Cerabilia (Cerabilia) oblonga
Creators: name: Larochelle, Andre
name: Larivière, Marie-Claude
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Cerabilia
Cerabilia oblonga

description: Cerabilia (Cerabilia) oblonga (Broun, 1910)   
Fig. 19, 40, 49  
 Zabronothus oblongus Broun, 1910: 8. Holotype: male (NHMUK) labeled “Type (circular red-bordered label; typed) / 3025. (hand-written) / New Zealand. Broun Coll. Brit. Mus. 1922–482. (typed) / Broken River. (hand-written) / Zabronothus oblongus. (hand-written).”   
 Cerabilia oblonga: Townsend 1997: 15.   
 Cerabilia (Cerabilia) oblonga: Will 2020b: supplementary material 1.   
 Description. Body length 7.6–8.0 mm; stout. Head, pronotum, and elytra rufopiceous, lateral margins of elytra rufous; abdomen rufopiceous; antennae, palpi, and legs rufotestaceous. Microsculpture weak and isodiametric on head, strong and isodiametric on pronotum, strong and moderately transverse on elytra. Iridescence present on elytra. Shiny on head, pronotum, and elytra. Head. Eyes moderately large, slightly convex. Tempora not inflated. Frons wrinkled (with oblique strioles). Mentum with median tooth subtruncate apically. Palpi with terminal segment obtuse apically. Thorax. Pronotum slightly convex, obsoletely wrinkled discally and mediobasally, subquadrate, moderately wide compared to elytra, widest before middle; apex strongly emarginate; anterolateral angles well developed, obtuse; sides moderately rounded anteriorly, slightly sinuate posteriorly; lateral beads narrow throughout; two setiferous punctures on each side (anteriorly and posteriorly), each anterior setiferous puncture close to lateral bead, distant by about one puncture width; median line incomplete apically and basally; posterolateral angles moderately obtuse; laterobasal foveae single, shallow, parallel; posterior bead incomplete, obsolete medially; base slightly emarginate, about as wide as apex. Tip of scutellum slightly projected behind elytral base. Prosternum wrinkled throughout. Elytra. Oblong, widest about middle, moderately convex. Basal margin slightly arcuate, complete, reaching scutellum. Shoulder tooth poorly developed, obtuse. Sides moderately rounded. Scutellar setiferous pore absent. Striae shallow, deepening apically, incomplete basally (at least two or three striae obsolete). Intervals depressed, becoming convex apically; interval 3 without setiferous puncture. Umbilicate series with 15 setiferous punctures separated into two major groups (7+8). Subapical sinuations feeble. Apices obtuse. Abdomen. Sternum VII of male with dense coarse punctures medially. Aedeagus. Lateral view (Fig. 19): moderately arcuate, slender; base rather straight dorsally, with basal lobe; middle moderately convex dorsally, slightly concave ventrally; apex rather straight dorsally, strongly convex ventrally, with extreme tip narrow, very long, not curved downward. Dorsal view: apex very wide, rounded, not deflected to the left.   
 Material examined. 5 specimens (NHMUK, NZAC).   
 Geographic distribution (Fig. 49). South Island: KA–Hawkswood. Mount Lyford. MB–Jacks Pass, Hanmer Springs. Hanmer [Springs]. MC–Broken River. NC–Mount Cass, north of Waipara River. Napenape Reserve, south of Blythe River mouth.   
 Ecology. Lowland. Epigean, silvicolous, xerophilous. Dry forests (beech) and scrublands; tussock grasslands. Mostly shaded ground. Nocturnal; hides during the day under stones and logs, and in tussock litter.   
 Biology. Seasonality: November, January, March–May, August. Tenerals: May. Predacious (based on mouthpart morphology).   
 Dispersal power. Subapterous. Moderate runner.   
 Collecting techniques. Turning stones and logs; sifting tussock litter.   
 References. Townsend 1997: 15 (taxonomy); Larochelle and Larivière 2001: 133 (as Zabronothus oblongus; catalogue; biology, dispersal power, ecology, geographic distribution, references), 2007: 80 (taxonomy), 110 (list), 2016: 30 (list); Will 2020a: 20 (taxonomy), 2020b: supplementary material 1 (classification).   
 Remarks. Cerabilia oblonga is morphologically close to C. striatula. In addition to diagnostic characters of the male genitalia, C. oblonga has the following distinguishing features: head, pronotum, and elytra shiny rufopiceous; legs entirely rufotestaceous; pronotum with apex strongly emarginate, base slightly emarginate; elytra with shoulder tooth poorly developed. Cerabilia oblonga occurs in northeastern areas of the South Island (KA, MB, MC excluding Banks Peninsula area, NC), while C. striatula is found only around Banks Peninsula (MC).
description: Published as part of Larochelle, Andre & Larivière, Marie-Claude, 2024, Synopsis of the genus Cerabilia Laporte de Castelnau in New Zealand (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Abacetini), pp. 1-31 in Insecta Mundi 2024 (36) on pages 17-18, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10793312