Craspedophorus cuneatus subsp. rotundatus Häckel 2017, new subspecies
Creators: name: Häckel, Martin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Craspedophorus
Craspedophorus cuneatus
Craspedophorus cuneatus rotundatus

description: 3c. Craspedophorus cuneatus rotundatus new subspecies
(Plate 5, Figs 39, 40, Plate 13, Fig. 104)
Craspedophorus cuneatus Basilewsky 1951b: 206.
Type locality. “ 75 km ssw Ndélé, Bamingui-Bangoran prefecture, Central African Republic ”.
Type material. Holotype (♂): “N - Centr. African Rep. of, Bamingui-Bangoran Prov. 75 km ssw Ndélé, 450 m ” (Plate 5, Fig. 39, Plate 13, Fig. 104, NMPC). Paratypes. 2♂, 2 ♀: “ Bamingui-Bandoran Prov. 15 km e Ndélé, 800 m ”; 1♂, 1 ♀: “ 45 km ssw Bamingui, 450 m ” (Plate 5, Fig. 40, cMH); 1♂: “ 75 km ssw Ndélé, 450 m (cIB)”; 1♂: “ Ngaouyanga / juillet [printed in black on white label]// Miss. Sci. Suisse / Caméroun –1947 [handwritten in black on white label]” (MRAC).
Description of holotype. Length 15.2 mm, width 7.3 mm. Head and pronotum same as in C. cuneatus cuneatus, pronotum slightly more transverse (length/width ratio>1.6, both C. c. cuneatus, C. c. paromius <1.6) and with slightly more extended front angles and more distinctive lateral margins. Elytra convex, ovoid as in C. c. cuneatus, shorter than in C. c. paromius. It differs from C. c. cuneatus by elytral colouration, the presence of a nonreduced yellow preapical fascia reaching from IV to VIII interval, and by the shape of humeral macula which is more irregular and narrowed to the centre (similarly to that in C. c. paromius). From C. c. paromius the new subspecies differs—apart from body size—in colouration. These differences are not possibly relevant; the humeral macula is wider (but not as much as in C. c. cuneatus), reaching the centre up to III and IV interval in the form of short residual spots (Plate 5, Figs 39, 40).
Note. Basilewsky (1951b: 206) mentions this variety when describing two specimens collected in Ngaouyanga (North Region, Cameroon). “Both specimens differ from others of that species collected in French C ongo only in the presence of yellow preapical macula, indentated, located between IV and VIII interval, and in the spots of the humeral fascia which are variously long, longer in inner than in outer intervals. It could refer to a separate subspecies, but more material is needed.” [from French]. The author further states that “In some species of the genus [Craspedophorus] is the presence/absence of the preapical macula purely individual: [Craspedophorus] Bouvieri Rousseau (var. Decorsei All.), eximius Laferté (var. Crampeli All.), clasispilus All., etc. In Chevalieri All. is the presence of preapical macula extremely rare and occurs only as a small yellow spot in the V or VII interval; in other species I have never noticed its absence. In numerous C. cuneatus specimens from French Congo [i. e. “ Congo francais ”, recently Congo Brazzaville and a part of today’s Central African Republic] I have never seen this macula; interestingly, it is usually not observed even in specimens with minor differences in shape and size of humeral macula” [from French]. The described and in my opinion clear and consistent approach of Basilewsky’s did not last long, in most stated cases he deviated from the original opinion and later chose much less clear and complex solutions (Häckel 2017: 233–4, 239). If the area of occurrence of these populations is slightly different (C. r. reflexus x C. r. crampeli; C. l. leprieurii x C. l. clasispilus), most of the arguable cases are treated as different subspecies. In forms where the area is indistinguishable synonymisation is applied (decorsei = C. b. bouvieri) or (jokoanus = C. chevalieri). In my opinion, in the case of C. cuneatus (Alluaud, 1915) it is not possible to speak only of differences based on the presence/absence of preapical macula. It is also often present in C. c. cuneatus, although only as a reduced residuum (Plate 5, Fig. 37). In the new subspecies C. c. rotundatus n. ssp. unequivocally different, but at the same time very little variable elytral colouration occurs in northern populations of this species inhabiting northern Cameroon, southern Chad and North of the Central African Republic. Similar colouration but slightly different body size is to be observed in eastern populations from the North-East of DR Congo, until now considered as species (C. c. paromius Basilewsky, 1987). The southern (nominotypical) populations inhabit Central Cameroon and southern prefectures of the RCA (Kémo, Ouaka), or the North of the Republic of Congo. I tend to agree with the opinion that C. c. rotundatus can be distinguished as subspecies both geographically and visually.
Distribution. Northern Cameroon, Central African Republic.
description: Published as part of Häckel, Martin, 2017, A contribution to the knowledge of the subfamily Panagaeinae Hope, 1838 from Africa. Part 3. Revision of the Craspedophorus strachani and C. brevicollis groups (Coleoptera: Carabidae), pp. 1-67 in Zootaxa 4330 (1) on page 10, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4330.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1010167