Taxonomic review of the Pterostichini and Loxandrini fauna of New Caledonia (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Abstract The generic-level taxa included in Pterostichini and Loxandrini from New Caledonia are reviewed and a key to genera and species provided. Two new genera are described, Paniestichus and Abacophrastus, with the following new species: Paniestichus subsolianus, Abacophrastus millei, Abacophrastus chapes, Abacophrastus carnifex, Abacophrastus hobbit, Abacophrastus megalops, Abacophrastus reflexus and Abacophrastus bellorum. Abacoleptus curtus new species, is described. Notonomus irideus and Notonomus savesi are moved to Prosopogmus. Four new species of Prosopogmus are described: Prosopogmus koghisensis, Prosopogmus lescheni, Prosopogmus fortis and Prosopogmus aoupiniensis. Homalosoma griseolum is moved to Sphodrosomus. Cerabilia is newly recorded from New Caledonia and the genus is moved from Platynini to Loxandrini and therefore is the first report of Loxandrini from New Caledonia. An apparent adventive from Australia, Darodilia, is newly reported from New Caledonia.


Introduction
New Caledonia, including Grande Terre, Ile des Pins and the Loyalty Islands is one of the most biologically fascinating places on Earth. It is known for its highly diverse and endemic flora (Dawson 1981, Jaffré 1992) and fauna (Bauer and Vindum 1990, Chazeau 1993, Malm and Johanson 2008 and is listed as the world's smallest biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al. 2000). Soon after the arrival of the French to New Caledonia, specimens began to make their way to Europe where they were eagerly described by taxonomists of the period (Chazeau 1993). Recently, a resurgent interest in New Caledonian biodiversity has been partly stimulated by the highly controversial notion that Grande Terre was completely submerged until the Oligocene (Murienne et al. 2005, Grandcolas et al. 2008. The corollary of this hypothesis is that the terrestrial and freshwater life on New Caledonia is entirely derived from recent dispersing individuals, or the alternative offered by Heads (2008), that small populations of organisms hopped between local ephemeral small islands until Grande Terre became emergent. Both scenarios conflict with evidence of a more ancient vicariance origin coincident with the breakup of Gondwana, estimated to have occurred around 80mya, and the apparent limited dispersal abilities of some New Caledonian taxa. The latter would seem to require persistent emergence of habitable land e.g., (Sharma and Giribet 2009). How the communities of plants and animals came to be assembled on New Caledonia as they are today remains unanswered. Darlington (1957: 535-537), long before the current debate about the oceanic or continental nature of the New Caledonia fauna, held that the pattern of vertebrates suggested dispersal was the sole mechanisms, but that "New Caledonia too is supposed to be an old island, but its vertebrate fauna is not obviously old. It includes no ancient rel-icts…. The occurrence and geographical relationships of many invertebrates are not yet well known, and it is dangerous to generalize about them from the literature, but I know that carabid beetles (which I study) are highly differentiated and apparently old on Madagascar, New Zealand, and New Caledonia… The carabids therefore agree with the vertebrates up to a point but suggest that the New Caledonian fauna is old…".
A fundamental step toward revealing the biogeographic story is the discovery and description of species across many groups and reconstructing their phylogenetic relationships. New Caledonian carabid beetles are a significant part of the islands' ecological community, but they remain rather poorly described and so have not yet been analyzed in biogeographical context.
Currently there are about 120 species of Carabidae recorded from New Caledonia, with the largest tribe being Cicindelini (24 species). However, the predominance of tiger beetles is due to a biased description effort rather than an actual numerical dominance of species in the fauna. Primarily based on material recently collected by researchers affiliated with institutions listed below and my own collecting, it is now apparent that the Pterostichini and Loxandrini (Pterostichini s.l. auctorum) comprise the most species rich carabid taxon on the islands with over 50 species. The single loxandrine genus Cerabilia Laport de Castlenau includes about half of those species.
No general taxonomic treatment of the pterostichine carabid beetles of New Caledonia has been published since Fauvel's (1882aFauvel's ( , b, c, 1903 overview work on the carabids of the island. Fauvel and various authors publishing on the carabid fauna of New Caledonia around the turn of the last century were working independently and had access to very limited material and so were not able to effectively place species in genera. In this contribution generic placement of species is made consistent with the current the classification and results of character analyses to be published elsewhere. New species and genera are described based on recently collected material and all available material and type specimens were bought together for this review. Although it is a significant advance from the time of Fauvel, the material available and number of recent collecting events is still too small to consider the New Caledonian pterostichine fauna to be well known. In particular, genera like Prosopogmus Chaudoir and Cerabilia that have many species with very limited ranges are likely to have many more species yet to be discovered. This contribution is strictly taxonomic in nature and genera are listed here as they emerge from the artificial key provided. A cladistic analysis and phylogeny of Pterostichitae is to be published elsewhere, but the generic concepts presented here are consistent with the preliminary analyses of that ongoing study.

