Grundmannius dispar ( Péringuey, 1896 )

Guéorguiev, Borislav & Will, Kipling, 2025, A new genus and tribal placement for Ceneus speculiferus Fairmaire, 1879, comments on Grundmannius Basilewsky, 1965, Mirachlaenius Facchini, 2011 and Stenoodes Basilewsky, 1953, and a key to the Oriental and Australasian genera of Chlaeniina Brullé, 1834 (Coleoptera, Carabidae), Zoosystema 47 (15), pp. 231-259 : 244-249

Grundmannius dispar ( Péringuey, 1896)

( Figs 11 A-D; 12; 13A, B; 14A-E; Tables 4 , 5 )

Ectenognathus dispar Péringuey 1896: 521 .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Mozambique • 3 ♂, 1 ♀; Cabo Delgado Province, Megaruma river near Mecufi ; 6.VII.1983; P. Beron et V. Beshkov leg.; Grundmannius dispar Basilewsky det. Kirschenhofer 2014; BG-NMNHS-ENT-000000006143 ; BG-NM-NHS-ENT-000000006144 ; BG-NMNHS-ENT-000000006145 ; BG-NMNHS-ENT-000000006146 .

South AFrica • 1 ♂; Transvaal , 2 mi. N. of Messina; 590 m a.s.l.; 24.III.1958; E. S. Ross & R. E. Leech leg.; CAS .

TAXONOMIC COMMENTS ( BASED ON MATERIAL EXAMINED). Below we list morphological features not given in the works of Péringuey (1896) and Basilewsky (1965). A complete redescription, including a detailed description of the structures of female reproductive tract, was not possible as no fully sclerotized female individuals were available to us.

General morphology

Large specimens with glabrous integument of body, with elytra bicolored and rounded at apex; elytron with parascutellar stria not anastomosing with stria 1, base of stria 1 joining base of stria 2; lateral edge of elytral epipleuron with 32-34 short, wellvisible spines more conspicuous and denser located medially and posteriorly ( Fig. 11A ); metathoracic flight wings long, fully developed. Antennomere 3 glabrous at low magnification but with sparse minute hairs visible at higher magnification, 3 significantly longer than antennomeres 1-2 as well as antennomere 4; maxillary palpomere 1 with very scant, hardly visible hairs, palpomeres 2-3 glabrous; galea two-segmented ( Fig. 11B ). Anterior coxal cavities biperforate ( Fig. 11C ) – a characteristic of the assemblage Chlaeniini + Oodini + Panagaeini (see Jeannel 1949a: 774, 848). Metepisternum distinctly coadunate with elytral epiepleuron, with inner border 1.15-1.20 times longer than anterior border ( Fig. 12 ). Tarsomeres 1-5 in both sexes finely grooved on dorsal side; male tarsomeres 1-3 somewhat flattened dorsally, with adhesive vestiture on ventral side of “spongy” type ( Fig. 11D ). Female mediotergite VIII continuous medially; ovipositor with laterotergite having about 25-30 apical setae, gonocoxite 1 having an apical fringe of four long setae and gonocoxite 2 having by one large dorsolateral and one large dorsomedial ensiform seta and two nematiform setae ( Fig. 13A ); spermatheca with compact bursa copulatrix and wide common oviduct ( Fig. 13B ). Male abdominal segment VIII, with mediotergite uninterrupted medially and antecostal portion encompassing aedeagus ventrally ( Fig. 14A ). Plesiomorphic for Carabidae left-everting aedeagal configuration (median lobe lies on its right side in repose and left side superior) ( Fig. 14A ). Median lobe of aedeagus long and thin, moderately curved ventrally, with straight apex, very short apical lamella, small and very short basal bulb, proximal end of ostium near middle of shaft and internal sac with one sclerite at proximal position ( Figs 14 B-E). Right paramere elongate, somewhat shorter than left paramere, which is conchoid ( Figs 14B, C ).

