Taxonomic revision of New Guinea diving beetles of the Exocelina danae group, with the description of ten new species (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Copelatinae)

By

Shaverdo, Helena
Sagata, Katayo
Balke, Michael

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

619

Pages

45-102

Subjects

Copelatinae , Dytiscidae , Exocelina danae-group , New Guinea , new species

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.619.9951

 

Abstract

Ten new species of Exocelina Broun, 1886 from New Guinea are described: E. andakombensis sp. n., E. garaina sp. n., E. injiensis sp. n., E. kabwumensis sp. n., E. marawaga sp. n., E. posmani sp. n., E. tekadu sp. n., E. varirata sp. n., E. wareaga sp. n., and E. woitapensis sp. n. All of them together with five already described species are united into the newly defined E. danae-group (with E. miriae-subgroup), a polyphyletic complex of related species with lateral setation on the median lobe. In the light of newly available material, all previously described species of the E. rivulus-group are considered to belong to a single species, E. damantiensis (Balke, 1998), which is now placed into the E. danae-group, and three new synonyms are therefore proposed: E. madangensis (Balke, 2001) syn. n., E. patepensis (Balke, 1998) syn. n., and E. rivulus (Balke, 1998) syn. n. Exocelina tarmluensis (Balke, 1998) syn. n. is a junior synonym of E. danae (Balke, 1998). Redescription of E. atratus (Balfour-Browne, 1939) is provided based on its type material. An identification key to all known species of the group is provided, and important diagnostic characters are illustrated. Data on the species distribution are given, showing that whilst most species are local endemics, E. damantiensis is extremely widely distributed.