Methods
Dissection methods for male and female genitalia and defensive glands, measurements and descriptive terms follow (Liebherr andWill 1998, Will 2002). Images were taken using a Microptics XLT digital imagining system and subsequently edited to enhance clarity using standard image editing software.
Loans of material were kindly provided for this study by the following institutions and individuals: Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Geoff Monteith (QM); California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, David Kavanaugh (CAS); Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, Theirry Deuve (MNHN); New Zealand Arthropod Collection, Auckland, Richard Leschen (NZAC); Essig Museum of Entomology, Berkeley (EMEC); Zoologische Staatssammlung, München, Martin Baehr and Michael Balke (ZMS), Staatliche Naturhistorische Sammlungen, Museum fuer Tierkunde, Olaf Jaeger, (MTD); Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Alain Drumont, (IRSNB); P.M. Giachino collection, Turin (GC). Examined types are indicated by an exclamation point. Ocular ratio refers to the width over eyes/width between eyes. Standard body length (SBL) is the sum of the measurement of the head from the base of the labrum to the cervical sulcus, midlength of the pronotum and length of left elytron from base to apex.
New Caledonia species. Darodilia undetermined sp. Exemplars of species examined. Darodilia longula Tschitshérine, D. robusta Sloane, D. mandibularis castelnau, seven undetermined (probably undescribed) species of Darodilia from Australia and one species from New Caledonia.
Generic distribution. Australia and New Caledonian.
Notes. This genus has not been previously recorded from New Caledonia. I have seen two male specimens from La Foa, Pocquereux (approximate location 21°43'S/165°54'E), 50m elevation and Koumac (approximate location 20°33'S/164°16'E), 60m elevation, collected in February 2008 by P.M. Giachino (GC), and one male from Tiea Reserve, 21°07'S/164°57' E, 30m, November 2001, collected by C. Burwell & G. Monteith (EMEC). These beetles are commonly collected in northern Australia and based on my UV/MV light collections in Australia they are strong fliers. Most likely the presence of this species in New Caledonia is due to human transport or dispersal. The specimens from New Caledonia appear to be conspecific with others from Australia I have studied. However, as the genus needs revised it is not possible to confidently identify the specimens without recourse to the types.    Type species. Argutor holomelanus Tschitschérine 1890, see Moore et al. 1987 for details on type.
Description. Head. Clypeo-ocular sulci absent; mentum emarginate, sides divergent, paramedial pits moderately large, deeply impressed; median tooth bifid; paraglossae small, without elongate setae at apex; ligular sclerite with two seta on apical margin; maxillary palpifer with one basal seta; antennae filiform, with three basal segments glabrous. Thorax. Pronotum quadrate, slightly transverse to slightly elongate, two marginal setae; pro-, meso-and metasterna glabrous; proepisternum smooth; elytra free, border at base, nine fully impressed striae, very short tenth stria at level of plica, apicolateral plica small and visible, parascutellar stria long, well impressed, not continuous with stria 1, angular base of stria 1 present, parascutellar punctures absent, three discal punctures in interval 3, intervals flat or convex; hind wing full; anterior tarsi of male with three basal segments expanded, ventrally squamous, all tarsi dorsally glabrous. Abdomen. Ventrites 3-6 without transverse sulci; aedeagus ( fig. 8) (2005), however, he did not include P. numeensis in his study. Based on that paper and specimens available to me, I cannot confidently identify many individuals from Australia and some of those are very similar to P. numeensis. Based on my preliminary study there is a significant amount of continuous variation in gross features, such as pronotal form and elytral structures, while there is little and very subtle, variation in male genitalia. This genus requires revision based on a large sample of material and probably will require DNA sequence data for full resolution of the species boundaries. Given the material I have seen, Pseudoceneus numeensis appears distinct from typical individuals of other currently name species, but is probably conspecific with a widespread and commonly collected species in Queensland, Australia and thus likely represents a recent introduction or dispersal from Australia to New Caledonia.    Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 8.0-9.0mm, greatest width over elytra 3.1-3.8mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black. Legs, mouthparts, and antennae slightly or noticeably paler, piceous to rufopiceous. Luster. Dorsally and ventrally shiny, elytra slightly duller. Iridescence. Elytra and ventral surface of body with slight spectral iridescence, otherwise lacking. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines very shallow, visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or somewhat irregular mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci deeply impressed, linear, divergent, extended to anterior supraorbital seta, ocular ratio 1.35-1.42, eyes average size, rounded. Labrum with anteromedial depression. Antennae: Overall length short, reaching back 2/3 length of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 nearly quadrate. Thorax. Pronotum nearly quadrate, sides evenly rounded from apex to near base, only a very slight straightening near base, marginal bead continuous from apex to base, not extended along basal margin, basal margin not bordered, anterior margin nearly straight with anterior angles scarcely produced, hind angles ( fig. 45A) obtuse and rounded, inner basal impression linear and well impressed, outer impression absent, seta at hind angle about 3x pore width forward of basal margin 1x pore width medial of lateral channel. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture absent from disc, visible as irregular mesh of microlines laterally and basally at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, well impressed and impunctate. Parascutellar stria present. Angular base of stria 1 absent. Elytra moderately shiny, microsculpture visible at 20x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and nearly reaching lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with very broad, thick apical bead. Male aedeagus ( fig. 13A-B) slightly curved to right in dorsal view, tip broadly, uniformly rounded.

