRAC); Thies Region, Khayes (1 ♀, ETHZ); SENEGAL: Casamance, Sedhiou, 1891, Legalaize leg. [12.694360, -15.548995] (1 ♁, ZMHB; 3 ♀, MNHN); Senegal, Parc National du Niokolo Koba, Badi, 15.08– 25.09.1955, Basilewsky leg. [13.125648, -13.322802] (1 ♀, MRAC).
Differential diagnosis. Similar to O. riedeli, but differ by its smaller size, less punctured disc of pronotum, and absence of metallic reflection on the head and pronotum. The punctures on the pronotum, elytral epipleura and ventrites are smaller than those of O. riedeli. Additional material of O. riedeli and O. minutum needs to be studied. It may turn out that these are two extreme forms of the same species.
Redescription. Body length 4.0– 4.36 mm; width 2.93–3.01 mm. Habitus (Fig. 7).
Color: head dark reddish brown, frons with diffused brown triangular spot; pronotum dark reddish brown, anterior-, posterior- and lateral margins lighter; elytra dark reddish brown, elytral pattern often barely visible, consisting of lighter humeral and sub-humeral spots; oblique post-median band, extended from 5 th stria to lateral margin; preapical spots, and 2–3 marginal intervals of elytra. Labrum, edges of pronotum and elytra pearl color, legs and antennae brownish yellow. Venter rufopiceous.
Head relatively flat, coarsely punctate laterally and posteriorly, with one supraorbital setiferous puncture on each side of head. Subocular ridge well developed, curved upwards and slightly rounded. Clypeus with few punctures near the posterior margin, bisetose. Clypeal suture barely visible. Labrum with slightly bisinuate anterior margin, moderately rounded sides and six setae. Antennal scape unisetose at apex, antennomeres 3 and 4 smooth, with a few longer setae around the apex. Antennomeres 5–11 pubescent. Gula slightly wrinkled, gena strongly wrinkled, coarsely and densely punctate. HW: 1.41–1.43 mm.
Pronotum (PL: 1.12–1.17 mm, PW: 2.58–2.63 mm.) clearly convex, base bisinuate on each side, with wide border, sides very slightly rounded posteriorly and almost straight anteriorly. Anterior angles acute. Disc sparsely punctate, more densely punctate near anterior margin and sides. Median impression reduced or barely visible. Prosternum wrinkled, coarsely and densely punctate, episternum and proepipleura with few punctures in anterior half.
Elytra (EL: 2.79–2.86 mm, EW: 2.93–3.01 mm.) strongly convex, sides regularly rounded, with 15 deep striae extended from the base to the apex. Striae densely punctate, punctures large and deep. Intervals moderately convex on the disc, strongly convex laterally.
Venter (Fig. 9). Metasternum, metepisternum and metepimeron coarsely and densely punctate, elytral epipleura coarsely punctate. Ventrites IV and V with a transverse row of large punctures. Metacoxa with 12–14 punctures.
Aedeagus (Fig. 11). Median lobe short and stout, ventral side slightly arcuate from base to apex. Apex straight in lateral view. Apical lamella short, in dorsal view broadly rounded. Endophallus with preapical group of large spines, situated in distal part of long, tubular formation, extended to basal orifice and covered with scales, with a long and thin row of spines of moderate size (Fig. 15) situated to the right of that formation.
Distribution. Senegal, country record for Mali and Democratic Republic of Congo (Map. 2).
References. Csiki 1927; Dejean 1831; Rousseau 1908.
description: Published as part of Anichtchenko, Alexander & Valainis, Uldis, 2023, Revision of the subgenus Omophron (s. str.) Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Carabidae Omophron) of the Afrotropical region, pp. 201-246 in Zootaxa 5284 (2) on pages 207-209, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5284.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7923218