// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Pseudothryptus say? "I'm pseudo sure I'm a fish.
| Pseudothryptus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Elateriformia |
| Family: | Limnichidae |
| Genus: | Pseudothryptus Hernando and Ribera, 2005 |
| Species: | P. multiseriatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudothryptus multiseriatus (Champion, 1923) | |
Pseudothryptus multiseriatus is the only species of Pseudothryptus, a genus of minute marsh-loving beetle in the subfamily Limnichinae. Initially described in 1923 as part of the large genus Caccothryptus, it was circumscribed as the genus Pseudothyptus in 2004 due to a number of physical differences with other Limnichidae, especially in its genitalia. Unlike related genera, the parameres of its aedeagus (male reproductive organ) are fused laterally.
Taxonomy
[edit]Pseudothryptus multiseriatus is the only species in the genus Pseudothryptus; a genus of Limnichinae, a subfamily of the minute marsh-loving beetles (Limnichidae). Within Limnichinae it belongs to the "Mandersia group" of genera, alongside the large genus Caccothryptus and four other small genera—Euthryptus, Mandersia, Resachus, and Simplocarina. These genera share a number of physical features, such as a non-articulated aedeagus (male reproductive organ) without an articulated internal piece ("spiculum") within the median lobe; this distinguishes the genera from the genus Byrrhinus.[1] The Afrotropical genera Tricholimnichus and Cyclolimnichus are close relatives of the Mandersia group, but lack some distinguishing characteristics in the pronotum.[2]
The entomologist Harry George Champion described the species as Caccothryptus multiseriatus in 1923, alongside C. testudo and C. ripicola. There is no holotype of the species, although a male specimen in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London, collected in 1922, has been designated as the lectotype. A paralectotype (an additional specimen used in the description) is held by the museum, also collected in 1922.[3] In 2005, entomologists Carles Hernando and Ignacio Ribera reclassified C. multiseriatus into a new genus, Pseudothryptus, due to a number of differences in its genitalia and minor external characteristics.[4]
Description
[edit]Pseudothryptus multiseriatus is a small beetle about 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) in length. The beetle can be found in portions of northeastern India, including the states of Sikkim and Assam.[5]
It has a very convex oval body, ranging from brown to dark brown. It has two layers of setae on its elytra; a short layer within the elytra punctures, and a very long and thick layer between the stripes of the elytra. Each highly convex elytron has thirteen rows of punctures, with smooth and shiny surface between these rows. The legs are short and thick. On males, glandular pores cover the entire surface of the 4th sternite (the plates on the underbody of the abdomen), and most of the 5th.[5]
Pseudothryptus's head, slightly retracted into its pronotum (the first exoskeleton plate of its prothorax), is covered with coarse, dense punctures. It has long and slender eleven-segment antennae, extending beyond the back of the pronotum, covered with fine setae. The 1st (top) antennomere (antenna segment) is small and rounded, while the 11th (bottom) is compressed laterally. A deep sulcus (groove) runs behind the eyes, with two deep sulci on the forehead converging at the posterior of the head.[5] Pseudothryptus can be differentiated from other genera through genital characteristics, as the parameres of the aedeagus are laterally fused. In contrast to the related genera Mandersia and Euthryptus, their aedeagus possesses a small grove along the apex of its median lobe, while the base of the phallus is symmetrical. No females were investigated prior to the genera's circumscription.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Hernando & Ribera 2005, p. 135.
- ↑ Hernando & Ribera 2014, pp. 284–285.
- ↑ Hernando & Ribera 2005, p. 132.
- ↑ Hernando & Ribera 2005, p. 131.
- 1 2 3 Hernando & Ribera 2005, p. 134.
Bibliography
[edit]- Hernando, Carles; Ribera, Ignacio (2005). "Pseudothryptus, a new genus of Limnichidae (Coleoptera) for Caccothryptus multiseriatus". Entomological Problems. 35 (2): 131–135. ISSN 1335-5899.
- Hernando, Carles; Ribera, Ignacio (2014). "Taxonomic Revision of the Genus Caccothryptus Sharp (Coleoptera: Limnichidae)". Koleopterologische Rundschau. 84. ISSN 0075-6547.