Chaetotaxy

Labrum with six equidistant setae. Clypeus with two mediolateral setae. One supraorbital seta each side behind middle of eyes. Stipes with one anterior and one posterior seta. Ligula apical margin with a pair of long setae. Penultimate labial palpomere glabrous, without setae on internal margin. Mentum with two paramedial setae. Submentum with two long medial setae, without lateral setae. Elytral sensory system consisting of markedly small setiferous pores and short setae, both being barely detectable, as some pores (umbilicate series and those in apical portion of stria 7) located at or near apices of small protuberances, not in foveae, as usual in carabid beetles; parascutellar setiferous puncture small, on interval 1 near to angular base of stria 1 (but not in stria 1), seta rather short (but twice as long as discal setae); elytral intervals 1, 3, 5 and 7 with eight to twenty hardly visible, short setae, located in a row; apical portion of stria 7 with two short setae; umbilicate series consisting of 24-27 fine and hardly visible short setae. Protrochanter with long hind seta. Mesocoxa with one long posteromedial seta and one short lateral seta, with pubescent anterolateral surface; mesotrochanter with one hind seta. Metacoxa with two lateral setae, a rather long anterolateral one and a short posterolateral one; mesotrochanter without seta. Abdominal ventrites 2-5 with scarce hairs in middle; ventrites 4-5 with two long ambulatory setae; last ventrite with two setiferous punctures in male and four in female.

REMARKS

The species was described in the genus Ectenognathus Murray, 1858 from “Middle Limpopo ”, based on single female specimen ( Péringuey 1896). This generic assignment seems to have been made by Péringuey as a result of apotypic traits present in both of his species and the type species of the genus, E. dryptoides Muray, 1858 ( Murray 1858): very long and glabrous last two joints of labial and maxillary palpomeres; simple mentum tooth, rounded at tip; long and subfalcate mandibles ( E. dryopoides has mandibles much more falcate and curved at apex than mandibles of G. dispar ); moderately emarginate labrum; narrow, subcordiform pronotum, with sides more or less broadly reflexed behind.

Nearly 70 years later the situation changed after more data on the morphology of Chlaeniini have been amassed.Studying one male specimen of E. dispar with broken protarsomeres and comparing it with the type of E. dryptoides, Basilewsky (1965) established the genus Grundmannius . He made this decision because of the presence of simple, non-crossed elytral epipleuron and the absence of the lateral setiferous punctures on pronotum in the first species. Accordingly, he placed the new genus in subtribe Callistina , with species that possess the two aforementioned characters. Contrary to this, the presence of crossed elytral epipleuron in E. dryptoides – “the reflexed margin of the elytra, particularly towards the apex” (see Murray 1858) supports placement of this species as a member of subtribe Chlaeniina . Based on the thesis/antithesis 66(61) of Basilewsky (1950: 51) we can provide two more distinctions between the monotypic genera Ectenognathus and Grundmannius . Both the maxillary palpomeres and tarsomeres dorsally are pubescent in the former genus whereas they are glabrous in the latter genus.

Recently, Kirschenhofer (2010) supported the view of Basilewsky that the genus is a member of Callistina , but stated that G. dispar is a very characteristically distinct species in terms of its genital morphology and external characteristics and it should be placed in its own subtribe. Currently, Grundmannius is placed in tribe Lachnophorini ( Lorenz 2025) . Such a placement might have been based on a few external characters, such as falciform mandibles and lack of elytral plica, which are found in lachnophorines and lacking in most chlaeniines ( Table 4 ) as well as accepting the supposition by Chaudoir (1876: 8-9; see also Basilewsky & Grundmann 1955: 201) that Ectenognathus may be a lachnophorine. Additional arguments for such an assignment can be inferred from the view that the presumed basal chlaeniines and basal odacanthines (to which lachnophorines were referred before the work of Liebherr 2016) share a similar ground plan of the body and similar way of life ( Baehr 1996: 263, 2005: 183).

