Corresponding author: Achille Casale (
Academic editor: T. Erwin
As I recently noted (
On the contrary, the Galapagos islands and their biodiversity offer a fantastic place for any student familiar with evolutionary biology, and have been investigated for many decades. Several contributions from these investigations include beetles (for a synopsis see
Konjev Desender and Jean Pierre Maelfait contributed greatly to the knowledge of the arthropod fauna of the Galapagos Islands: thanks to many travels, they had the opportunity to produce a series of highly interesting scientific contributions dedicated to this archipelago (see
Thanks to Konjev, I had the opportunity to describe the only
The following data come from many specimens of Neotropical
Male genitalia were dissected, dehydrated in ethanol, cleared in cold KOH, examined and illustrated, using standard techniques before their definitive inclusion on microscope slides. Line drawings were made using a camera lucida attached to stereomicroscopes Wild M-3 and Wild M-5, and a microscope Leitz Orthoplan. The photograph of habitus was obtained using a digital camera Canon G6 attached to stereomicroscope Zeiss Stemi 2000.
body Total Length, from the anterior margin of clypeus to the apex of elytra, measured along the suture.
overall Length, from apex of mandibles to apex of elytra, measured along the suture.
ratio Length of Pronotum, as linear distance from the anterior to the basal margin, measured along the midline/maximum Width of Pronotum, as greatest transverse distance.
ratio Length of Elytra, as linear distance from the basal ridge to the apex, measured along the suture/maximum Width of Elytra.
Zoology Museum, Departamento de Biologia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, Quito (Ecuador)
Casale collection, University of Sassari (Italy)
In this contribution, the genus
The median lobe of aedeagus is a synonym of phallus of some authors. Endophallus is synonym of inner sac of authors.
With the character states of the Neotropical
Male genitalia as in
Close to
Ecuador, Napo: San Rafael, 1400 m.
Holotype ♂: Ecuador, Napo: Reventador, San Rafael 1400 m, 10 Jan 1998 F. Maza, at light trap (QCAZ); paratype ♀: Ecuador, Sucumbios, Cascada San Rafael, 1150 m,
Note: the male holotype presents some malformations (elytral intervals wrinkled, metatibiae asymmetrically curved). For this very reason, the female paratype is illustrated in
It is a great honor for me to dedicate this new Ecuadorian species to the memory of Konjev Desender, the Belgian carabidologist who contributed greatly to the knowledge of carabids of the Galapagos Islands, the famous archipelago belonging to the Republic of Ecuador
General features as in
The most interesting and curious fact is that
In fact,
On the contrary,
The group includes some not yet described species from Central and Southern America. The species described so far can be distinguished by the following key:
1 | Genae markedly swollen, abruptly constricted to the neck. Elytral disc mostly dark rufous, with metallic green reflection only at base and on outer intervals 7–9. Elytral pre-apical callosity slightly distinct. Metatarsomeres 1–3 deeply grooved dorsally. Range: Brazil, Atlantic coast (Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro) | |
– | Genae swollen but regularly curved, not abruptly constricted to the neck. Elytral disc with metallic reflection extended to all intervals. Elytral pre-apical callosity markedly distinct on intervals 7–8. Metatarsomere 3 not grooved dorsally | 2 |
2 | Pronotum elongate, constricted in front. Elytral disc with marked metallic green reflection, but with distinct reddish patch on the inner intervals, more evident at oblique light. Metatarsomeres 1–2 superficially grooved dorsally. Range: Central America (Panama) | |
– | Pronotum subquadrate or slightly transverse. Elytral disc fully metallic green or golden green. Only metatarsomere 1 grooved dorsally | 3 |
3 | Apical half of antennomere 1, and following antennomeres, markedly infuscated. Apical margin and sutural interval of elytra with metallic cupreous-purple reflection. Range: Ecuador (Napo) | |
– | Antennae fully rufous. Sutural interval of elytra bright metallic green; apical margin of elytra yellow reddish, as the base and lateral margins. Range: Colombia |
For the loan or gift of material on which this description is based, and for his constant help in Ecuador, I am particularly indebted to my good friend Giovanni Onore (Quito).
I highly appreciated the support of Dr Thierry Deuve (Paris, France) for the loan of type material from the collections in the National Natural History Museum, Department of Systematics (Entomology) (Paris).
For their valuable assistance with the preparation of illustrations, I thank very much my co-operators Ivo Manca and Paolo Marcia (Department of Zoology, University of Sassari).
The author is also indebted to an anonymous reviewer for the linguistic revision of the text.