Prosopogmus lescheni
Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 7.5-8.8mm, greatest width over elytra 2.8-3.5mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black some individuals with a slight bronze reflex on elytra. Legs, mouthparts, and antennae slightly or noticeably paler than ventral surface of body, piceous to rufopiceous or concolorous with ventral surface and nearly black. Luster. Dorsally and ventrally moderately shiny to slightly dull, elytra usually slightly duller. Iridescence. Elytra and ventral surface of body with no or only a very slight spectral iridescence, otherwise lacking. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines well impressed, readily visible at 30x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci deeply impressed, linear, divergent, ended short of anterior supraorbital seta, ocular ratio 1.38-1.45, eyes average size, rounded prominent. Labrum flat. Antennae: Overall length moderately long, reaching base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 elongate. Thorax. Pronotum nearly quadrate, sides evenly rounded from apex to near base, marginal bead continuous from apex to base, not extended along basal margin, ended at hind angle which forms a distinct angular jag, anterior margin slightly emarginate with anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impression linear and well impressed, outer impression shallowly or deeply impressed, area laterad of hind outer impression convex, hind margin between basal impressions with more or less distinctly impressed border, seta at hind angle not more than one pore width forward of basal margin and in contact with lateral channel. Dorsal surface moderately shiny, microsculpture readily visible as irregular mesh of microlines at 20x magnification. Elytral striae complete, well impressed and impunctate. Parascutellar stria and angular base of stria 1 present. Elytra moderately shiny, microsculpture readily visible at 20x as mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight or slightly arcuate and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Male aedeagus ( fig. 13C-F) in dorsal view, nearly straight to distal edge of ostium and then curved right, degree of curvature varies between individuals, tip rounded.

Prosopogmus fortis
Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 7.5-8.8mm, greatest width over elytra 2.8-3.5mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black some individuals with a slight bronze reflex from elytra. Legs, mouthparts, and antennae slightly or noticeably paler than ventral surface of body, piceous to rufopiceous or concolorous with ventral surface and then nearly black. Luster. Dorsally and ventrally moderately shiny to slightly dull, elytra usually slightly duller. Iridescence. Elytra and ventral surface of body with no or only a very slight spectral iridescence, otherwise lacking. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines well impressed, readily visible at 30x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci deeply impressed, linear, divergent, ended short of anterior supraorbital seta, ocular ratio 1.38-1.45, eyes average size, rounded prominent. Labrum flat. Antennae: Overall length moderately long, reaching base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 elongate. Thorax. Pronotum nearly quadrate, sides evenly rounded from apex to near base, marginal bead continuous from apex to base, not extended along basal margin, ended at hind angle which forms a distinct angular jag, anterior margin slightly emarginate with anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impression linear and well impressed, outer impression shallowly or deeply impressed, area laterad of hind outer impression convex, hind margin between basal impressions with more or less distinctly impressed border, seta at hind angle not more than one pore width forward of basal margin in contact with lateral channel. Dorsal surface moderately shiny, microsculpture readily visible as irregular mesh of microlines at 20x magnification. Elytral striae complete, well impressed and impunctate. Parascutellar stria and angular base of stria 1 present. Elytra moderately shiny, microsculpture readily visible at 20x as mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight or slightly arcuate and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Male aedeagus ( fig. 13G-H) in dorsal view nearly straight to distal edge of ostium and then curved right, tip rounded.
Etymology. Latin fortis, treated as an adjective, alludes to the well impressed basal impressions of the pronotum.
Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 8.3mm, greatest width over elytra 3.3mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennae noticeably paler rufopiceous. Luster. Dorsally and ventrally moderately shiny. Iridescence. Elytra and ventral surface of body with slight spectral iridescence, otherwise lacking. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines shallowly impressed, scarcely visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci deeply impressed, linear, divergent, ended just short of anterior supraorbital seta, ocular ratio 1.35, eyes small, rounded very prominent. Labrum with anteromedial depression. Antennae: Overall length short, reaching back 2/3 length of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 only slightly elongate. Thorax. Pronotum elongate and relatively narrow, sides evenly, shallowly rounded from apex to just before base, then nearly straight to hind angles, marginal bead continuous from apex to base, not extended along basal margin, ended at hind angle which forms a low, rounded jag, anterior margin straight, anterior angles not produced and tight to head, inner basal impression linear and well impressed, outer impression absent, hind margin laterad basal impressions with more or less distinctly impressed border, seta at hind angle not more than one pore width forward of basal margin and just touching lateral channel. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture absent from disc, visible as irregular mesh of microlines laterally and basally at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, well impressed and impunctate. Parascutellar stria present. Angular base of stria 1 absent. Elytra moderately shiny, microsculpture visible at 20x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and nearly reaching lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with very broad, thick apical bead. Male unknown. Female reproductive tract not studied.
Etymology. Name, treated as an adjective, is from the type locality, Mt. Aoupinie. Head. Clypeo-ocular sulci absent, clypeo-ocular region with very shallow, broad depression; mentum deeply emarginate, sides nearly parallel, paramedial pits very large, diameter nearly full length from base of tooth to base of mentum, very deeply impressed; median tooth bifid; paraglossae long, without elongate setae at apex; ligular sclerite with two subapical setae; maxillary palpifer with two basal and one medial seta; antennae filiform, with three basal segments glabrous. Thorax. Pronotum cordate, two marginal setae; pro-, meso-and metasterna with short scattered pubescence; proepisternum smooth; elytra fused, border at base, nine fully impressed striae, apicolateral plica a small vestige, externally visible, parascutellar stria long, very shallowly impressed, not continuous with stria 1, angular base of stria 1 present, parascutellar punctures absent, no discal punctures, intervals flat; hind wing reduced; anterior tarsi of male with three basal segments not expanded, ventrally glabrous, all tarsi dorsally glabrous. Abdomen. Ventrites 3-6 without transvers sulci; aedeagus (fig. 15, teneral male and slightly damaged dissection) ostium dorsal, oriented left side up in repose; right paramere small, elongate and bluntly rounded, left elongate conchoid, rounded point at apex; female reproductive tract ( fig. 16) without dorsolateral bursal lobe, elongate spermatheca broadly attached laterally at base of common oviduct with a small pouch on bursa near base of spermatheca, spermatheca with appended gland, without duct digital diverticulum, without spermathecal gland duct diverticulum.

Genus
Etymology. Paniestichus is a compound word, based on the name of the type locality of the type species, Mt. Panei, and the common termination in Pterostichini -stichus. It is treated as a Latin masculine.    Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 14.2-15.2mm, greatest width over elytra 5.2-5.4mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennomeres 1-4 black to piceous, antennomeres 5-11 paler, slightly infuscated. Luster. Dorsal and ventral surfaces moderately shiny. Iridescence. Elytra with distinct spectral iridescence. Ventral surface of body with slight spectral iridescence. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines hardly visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci not impressed, represented as broad shallow depressions, ocular ratio 1.2-1.3, eyes very small, rounded, not prominent, post-ocular orbits relatively very large, including genal region more than 4x size of eye. Labrum anterior margin straight. Antennae: Overall length very long, antennomeres 9-11 reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres very elongate. Thorax. Pronotum elongate cordate, sides shallowly rounded and convergent to near base and then very slightly sinuate and straight to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to base and across entire basal margin, hind angles about right angled, anterior margin very shallowly emarginate, anterior angles scarcely produced, inner basal impressions broad, shallow, not well impressed, slightly divergent, outer impression lacking, seta at hind angle in marginal bead. Dorsal surface moderately shiny, microsculpture not visible at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, shallowly impressed except laterally and apically, shallowly crenulate. Elytra moderately shiny, microsculpture not visible at 50x. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended near lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with very narrow, light apical bead.