To ascertain the relationships of Grundmannius the comparative method was applied, looking for similarities and differences of the morphology of adults. Two sets of characters were investigated: the first set focused on features thought to likely resolve the tribal affinity of the genus in regard to Chlaeniiini and Lachnophorini ( Table 4 ) and a second set to assign the genus subtribal position within Chlaeniini ( Table 5 ). For character states in Lachnnophorini, we carefully surveyed the works of Ball & Hilchie (1983), Liebherr (1988, 2016), Liebherr & Will (1998), Erwin & Zamorano (2014) and Moret & Ortuño (2017). In summary ( Table 4 ), Grundmannius is much more similar to chlaeniines sharing with some or all of them: an obtuse tip of terminal palpomeres; glabrous maxillary apical palpomere; glabrous antennomere 2; one supraocular setiferous puncture; biperforate anterior coxal cavities (character state unknown in lachnophorines); metepisternum coadunate with elytral epipleuron; adhesive vestiture of male protarsomeres 1-3 of “spongy” type; rounded elytral apex. Among the characters enumerated, there are three of tribal importance for Chlaeniini – the coadunate metepisternum, the adhesive vestiture of male protarsomeres 1-3, and single supraocular setiferous puncture. Grundmannius and Lachnophorini share only the lack of elytral plica. However, the last character state occurs in the chlaeniine subtribe Callistina .

Grundmannius dispar and representatives of the subtribe Chlaeniina share many important features not found in species of Callistina ( Table 5 ), such as: smooth macrosculpture of cuticle; pubescence absent from integument; glabrous antennomere 2; narrow and blunt tip of ultimate palpomeres; glabrous interior side of penultimate labial palpomere; two-segmented galea; mentum tooth present; pronotal epipleuron reflexed at rear; presence of discal punctures in elytral interval 3; metepisternum coadunate with elytral epipleuron. Among taxa placed in the tribe Chlaeniini , only G. dispar and species of Callistina share the lack of the pronotal posterolateral setiferous punctures and elytral epipleuron not being interrupted by a plica. The character evidence supports classifying the genus as a member of the subtribe Chlaeniina , not in Callistina (cf. Basilewsky 1965). We hypothesize that the absence of the elytral epipleural plica and the lack of the posterior pronotal setiferous punctures in Grundmannius and Callistina represent independent character losses. The spermatheca of G. dispar remains unknown and given its utility in other taxa it is likely that this structure will yield evidence regarding the taxonomic position of this species within chlaeniines.

Figures

FIG. 11. — Grundmannius dispar (Péringuey, 1896), female specimen (A, B), male specimen (C, D): A, dorsal view; B, head, ventral view; C, right anterior coxal cavity. The black arrows indicate positions of two foramina; D, right protarsomeres 1-5 (claw absent), ventral view. Scale bars: A, 2 mm; B, C, 1 mm; D, 0.5 mm.

FIG. 12. — Grundmannius dispar (Péringuey, 1896), female specimen, right metepisternum.The black arrow indicates the coadunation of metepisternum with elytral epipleuron. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIG. 13. — Grundmannius dispar (Péringuey, 1896), female genitalia: A, left gonocoxite, ventral view; B, female reproductive tract (spermatheca lacking), dorsal view plus tergum VIII, ventral view. Abbreviations: asg, apical setae of gonocoxite 1; mt, mediotergite of abdominal segment IX; spi, spiracle VIII of pleural membrane;ter, tergum VIII.Other abbreviations see Figures 6, 7. Scale bars: A, 0.2 mm; B, 1 mm.

FIG. 14. — Grundmannius dispar (Péringuey,1896),male genitalia:A, aedeagus and associated abdominal segments, dorsal view; B, median lobe and parameres, dorsal view; C, median lobe and parameres, ventral view; D, median lobe, left lateral view; E, median lobe, right lateral view. Abbreviations: acVIII, antecostal margin of abdominal segment VIII; acIX, antecostal margin of abdominal segment IX (= urite); bbl, lateral lobe(s) of basal bulb of median lobe; dp, dorsal process of basal bulb of median lobe; ed, efferent duct of pygidial defence gland; mt VIII, mediotergite of abdominal segment VIII; mtg IX, mediotergite of abdominal segment IX; sc, sclerite of internal sac of median lobe; sh, shaft of median lobe; spir VIII, spiracle of abdominal segment VIII. Other abbreviations see Figure 5. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.