Resolution of taxonomic problems in Australian Harpalini, Abacetini, Pterostichini, and Oodini (Coleoptera, Carabidae).

Taxonomic changes are made for several problematic Australian Carabidae in the tribes Harpalini, Abacetini, Pterostichini, and Oodini. Examination of types resulted in the synonymy of Veradia Castelnau, 1867 with Leconomerus Chaudoir, 1850; Nelidus Chaudoir, 1878, Feronista Moore, 1965, and Australomasoreus Baehr, 2007 with Cerabilia Castelnau, 1867; and newly combining Fouquetius variabilis Straneo, 1960 in the genus Pediomorphus Chaudoir, 1878; Australomasoreus monteithi Baehr, 2007 in the genus Cerabilia Castelnau, 1867; and Anatrichis lilliputana W.J. Macleay, 1888 in the genus Nanodiodes Bousquet, 1996. Cuneipectus Sloane, 1907 is placed in Pterostichini Bonelli, 1810, which is a senior synonym of Cuneipectini Sloane, 1907.

Introduction

In a continuing effort to make the faunal list of Australian carabid beetles as accurate as possible, I sought out and studied type specimens for a number of historically problematic taxa. Results of my study require a number of adjustments to recognized taxa.

Methods

Institution codens used here for material examined: CSIRO, Canberra; , Berkeley; , Genova; , Paris; , Harvard; , Switzerland; , Brisbane; and , Perth.

Australian National Insect Collection

Essig Museum of Entomology

Museo Civico di Storia Naturale “Giacomo Doria”

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle,

Museum of Comparative Zoology

Naturhistorisches Museum Basel

Queensland Museum

Western Australian Museum

Results and Discussion

Bonelli, 1810

Chaudoir, 1850; type species,

Castelnau, F.L. Laporte de, 1867; type species

(Castelnau, 1867).

Material examined.

Holotype, male []. Type locality Brisbane. A female specimen, “26.49S 151.58E [29°49'S / 151°58'E] Yarraman QLD State F. No. 282, 31 Mar. 1982, R.A. Barrett, M. Lenz, L. Miller”//”Rotten log” [ANIC].

Notes.

Originally this species was placed by Castelnau (1867) near Castelnau, 1867, a taxon, which was then considered to be within . Subsequently it was moved to by Chaudoir (1880) and according to Chaudoir it did not differ from W.S. Macleay, 1825. Sloane (1898) agreed with the placement in , but deferred on the generic assignment and its possible similarity to . Straneo (1941) thoroughly reviewed the pertinent literature and studied the type specimen of . He concurred with the placement in and suggested there were similarities with Sloane, 1920 (= Chaudoir, 1850, not Solier, 1849), Bates, 1874 and Chaudoir, 1843 (= Chaudoir, 1843). These taxa fall in three different tribes of and Straneo pointed out that without access to Australian material for comparison that he could not make a decision regarding the status or relationships of the genus and species. Moore et al. (1987) maintained the genus in incertae sedis, accurately reflecting the uncertainty of the placement of the taxon at that time.

I examined the holotype and confirm that it has typical character states, e.g. single supraorbital seta and no elytral plica, and does not have any character states that would place it in any other tribe. Additionally the male has the front and middle tarsomeres expanded with spongy ventral pads, the penultimate labial palpomere is PageBreakbisetose, the posterior lateromarginal seta of pronotum is absent and the angular base of stria 1 is absent. This combination of character states is consistent with placement of this taxon in subtribe and is identical to the state combination found in many Australia species. Based on this evidence, is considered a junior synonym of .

A search in the holdings of the ANIC and QM did not yield any additional specimens of this species beyond the single female, but at least six very similar looking species were found. Each was distinctly different, but all are very likely closely related based on their general similarity. How many of these are currently named species cannot be assessed without recourse to the types.

Chaudoir, 1873

(Straneo, 1960) comb. n.

Straneo, 1960

Material examined.

Holotype, male [NMB]. Type locality Katherine, Northern Territory. Examined images only.

Notes.