Etymology. The specific epithet is a compound word from the Latin sub (below) and solianus (of the sun), alluding to the presumed hypogenous life history of this species. Description. Head. Clypeo-ocular sulci moderately or shallowly impressed, straight or very slightly divergent; mentum deeply emarginate, sides very slightly divergent, para-medial pits absent; median tooth bifid; paraglossae small, without elongate setae at apex; ligular sclerite with two seta on apical margin; maxillary palpifer with one basal seta; antennae filiform, with three basal segments glabrous. Thorax. Pronotum trapezoidal, widening basad, two marginal setae; prosternal process with four to six apical setae; mesosternum with two to four apical setae; metasterna glabrous; proepisternum smooth; elytra fused, bordered at base, striae 1-6 very shallowly impressed, stria 7 very shallowly impressed or absent, striae 8-9 impressed but scarcely separated from each other and somewhat difficult to discern, apicolateral plica large and visible, parascutellar stria very shallowly impressed, obscured or absent, angular base of stria 1 absent or rarely very shallowly impressed and obscured, parascutellar setigerous punctures absent, no discal punctures, interval 7 sharply carinate throughout, interval 5 sharply carinate or raised and rounded in apical third, other intervals flat or convex; hind wing reduced; anterior tarsi of male with three basal segments expanded and squamose beneath, all tarsi dorsally glabrous. Abdomen. Ventrites 3-6 without sulci; aedeagus (Figs 18,20)  Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 21.3-21.8mm, greatest width over elytra 8.3-9.0mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennomeres black to piceous. Luster. Dorsal surface dull, head and lateral edges of elytra contrastingly smoother and shinier, ventral surfaces moderately shiny. Iridescence. No spectral iridescence dorsally. Ventral surface of body with slight spectral iridescence laterally on abdomen and on prothorax. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines hardly visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells small, forming isodiametric or slightly    irregular mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci not impressed, represented as broad shallow depressions, ocular ratio 1.3, eyes small, rounded, not prominent, post-ocular small. Labrum anterior margin straight. Antennae: Overall length very long, antennomeres 8-11 reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres very elongate. Thorax. Pronotum trapezoidal, base notably wider than apex, sides shallowly rounded to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to near base, base without marginal bead, hind angle right angled, anterior margin emarginate, anterior angles produced, inner basal impressions broad, shallow, not well impressed or defined, convergent, outer impression lacking, seta at hind angle in basal marginal bead, about one pore width from lateral margin. Dorsal surface dull, microsculpture visible at 50x magnification as irregular mesh. Macrosculpture densely pappilous laterally, irregularly rugose on disc. Elytral striae complete, very shallowly impressed, smooth. Parascutellar stria present, angular base of stria 1 absent. Elytra dull except for contrastingly shiny intervals 8-9, microsculpture visible at 50x as irregular mesh. Macrosculpture densely pappilous. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended at lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow apical bead. Female unknown, male aedeagus (20A) narrow, with tip narrow and slightly expanded and rounded.

Genus
Etymology. The specific epithet, curtus is Latin for short, in recognition of the relatively short and broad form of these beetles is treated as an adjective. Description. Head. Clypeo-ocular sulci long, well impressed, divergent; mentum emarginate, sides slightly divergent, paramedial pits moderate size, deeply impressed; median tooth bifid; paraglossae small, without elongate setae at apex; ligular sclerite with two seta on apical margin; maxillary palpifer with one basal seta; antennae filiform, with three basal segments glabrous. Thorax. Pronotum elongate cordiform, margins sinuate basad, two marginal setae; pro-, meso-and metasterna glabrous; proepisternum smooth; elytra fused, without distinct border medially at base, nine well impressed striae, very short tenth stria at level of plica, apicolateral plica large and visible, parascutellar stria short, very shallowly impressed, not connected to stria 1, angular base of stria 1 present, shallowly impressed, parascutellar punctures present at base of stria 2, no discal punctures, interval 7 sharply raised throughout its length, interval 8 slightly raised in the basal half, other intervals slightly convex becoming flatter apicad; hind wing reduced; anterior tarsi of male with three basal segments expanded and squamose beneath, all tarsi dorsally glabrous. Abdomen. Ventrites 3-6 without sulci; aedeagus ( fig. 22)  Type species. Cerabilia maori Laport de Castelnau 1867, by monotypy. Description. Head. Clypeo-ocular sulci absent; mentum moderately emarginate, sides divergent, paramedial pits range from small and shallow to very large and deeply impressed; median tooth simple, triangular or blunt; paraglossae moderate length or short, without elongate setae at apex; ligular sclerite with two subapical setae; maxillary palpifer with one basal seta; antennae filiform, with first two segments always glabrous, pubescence starting in apical half of third segment to middle of fourth segment.

Genus
Thorax. Pronotum transverse, one marginal setae near middle or with two marginal setae (two in Australian and some New Zealand species); pro-, meso-and metasterna glabrous; proepisternum smooth or deeply, longitudinally strigous; elytra fused, border at base, nine fully impressed striae, short tenth stria at level of plica in some species (some Australian species striae not impressed throughout or not impressed in basal fifth), apicolateral plica absent, parascutellar stria continuous with stria 1, angular base of stria 1 absent, parascutellar punctures present at base of stria 2, interval 3 with zero to five punctures (no discal punctures in most New Zealand and all Australian species), intervals flat or slightly convex; hind wing reduced; anterior tarsi of male with three basal segments, very slightly, somewhat or notably asymmetrically expanded, ventrally squamous, tarsi dorsally glabrous or with fine scattered setae. Abdomen. Ventrites 3-6 without transvers sulci; aedeagus (fig. 25) ostium dorsal, oriented left side or right side up in repose; right paramere small, bluntly rounded, left conchoid, paramere form reversed in species with adeagus right side up in repose; female reproductive tract ( fig. 26) without dorsolateral bursal lobe, bursa with large dorsal sac present or absent, spermatheca small, sessile, broadly attached at base of common oviduct, spermatheca with appended gland, without spermatheca duct digital diverticulum, without elongate spermathecal gland duct diverticulum.
