Carabus (Tomocarabus) bessarabicus 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 : 6-9

Species: Carabus (Tomocarabus) bessarabicus Fischer von Waldheim, 1823

Synonyms: tauricus Roeschke, 1897 [of ssp. bessarabicus ]; melambaphus Fischer von Waldheim, 1832 , platyscelis Fischer von Waldheim, 1828 , steppensis Motschulsky, 1844 [of ssp. concretus ].

Subpecies: Carabus (Tomocarabus) bessarabicus tangra ssp. n.

Etymology

The name of the new subspecies comes directly from the name of the supreme god Tangra, worshipped in the old Proto-Bulgarian, Turkic, Hunnic, Mongolian and Altaic religions, spread in territories covered by the distributional range of the species C. bessarabicus .

Type locality

Bulgaria, Chepan Planina Mountain.

Distribution

So far, the new taxon is known from the montane steppes situated in Central-Western Bulgaria, near (north of) the Sofia Basin.

Examined (type) material

Holotype male: Bulgaria, Sofia Province, Dragoman Municipality, Chepan Planina Mountain, 1010 m a.s.l. (Site IV), VI.2023, I. Rapuzzi & L. Caldon leg. The holotype ( Fig. 5C ) is housed in the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Sofia (cTT).

Paratypes:

2♀, 4♂: Bulgaria, Sofia Province, Dragoman Mu- nicipality, Site I, 20.XI.2021 – 10.XII.2023, T. Teofilova & N. Kodzhabashev leg. (cTT) ;

10♀, 6♂: Bulgaria, Sofia Province, Dragoman Municipality , Site II, 13.III.2023 – 10.XII.2023, TT & NK leg. (cTT); 1 pair of elytra: Site II, 16.X.2022, TT leg. (cTT) ;

1♀, 2♂: Bulgaria, Sofia Province, Kostinbrod Municipality, Site III, 22.VIII.2022 – 9.XII.2023, TT & NK leg. (cTT) ;

25♀, 15♂: same data as Holotype; 1 elytra fe- male: same data as Holotype except 29.V.2023 pre- served in cIR and cMNHG .

All specimens were measured for a morphometric analysis of the main body size measurements ( Fig. 2 ). The results of the measures are given in Table 2.

Additional material

In order to properly compare our material with the other two subspecies, we also examined specimens from other parts of the species range.

Carabus bessarabicus bessarabicus Fischer, 1823 :

1♂, 1♀: Ukraine, Kherson reg., Golaya Pristan Distr. , near Rybaltche Vill., in sands steppe, 2–6. IV.2000, S. N. Vashchenko leg. (cIR) ;

1♂, 1♀: Ukraine, Kherson, Rybalche Vill., 25.IV.1997 (cIR) ;

1♂: Ukraine, Lugansk Region, Sverdlovsk Distr., Provalskaya Steppe , 01.VI.2011, S. Glotov leg. (cIR) ;

1♂: Crimea, Feodosija Distr. , Ordzhonikidze Vic., 22.V.2009 (cIR) ;

17♂, 35♀: Crimea, Feodosija Distr., Ordzhoni- kidze Vic., Dzhan-Kutaran Mt. , 10–19.III.2013, V. Savchuk leg. (cIR) ;

50♂, 38♀: same locality, 31.III–4.IV.2013, V. Savchuk leg. (cIR) ;

20♂, 28♀: same locality, 4–10.IV.2013, V. Savchuk leg. (cIR) ;

19♂, 23♀: Crimea, Feodosija Distr., Ordzhon- ikidze Vic., Bijuk-Janyshar Ridge , 20–30.III.2015, V. Savchuk leg. (cIR) .

Carabus bessarabicus concretus Fischer, 1824 :

3♂: Russia, N Caucasus, N Ossetia, Alagir Env., 20.IV.1990, S. Alexeev leg. (cIR) ;

1♂, 1♀: Russia, N Caucasus, N Ossetia, Alagir env., 20.IV.1990 (cIR) ;

1♀: USSR, Ossetien, Kazbegi , 2000 m a.s.l., 6.87, leg. Rous (cIR) ;

1♀: Russia, SE part, Saratov Reg., Saratov Distr., vic. of Alexandrovka , 11.V.2016, Belik A. G. leg. (cIR) ;

1♀: Russia, same locality, 7.VI.2017, Belik A. G. leg. (cIR) ;

1♂, 2♀: Russia, Orenburg Prov., Yashi Distr. , Verkhniy Kiembai Env., 325 m a.s.l., 50°54’N – 59°54’E, 1–2.V.2008, A. Shapovalov leg. (cIR) ;

1♂: Russia, Volgograd Region, Gorodinsky District , VI.2023, Brezov leg. (cIR) ;

1♂: Kazakhstan, Karaganda region , 30 km SE Zhana-Arna, 2.V.1958 (cIR) ;

2♂, 2♀: West Kazakhstan, Unege Env., 30.IV.2018, A. Abramov leg. (cIR) ;

1♂, 1♀: USSR, Kazakhstan, “Dzanybek” (Zh- anybek), IX.1983 (cIR) ;

1♂, 1♀: West Kazakhstan, Aktobe Prov., Mu- galzhar Distr., 20 Km NE from Emba settlement, 275 m a.s.l., 48°55’N 58°18’E, 21–22.IV.2013, A. V. Ivanov leg. (cIR) ;

1♂: Russie Orient., Chaudoir (cMNHG) ;

1♀: no data (cMNHG).

