Caccothryptus championi is a species of minute marsh-loving beetle in the subfamily Limnichinae. The species was described alongside five other Caccothryptus species by Natural History Museum entomologist Keita Matsumoto in 2021, using specimens gathered in 1953 by Harry George Champion in Haldwani, India alongside an earlier 1925 specimen collected nearby. Like the other Caccothryptus species described by Matsumoto, it was distinguished from its original classification of C. ripicola due to differences in the shape of its genitalia. Twenty-seven specimens from the British Natural History Museum collection were identified with C. championi, named after Champion.
| Caccothryptus championi | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Limnichidae |
| Genus: | Caccothryptus |
| Species: | C. championi
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| Binomial name | |
| Caccothryptus championi Matsumoto, 2021
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Taxonomy
editThe Limnichidae (minute marsh-loving beetle) genus Caccothryptus was first described by David Sharp in 1902.[1][2] In 2014, the genus was divided into five species groups by Carles Hernando and Ignacio Ribera.[2]
A group of Caccothryptus specimens were collected in 1953 by forester Harry George Champion in the Haldwani division of the Kumaon Himalayas, India. These were labeled as C. ripicola, which Champion had previously described in 1923. These were stored at the British Natural History Museum. In 2021, Natural History Museum entomologist Keita Matsumoto identified a number of distinct species from these specimens. One male specimen was labeled as the holotype of Caccothryptus championi. Twenty-six other specimens, including an earlier individual collected in 1925, were labeled as paratypes. C. championi was placed in the species group C. testudo and named for Champion.[3]
Description
editThe Caccothryptus championi specimens identified have an elytral length of 2.35–2.74mm, and elytral widths of 0.87–1.04 mm. Their prothoraces measured 1.97–2.16 mm in length and 3.01–3.33 mm in width. C. championi's body is dark brown spare for reddish-brown tibia and patches of long setae, yellow along the underside and white on the dorsum. Its tarsi are divided into five segments, of increasing length, with the fifth segment as long as the others combined. It has long, narrow, light brown tarsal claws. The beetle's head, smooth and punctured, is slightly retracted into its pronotum, and features eleven-segment antennae. Little sexual dimorphism exists between the male and female specimens, beyond a longer fifth abdominal ventrite on the female.[4]
The beetle's genitals display a number of differences from the original classification of C. ripicola, which enabled its classification as a separate species. C. championi's has ovoid apexs on its median lobe. Their parameres narrow from a top-down view, with v-shaped notches along their bottom and a slight bump on their side near the apex. Between the parameres is a deep, narrow depression forming a pointed V-shape. Females have long ovipositors.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Sharp, David. 1902. Descriptions of Oriental Limnichini (Coleoptera, Fam. Byrrhidae)". ZooBank. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ a b Matsumoto 2021, p. 168.
- ^ Matsumoto 2021, pp. 168, 174.
- ^ a b Matsumoto 2021, pp. 174–176.
Bibliography
edit- Matsumoto, Keita (2021). "Six new species of the genus Caccothryptus from the Himalayas (Coleoptera: Limnichidae)" (PDF). European Journal of Taxonomy (739): 168–184. doi:10.5852/ejt.2021.739.1275. ISSN 2118-9773.