New Caledonian species. Cerabilia includes approximately 24 undescribed species in New Caledonia. These will be described elsewhere.
Exemplars of species examined. All New Caledonian species, all Australian species (three described in Feronista and 23 undescribed) and all New Zealand species (five described and 10 undescribed).   Generic distribution. If considered congeneric with Feronista (see notes below), range is Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand.
Notes. Cerabilia has been treated as an endemic genus from New Zealand and has typically been classified in Platynini (Lorenz 2005a, b, Larochelle andLarivière 2007). Analysis of a combination of morphological characters and DNA data place Cerabilia in Loxandrini as sister to, or within a clade of Australian Feronista (Will unpubl.). Although like platynines Cerabilia species lack the lateroapical elytral plica, which is present in most loxandrines, they lack the dorsal lobe of the pygidial gland reservoir (present in species of Platynini), lack the angular base of stria 1 (usually present in species of Platynini) and males in Cerabilia have the three basal protarsomeres slightly, to very notably asymmetrically expanded, a characteristic of nearly all loxandrines. Tentatively, I consider species in New Caledonia to be included in Cerabilia. A full analysis of all Australian, New Zealand and New Caledonian species and presumed outgroups is to be published elsewhere establishing the evidentiary basis for a generic classification of Loxandrini.
Etymology. The genus is treated as Latin masculine and is a combination incorporating the Greek abaco, being broad and therefore like the genus Abax, and phrastos meaning "expression". Given that these species are similar and related to Abacomorphus and Abacoleptus, the name roughly translates as yet "another expression of Abax.   Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 9.0-9.1mm, greatest width over elytra 3.4-3.5mm.
Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennae very slightly paler than ventral surface of body, piceous. Luster. Dorsal and ventral surfaces shiny.
Iridescence. Elytra and ventral surface of body with moderate spectral iridescence.
Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci very broad and scarcely impressed, ocular ratio 1.5-1.6, eyes average size for genus, rounded flat, not prominent, post-ocular orbits large. Labrum broadly emarginate. Antennae: Overall length moderately long, just reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 moderately elongate. Thorax. Pronotum nearly quadrate, sides evenly rounded in apical 3/4 and then sinuate and straight to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to sinuation then broadening and not delimited medially, hind angle slightly explanate, rounded but nearly right-angled, anterior margin slightly emarginate, anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impressions linear, slightly divergent and well impressed, outer impression lacking, seta at hind angle well forward of basal margin, about half length of straight portion of margin and nearly as distant from lateral margin. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture scarcely visible as irregular mesh of microlines at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, well impressed and impunctate. Elytra shiny, microsculpture readily visible at 50x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Male aedeagus tip elongate with simply rounded point. Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in the genitive that honors Christian Mille of the Institut Agronomique néo-Calédonien.
Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black with a distinct blue reflex, legs, mouthparts, and antennae black, concolorous with ventral surface of body. Luster. Dorsal and ventral surfaces shiny. Iridescence. Elytra and ventral surface of body without spectral iridescence. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines scarcely visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci very short, well impressed, ocular ratio 1.5, eyes average size for genus, rounded moderately prominent, post-ocular orbits large. Labrum broadly emarginate. Antennae: Type is damaged, with only 4 basal antenomeres so length unknown. Thorax. Pronotum nearly quadrate, sides scarcely rounded, with only a very slight sinuation near base, marginal bead continuous from apex to near hind angle, hind angle scarcely explanate, rounded and slightly obtuse angle, anterior margin slightly emarginate, anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impressions linear, slightly divergent and well impressed, outer impression lacking, seta at hind angle well forward of basal margin, about half length of straight portion of margin and nearly as distant from lateral margin. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture scarcely visible as irregular mesh of microlines at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, well impressed and impunctate. Elytra shiny, microsculpture hardly visible at 50x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Male aedeagus tip elongate with subapical constriction and dorso-ventrally thin, flat point.
Etymology. The specific epithet, chapes, is the terms for the rounded metal tip of the scabbard for a sword and refers to the form of the tip of the male adeagus in this species. It is treated as a noun in the nominative singular standing in apposition. Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 11.9mm, greatest width over elytra 4.7mm.

