Neobidessodes darwiniensis
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Ordo: Coleoptera
Familia: Dytiscidae
Subfamilia: Hydroporinae
Tribus: Bidessini
Genus: Neobidessodes
Name
- Neobidessodes darwiniensis Hendrich & Balke, 2011 Pensoft Taxon Profile {{#widget:TaxonProfile
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Type locality
Harriet Creek at Kakadu Highway, 11 km NE Pine Creek, Northern Territory, Australia [13.74.4816S 131.89.7483E ]
Type material
Holotype: Female, “Australia: NT, Kakadu Hwy, Harriet Creek at Hwy Cross., 156m, 24.VIII.2006, 13.74S 131.89E, L. & E. Hendrich leg. (NT 14)”; “DNA M. Balke 3821” [green printed label]; “HOLOTYPE Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp.n. Hendrich & Balke 2010” [red printed label] (South Australian Museum, Adelaide).
DNA Sequences
3' cox1 sequence in GenBank: FR733592.1
Description
Measurements. TL = 1.95 mm, TL-H = 1.8 mm; MW = 1.0 mm. Colour. Antennae, palpi, head and most parts of pronotum reddish-brown, posterior angles of head, near eyes and base of pronotum in middle broadly dark brown. Elytron dark brown with some small vague yellow spots subbasally and subapically (Fig. 1). Ventral side, including legs and epipleura, reddish-brown, prosternal process and metacoxal plates somewhat darkened. Sculpture and structure. Elongate oval, sides well rounded. Maximum width at apical third of body. Segments of antennae short and stout. Head with relatively coarse punctures and strong microreticulation. Pronotum and elytron with rather dense, medium-sized punctures and weak to moderate microreticulation, finely pubescent. Pronotal striae deep and well marked, length almost 1/2 of that of pronotum, strongly incurved converging anteriad (Fig. 1). Elytra lacking basal and sutural striae. Underside with a few moderately large weak punctures at sides, midline of metaventrite with moderately dense smaller punctures. Metacoxal lines raised, well separated, weakly diverging anteriorly. Male. Unknown. Female. Pro- and mesotarsi simple. Inner edge of mesotibia nearly straight.
Affinities
DNA Sequence Data. The 3’ cox1 sequence available at FR733592.1 indicates that the new species is rather distinctive, the closest uncorrected p-distances in our database were other Neobidessodes species (c. 10.37%) and Limbodessus jundeensis (10.15%). - Morphology. The smallest species of the genus. On first view, the new species resembles in size and colour the common Hydroglyphus godeffroyi (Fig. 4) distributed all over northern Australia and New Caledonia, and can be easily overlooked in the field. When recognized as a Neobidessodes the new species is similar to N. mjobergi (Fig. 3) in coloration and to N. bilita (Watts, 1978) (Fig. 2) in size. From N. mjobergi it can be separated by its more broadly oval body, the much smaller size (N. mjobergi 2.55-2.65 mm) and unicolourus head, and from N. bilita by the darker dorsal surface, the short and stout segments of antennae, the rounded, broadly oval body, and the unflanged subapical part of the elytra (Figs 1, 2). Furthermore, N. bilita is a strictly south-eastern species with a disjunct distribution from southern Queensland to Victoria (Hendrich et al. 2009).
Remarks
Despite the fact that thousands of Neobidessodes were collected on three field trips to the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region, surprisingly only one specimen of N. darwiniensis appeared. Most of the expeditions took place during the dry period, between June and October, when most of the other species of the genus dominate the remaining rest pools and swamps. We assume N. darwiniensis is more common in or just after the rainy season, from November to April, as was observed for N. grossus (Hendrich et al. 2009).
(For a key see Neobidessodes)Habitat & Distribution
The single specimen was collected in one of the rest pools of a rocky creek, with gloomy water and at least partly shaded by smaller gum trees. The bottom consisted of coarse sand with a thick layer of unrotten leaves and twigs, no submerged or emergent vegetation visible (Figs 6, 7). Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp.n. was associated with the dytiscids Clypeodytes larsoni Hendrich and Wang, 2006, Hydroglyphus daemeli (Sharp, 1882), H. godeffroyi, H. grammopterus (Zimmermann, 1928), Hyphydrus contiguus Wehncke, 1877, H. lyratus Swartz, 1808, Laccophilus cingulatus Sharp, 1882, L. sharpi Régimbart, 1889, L. walkeri J. Balfour-Browne, 1939, Limbodessus compactus (Clark, 1862), Neobidessodes grossus (Zimmermann, 1922), N. mjobergi, N. thoracicus Hendrich and Balke, 2009, Sternopriscus alligatorensis Hendrich and Watts, 2004, S. aquilonaris Hendrich and Watts, 2004, Tiporus centralis (Watts, 1978), T. guiliani (Watts, 1978) and T. undecimmaculatus (Clark, 1862).
Original Description
- Hendrich, L.; Balke, M. 2011: A simultaneous journal / wiki publication and dissemination of a new species description: Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. from northern Australia (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Bidessini). ZooKeys, 79: 11-20. doi ZooBank
Other References
- Hendrich, L.; Hawlitschek, O.; Balke, M. 2009: The epigean Australasian species of Neobidessodes gen.n. diving beetles—a revision integrating morphology, cybertaxonomy, DNA taxonomy and phylogeny (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae, Bidessini). Zootaxa, 2288: 1-41. Abstract & excerpt
Images
Figure 1. Dorsal habitus of the holotype ♀ Neobidessodes darwiniensis Hendrich & Balke, 2011, length 1.95 mm
Figures 1–4. Habitus of (1) Neobidessodes darwiniensis, (2) Neobidessodes bilita, (3) Neobidessodes mjobergi and (4) Hydroglyphus godeffroyi (scale bar = 2.0 mm) (Photos: M. Balke, A. Riedel)
Figure 5. Distribution of Neobidessodes darwiniensis
Figure 7. Habitat of Neobidessodes darwiniensis
Figure 6. Habitat of Neobidessodes darwiniensis
