Carabus tangra, Teofilova & Rapuzzi & Kodzhabashev, 2025

Teofilova, Teodora, Rapuzzi, Ivan & Kodzhabashev, Nikolay, 2025, Carabus (Tomocarabus) bessarabicus tangra (Coleoptera: Carabidae): a New Subspecies from the Karst Steppe Refugia of the Chepan Planina and Tri Ushi Mountains in Central-Western Bulgaria, Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 77 (1), pp. 3-12 : 9

Key to the subspecies of Carabus bessarabicus :

1 (4) Elytral sculpture arranged, with more or less distinct regular rows of grains and striae; inter- vals smoother and more fine-grained. Submentum smooth or slightly wrinkled. Last abdominal sternite without preapical depression strongly wrinkled transversely. Aedeagus relatively slender and longer in profile, curved above the base, with more or less well-developed hook-shaped capitulum. In frontal view, distal lobe sinuous before the apex.

2 (3) Elytra short oval;their sculpture coarser, with more or less distinct rows and primary fovea. Aedeagus in profile strongly curved from the middle (almost forming a right angle), clearly enlarged at apex, with a well-defined hook-shaped capitulum. In frontal view, distal lobe gradually oblique, with abrupt, well-developed pointed apex, shifted to the left. .... C. b. bessrabicus Fisch.-W.,1823 ( Fig.5A ).

3 (2) Elytra long oval; their sculpture smoother, with more or less distinct rows;primary fovea often hardly visible. Aedeagus in profile subrectilinear for about three quarters of its length, then strongly and sharply curved and thinned; apex forming a less developed hook. In frontal view, distal lobe strongly curved, with rounded apex, also shifted to the left. .................................................................. ............. C. b. concretus Fisch.-W., 1823 ( Fig. 5B ).

4 (1) Elytral sculpture rough, coarse-grained, confused, without distinct lines; grains vary in size and shape. Primary fovea visible. Elytra longoval. Submentum roughly wrinkled transversely. Last abdominal sternite with a preapical depression strongly wrinkled transversely. Aedeagus relatively shorter and stouter in profile, evenly and strongly (almost at right angles) curved from base, with massive and straight apical part, and wide and rounded apex with hardly distinct hook. In frontal view, the distal lobe subrectilinear with a regularly rounded apex, without well-developed capitulum. ............................... C. b. tangra ssp. n. ( Fig. 5C ).

Figures

Fig. 5. Comparison of the habitus and shape of the aedeagus (frontal and lateral view) of the three related taxa: A – Carabus bessarabicus bessarabicus, B – C. b. concretus, C – C. b. tangra.