Abacophrastus carnifex
Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennae black to piceous. Luster. Dorsal and ventral surfaces shiny. Iridescence. Elytra and ventral surface of body with slight spectral iridescence. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci impressed, short, linear, ocular ratio 1.4, eyes average size for genus, rounded moderately prominent, post-ocular orbits large. Labrum broadly emarginate. Antennae: Overall length long, antennomeres 10-11 reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 elongate. Thorax. Pronotum nearly quadrate, sides evenly rounded in apical 3/4 and then sinuate and straight to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to sinuation then broadening and not delimited medially, hind angle slightly explanate, rounded but nearly right-angled, anterior margin slightly emarginate, anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impressions linear, slightly divergent and well impressed, outer impression lacking, seta at hind angle well forward of basal margin, about half length of straight portion of margin and nearly as distant from lateral margin. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture hardly visible as irregular mesh of microlines at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, impunctate, shallowly impressed, except laterally and apically. Stria 6 evanescent near base, not reaching basal margin. Elytra moderately shiny, microsculpture scarcely visible at 50x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Female tract not studied, male unknown.
Etymology. The specific epithet is carnifex, Latin for the "executioner" and is treated as a noun in the nominative singular standing in apposition. Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 13.1mm, greatest width over elytra 5.2mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennae black to pi-ceous. Dorsally with distinct metallic purple reflex, more evident on head and pronotum. Luster. Dorsal surface very shiny, ventral surface moderately shiny. Iridescence. Elytra and base of pronotum with distinct spectral iridescence. Ventral surface of body with slight spectral iridescence. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypealocular sulci impressed, short, divergent, arcuate, ocular ratio 1.4, eyes average size for genus, rounded, moderately prominent, post-ocular orbits large. Labrum broadly emarginate. Antennae: Overall length long, antennomeres 10-11 reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 elongate. Thorax. Pronotum quadrate, sides nearly straight, slightly rounded in apical 3/4 and then sinuate and straight to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to near base, broadening slightly near base, hind angle slightly explanate, nearly right-angled, anterior margin slightly emarginate, anterior angles prominently produced, inner basal impressions linear and well impressed, outer impression lacking, seta at hind angle forward of basal margin, about one third length of straight portion of margin and as distant from lateral margin. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture hardly visible as irregular mesh of microlines at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, well impressed except stria 6, impunctate. Stria 6 evanescent in basal third, not reaching basal margin. Elytra shiny, microsculpture scarcely visible at 50x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Female unknown, male aedeagus ( fig. 33B) tip bluntly and narrowly deltoid.

Abacophrastus megalops
Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci impressed, short, divergent, arcuate, ocular ratio 1.5-1.6, eyes large for genus, rounded, moderately prominent, post-ocular orbits relatively small. Labrum broadly emarginate. Antennae: Overall length long, antennomeres 10-11 reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 elongate. Thorax. Pronotum quadrate, sides shallowly rounded in apical 3/4 and then slightly sinuate and straight to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to near base there ended at level of seta, hind angle scarcely explanate, rounded, but about right angled, anterior margin slightly emarginate, anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impressions linear, well impressed, slightly divergent, outer impression lacking, seta at hind angle well forward of basal margin, about one half length of straight portion of margin and about 3/4 this length distant from lateral margin. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture of irregular mesh of microlines hardly visible at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, impunctate, shallowly impressed except laterally and apically. Elytra shiny, microsculpture scarcely visible at 50x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Male aedeagus (Figs 31,33C) tip roundly and narrowly deltoid.
Etymology. The specific epithet is a compound word from the Greek, megas (large) and ops (eyes), referring to the large eyes in this species. It is treated as an adjective in the nominative singular. Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 13.8-14.3mm, greatest width over elytra 5.3mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennomeres 1-4 black to piceous, 5 infuscated, antennomeres 6-11 paler. Dorsally with very slight metallic purple reflex, more evident on head and pronotum. Luster. Dorsal surface shiny, ventral surface slightly duller. Iridescence. Elytra with slight spectral iridescence. Ventral surface of body with very slight spectral iridescence. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with microlines scarcely visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci impressed, short, divergent, arcuate, ocular ratio 1.44, eyes typical for genus, rounded, moderately prominent, post-ocular orbits relatively small. Labrum broadly emarginate. Antennae: Overall length long, antennomeres 10-11 reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 elongate. Thorax. Pronotum narrow quadrate, sides shallowly rounded in apical 3/4 and then clearly sinuate and straight to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to near base there ended at level of seta, hind angle explanate, rounded, but about right angled, anterior margin emarginate, anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impressions linear, well impressed, slightly divergent, outer impression lacking, seta near hind angle well forward of basal margin, about one half length of straight portion of margin and about 3/4 this length distant from lateral margin. Dorsal surface shiny, microsculpture of irregular mesh of microlines hardly visible at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, impunctate, well impressed. Elytra shiny, microsculpture scarcely visible at 50x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Male unknown.