Straneo (1960) discusses at length his sense that Schmidt-Goebel, 1846 (= Maindron, 1906) and Chaudoir, 1878 are closely related and that Sloane, 1900 could be a species of . Moore (1965) confirmed that is a true . Straneo's conclusions are based on very limited material and he did not discuss characters that allow for clear placement of species in these two genera. Among other characteristics, has distinctly expanded penultimate labial palpomeres not found in , while the elytral lateral bead is distinctly, finely serrate in and smooth in . The type specimen of has clearly expanded penultimate labial palpomeres and smooth elytral lateral beads. Given the new combination, is removed from the Australian faunal list.

Castelnau, 1867

Castelnau, 1867; type species,

Broun 1893; type species,

Chaudoir, 1878; type species,

Baehr, 2007; type species,

Moore, 1965; type species,

(Chaudoir, 1878) comb. n.

Chaudoir, 1878

Holotype, male [MNHN], type locality given as Paroo River area (QLD or NSW), but probably erroneous. See below.

(Baehr, 2007) comb. n.

Baehr, 2007

Holotype, male [QM]. Type locality Bulburin State Forest via Many Peaks, Qld. An additional 12 specimens from the type locality [EMEC, QM].

, sensu Will (2011) includes Australian species placed in by Moore et al (1987) and species from New Zealand and New Caledonia. Baehr (2007) described as a , but he clearly noted that this placement was both anomalous for the species' characteristics and biogeography. Study of the type and additional material for both morphology and DNA data (Will unpubl.) clearly places this species in .

is known only from the holotype specimen and was reported as coming from the Paroo River area. However, this specimen is unlike any Australian species of carabid and is very similar to species from New Zealand. It may in fact be a synonym of one of the described New Zealand species, but until their types are studied this cannot be established. The Australian species are all restricted to the higher elevation rainforests in the northeastern coastal region. The Paroo River runs through the semi-arid inland region of southwestern Queensland and northwestern New South Wales and is both geographically and environmentally distant from any location where has been found in Australia. Likely the type locality was erroneously reported.

Bonelli, 1810

Sloane, 1907. Syn. n.

Sloane, 1907; type species,

Holotype, [ANIC] and three additional specimens [ANIC, MCZ]; ten specimens of Sloane, 1915 [EMEC].

Sloane described a new tribe for suggesting that it belonged “at the beginning of the Trigonotomid series of the subfamily ”, i.e. as sister to a group . Subsequent authors have placed it between and PageBreak (Csiki 1931), near chaetogenyines, chlaeniines, oodines, and licinines ( sensu Erwin and Sims (1984) and Erwin (1985, 1991)) in (Lorenz 2005) in (Moore et al. 1987) or (Lawrence and Slipinski 2013). Moore (1965) did not include in his treatment of Australian . Aside from the original description, there has not been a discussion of the characteristics of . Its variable placement, non-inclusion in Moore's (1965) treatment and frequent association with and by various authors apparently stems from the species being described as having a single supraorbital setae in combination with the presence of an elytral plica. However, supraorbital seta number is variable, with some individuals having one and others two above each eye. Other characteristics are typical of Australian , including the presence of the spermathecal gland duct diverticulum (sgd) in the female (Liebherr and Will 1998). The sgd is typical in many pterostichines including Australian taxa like Chaudoir, 1865 (Will 2011), Tshitshérine, 1901 (Liebherr and Will 1998) and Chaudoir, 1865 (Will unpubl.). The sgd is not known to be present in any or . Additionally, preliminary analyses of DNA data (Will unpubl.) consistently places with Australian . Based on this evidence, is placed in and is synonymized.

LaFerté-Sénectère, 1851

(W.J. Macleay, 1888)

W.J. Macleay, 1888

Material Examined.

Syntypes [ANIC], type locality, King Sound, Western Australia. Additional material in ANIC and WAM examined.

Bousquet, 1996 was proposed by Bousquet (1996) to replace Habu, 1956 and he moved all species that where included by Moore et al. (1987) in LeConte, 1853 into this genus except for , which Bousquet had not studied. Although some subsequent catalogs (e.g., Lorenz 2005) treated this species as , there is no indication that the character states were confirmed. I examined the syntypes and found the following: submentum with pairs of setae at the lateral edge; mesocoxa with a posterior seta and; metatrochanter without a seta. This combination is consistent with , confirming that it shares the putative synapomorphic character states with species currently included in that genus. is therefore not found in the Australian fauna.