Description

Carabus (Tomocarabus) bessarabicus tangra ssp. n. is a medium-sized (19 – 26 mm) representative of the genus Carabus . Length of the holotype male 24.7 mm; maximum width of elytra 9.2 mm. Body oval and uniformly black. Upper side quite shiny, but with no metallic sheen. Legs, antennae and palpi black ( Fig. 5 ).

Head of medium size, with big and very protruding eyes; frons and vertex quite convex, surface punctured, wrinkled behind the eyes. Clypeus with a lateral seta, smooth surface; clypeo-frontal sulcus weakly and partially incised. Labrum wide, bilobate, transversally with a very deep excision, almost as wide as the clypeus, with 8 – 16 apical setiferous pores. Mandibles short and strong, with a strongly curved and pointed tip just before the apex. Tooth of left mandible with two well-defined, pointed api- ces. Maxillary and labial palps relatively short, with strongly dilated apical segments, less expanded in females and strongly expanded, axe-like in males. Penultimate segment of labial palps with two setae: one median and one basal. Mentum tooth acute and acuminated, shorter than lateral lobes. Submentum with a lateral seta; strongly wrinkled and slightly swollen transversely. Antennae short, exceeding the base of pronotum with the 2 – 3 apical segments, barely surpass metepisterns; second and third seg- ment incised and depressed above.

Pronotum slightly convex, very wide (1.61 times as broad as long), slightly narrowed anteriorly and posteriorly, with almost rectangular shape; sides not sinuate, regularly arched; the widest part around or just before the middle. Sides finely but fully mar- gined and slightly bent upward. Basal lobes wide and rounded, very slightly protruding over the base of pronotum and bent weakly downwards. Disc of pronotum slightly convex. Upper surface thickly and uniformly punctured and wrinkled, less so in anterior part and more near the base; basal foveae very weak; median sulcus barely visible only in the middle. One basal seta and 1 – 2 (in one male 3 at each side) medians.

Elytra long oval (more oval in females, less oval and more elongate in males), slightly convex and jointly rounded at posterior end, with maximum width about the middle. Shape and proportions of body (mostly elytra) somewhat determine the sexual dimorphism, with males being relatively narrower and longer and females shorter and wider. Shoulders rounded, slightly prominent, lateral margin narrow. Elytral sculpture heptaploid, coarse, of insular rough tubercles, slightly risen but not aligned and therefore very confused, without distinct rows, lacking consistency of arrangement; bottom of elytra densely granular; primary foveae spaced, superfi- cial but salient, usually noticeable to the naked eye. Metepisternum short, slightly longer than wide. Abdominal sterna with sharp, well-developed ventral furrows; VII sterna with a preapical depression strongly wrinkled transversely.

Legs of walking type (ambulatory), quite short, rather strong, with profemora in males slightly thickened. Protarsi in male with four dilated segments, with ventral pad of adhesive soles.

Aedeagus very characteristic. In lateral view ( Fig. 3A, 3C ), the median lobe is very wide and regularly but strongly arched, with a long and enlarged ostium; the apical lobe is slightly thinned and large- ly rounded, large plate-shaped, with the apex massive and very broadly rounded. Distal part gradually oblique to the rounded straight and strongly flattened apex in frontal view ( Fig. 3B ). Endophal- lus was examined in three specimens ( Fig. 4 ). It has a well-developed, longitudinally elongated osteal lobe at the base of the preputial field. It is strongly arched ventrally, without a pronounced border between basal and apical lobes. Ventrally, basal and apical lobes are barely noticeable; apical lobe with broad, hair-like chitinised field. Ventrally at the apex, the endophallus has well-developed sacelar scales, with broadly chitinised sides. Dorsally, apical and basal lobes well developed. Both dorsal lobes with regularly arranged transverse rows of chitinous denticles. Aggonoporius with well-developed and chitinised sclerites. Lacinia massive and evenly chitinised. Ligula present dorsally, at the base of endophallus.

Variability

The total body length of the new C. b. tangra varies in dimensions from 19.9 mm to 25.5 mm in males and from 20.6 mm to 26.5 mm in females. The new taxon also seems variable in elytral sculpture, as in some specimens the structure is notably coarser and primal foveae are more evident in some individuals, unlike in others with more superficial foveae.

Comparison with the related taxa

Several morphological characters distinguish the new subspecies: C. b. tangra n. ssp. is somewhat larger and more robust than C. b. bessarabicus and C. b. concretus; submentum is more strongly wrin- kled; last abdominal sterna are with a depressed and more wrinkled apical area. But in particular, the shape of the aedeagus of C. b. tangra presents a totally different morphology ( Fig. 5 ).

The diagnosis is given in the key below.

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.

Fig. 2. Main body size measurements (on the first female collected near the top of the Chepan Planina Mt., source: Teofilova & Kodzhabashev 2022): LP – length of the pro- notum, WP – width of the pronotum, LE – length of the elytra, WE – width of the elytra, LT – total body length.

Fig. 3. Left (A), frontal (B) and right (C) position of the aedeagus of Carabus bessarabicus tangra n. ssp. from Site I, collected in the period 22.VIII–19.XI.2022.

Fig. 4. Left (upper row) and right (lower row) position of the endophallus of three specimens of Carabus bessarabicus tangra n. ssp. (scale bar = 1 mm): A and C– from Site I, collected in the period 22.VIII–19.XI.2022; B – from Site III, collected in the period 17.VII–10.IX.2023.