Abacophrastus bellorum
Etymology. The specific epithet, a noun in the genitive case, honors Ross and Joyce Bell and their exceptional contribution to entomology and the study of Carabidae. Description. Size. Overall length (sbl) 13.7mm, greatest width over elytra 5.4mm. Color. Dorsal and ventral surfaces black, legs, mouthparts, and antennomeres 1-3 black to piceous, antennomeres 4-11 paler, slightly infuscated. Dorsally with slight metallic purple reflex. Luster. Dorsal surface shiny, ventral surface slightly duller. Iridescence. Elytra with spectral iridescence. Ventral surface of body without spectral iridescence except slightly so on proepisternum. Head. Dorsal microsculpture with scarcely microlines visible at 50x magnification, sculpticells isodiametric or slightly irregular, forming mesh, clypeal-ocular sulci impressed, short, linear, divergent, ocular ratio 1.42, eyes typical for genus, rounded, moderately prominent, post-ocular orbits relatively small. Labrum broadly emarginate. Antennae: Overall length long, antennomeres 10-11 reaching beyond base of pronotum, antennomeres 5-11 elongate. Thorax. Pronotum quadrate, sides shallowly rounded in apical 3/4 and then slightly sinuate to base, marginal bead continuous from apex to near base there ended at level of seta, margin at hind angle broadly explanate, angle about right angled, anterior margin emarginate, anterior angles moderately produced, inner basal impressions linear, impressed, slightly divergent, outer impression lacking, seta near hind angle well forward of basal margin, about length of very straight straight portion of margin and the distant from lateral margin. Dorsal surface moderately shiny, microsculpture of irregular mesh of microlines hardly visible at 50x magnification. Elytral striae complete, impunctate, well impressed. Elytra shiny, microsculpture scarcely visible at 50x as stretched mesh of microlines. Metacoxal sulcus straight and ended well before lateral end of coxa. Abdomen. Last abdominal ventrite with narrow, light apical bead. Male unknown.

Genus
Exemplars of species examined. Both species, only known from the holotypes.   absent; median tooth bifid; paraglossae small, without elongate setae at apex; ligular sclerite with two or four seta on apical margin; maxillary palpifer with one basal seta; antennae filiform, with three basal segments glabrous. Thorax. Pronotum cordiform, margins sinuate basad, two marginal setae; pro-, meso-and metasterna glabrous; proepisternum smooth; elytra fused, border at base, nine well impressed striae, with or without very short tenth stria at level of plica, apicolateral plica large and visible, parascutellar stria short, impressed, not connected to stria 1, angular base of stria 1 well impressed, parascutellar punctures absent or if present minute and present at base of stria 2, no discal punctures, interval 7 equally convex as other intervals or slightly raised near base, odd numbered intervals slightly raised and more convex or equal, all intervals becoming flatter apicad; hind wing reduced; anterior tarsi of male with three basal segments expanded and squamose beneath in S. griseolum, segments not expanded without ventral setae in other species, all tarsi dorsally glabrous. Abdomen. Ventrites 3-6 without sulci; aedeagus (Figs 38,41) ostium dorsal, median lobe oriented left side up in repose; parameres very attenuate with long apex, nearly of equal length; female reproductive tract (Figs 39,42) with prominent dorsolateral bursal lobe, elongate spermatheca attached apically on lobe, accessory gland attached to bursa at base of lobe, without spermathecal duct digital diverticulum, without spermathecal gland duct diverticulum.
Exemplars of species examined. See treatment by Will (2006) for S. saisseti and S. monteithi. I examined four specimens in the Fauvel collection in IRSNB initially thought to be possible syntypes of Homalosoma griseolum Fauvel. The specimens are consistent with the morphological attributes as in the original description. However, in the original description Fauvel stated that the single specimen was from "Ile des Pins (Bougier)" a unique from the "Collection Gambey." Subsequently, Fauvel (1903) published additional records for this species and noted those specimens were "Deux exemplaires, dont un dans la collection François". The four IRSNB specimens appear to have been identified by Fauvel and are labeled with Ile des Pins. However the last line of the label includes "f.Faustien", which is a piece of information not noted in either of those publication by Fauvel. In a corrigenda and addendum by Fauvel (1903) he added "Le frère Faustien a recueilli à l'île des Pins une collection importante, aujourd'hui réunie à la mienne par l'acquisition de la collection Hustache." Based on this, the specimens I had available for study would have been added to Fauvel's collection long after he described Homalosoma griseolum in 1882. The whereabouts of the holotype is unknown.
Generic distribution.       The genus Homalosoma is part of the Trichosternus series of Moore (1965) and those taxa have a distinct set of characteristics that have not been found in any New Caledonian carabids.