Amaroxenus kahurangiensis Larochelle and Lariviere E 2022, new species
Creators: name: Larochelle
name: Larivière, Marie-Claude
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Amaroxenus
Amaroxenus kahurangiensis

description: <i>Amaroxenus kahurangiensis</i> Larochelle and Larivière, new species Fig. 17, 30, 49 <i>Amaroxenus kahurangiensis</i> Larochelle and Larivière, new species. Holotype: male (NZAC) labeled “ NEW ZEALAND, FD [=NN] Kahurangi NP [= National Park], Lookout Ra [= Range], Head of Dart R. [= River] 1500m, 10–16 Jan 2008. I. Millar (typed) / Pit traps Granite sand flats 41.33S, 172.36E (typed) / HOLOTYPE &amp;male; <i>Amaroxenus kahurangiensis</i> Larochelle &amp; Larivière, 2022 (red label; typed).” Paratypes: one male and two females (NZAC) from the same locality as the holotype, bearing blue paratype labels. <b>Description.</b> Body length 5.3–6.6 mm. Head, pronotum, and elytra piceous black; abdomen dark brown; antennae, palpi, and legs rufopiceous. Microsculpture weak and isodiametric (almost granulate) on head, obsolete and isodiametric on pronotum, weak and moderately transverse on elytra. Iridescence present on elytra. Shiny on head, pronotum, and elytra. <b>Head.</b> Labrum strongly transverse. Eyes slightly convex. <b>Thorax.</b> Pronotum moderately convex, impunctate, obsoletely wrinkled medially and across base, cordate, widest before middle; apex strongly emarginate; anterolateral angles poorly developed, obtuse; anterior bead complete; sides strongly rounded, moderately sinuate posteriorly; lateral beads narrow throughout; lateral depressions absent; posterolateral angles acute, slightly projected laterally; laterobasal foveae rounded, moderately wide, very deep, separated from lateral depressions by a carina; posterior bead complete. <b>Legs.</b> Pro- and mesotarsomeres 1–4 of both sexes moderately dilated. <b>Elytra.</b> Moderately convex. Sides strongly rounded. Striae deep, coarsely punctate; stria 3 with two or three well developed, coarse setiferous punctures. Intervals slightly convex. Umbilicate series with 12 or 13 setiferous punctures. Apices angulate. <b>Aedeagus.</b> Lateral view (Fig. 17): strongly arcuate, stout, strongly widened and multistriate in apical half; base slightly convex dorsally; middle strongly convex dorsally, moderately concave ventrally, without dorsal membranous area; apex moderately concave dorsally and ventrally, with extreme tip very wide, rounded. Dorsal view: asymmetrical (ostium of membranous area deflected to the right). <b>Material examined.</b> 22 specimens (NZAC). <b>Geographic distribution</b> (Fig. 49). South Island: NN –Kahurangi National Park (Lookout Range, Head of Dart River). <b>Ecology.</b> Alpine. Epigean. Granite sand flats. Open ground. Probably nocturnal. <b>Biology.</b> Seasonality: January. Predacious (based on mouthpart morphology). <b>Dispersal power.</b> Subapterous (incapable of flight). <b>Collecting technique.</b> Pitfall trapping. <b>Remarks.</b> This species is named after the Kahurangi National Park (NN), the geographic area of the type locality and the Latin suffix – <i>ensis</i>, denoting a place, locality, or country. <i>Amaroxenus kahurangiensis</i> is morphologically close to <i>A. huttensis</i>. In addition to diagnostic characters of the male genitalia, <i>A. kahurangiensis</i> has the following distinguishing features: antennae rufopiceous; pronotum moderately convex, sides moderately sinuate posteriorly, posterolateral angles acute and slightly projected laterally, laterobasal foveae very deep; elytra shiny, moderately convex, with deep and coarsely punctate striae. The two species are allopatric: <i>A. kahurangiensis</i> is known only from the northwest of the South Island (NN), while <i>A. huttensis</i> occurs in southeastern areas of the South Island (CO, MC, MK). <i>Amaroxenus kahurangiensis</i> was mentioned in Hoare et al. (2016) as Amarotypini gen. nov., sp. nov., with a photo of the type locality and a discussion of the granite sand plains ecosystem.
description: Published as part of <i>Larochelle &amp; Larivière, Marie-Claude, 2022, Synopsis of the tribe Amarotypini in New Zealand (Coleoptera: Carabidae), pp. 1-30 in Insecta Mundi 2022 (942)</i> on pages 13-14, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7300590
description: {"references": ["Hoare RJB, Millar IR, Richardson SJ. 2016. The insect fauna of granite sand plains: a naturally rare ecosystem in New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist 39: 1 - 14."]}