• DOI:10.3853/J.0067-1975.61.2009.1530
• Corpus ID: 84074056

The Cleridae of Lord Howe Island, with descriptions of two new species (Coleoptera: Cleroidea)

@article{Bartlett2009TheCO,
  title={The Cleridae of Lord Howe Island, with descriptions of two new species (Coleoptera: Cleroidea)},
  author={Justin S. Bartlett},
  journal={Records of The Australian Museum},
  year={2009},
  volume={61},
  pages={225-228}
}

• J. Bartlett
• Published 25 November 2009
• Biology
• Records of The Australian Museum

Thriocerodes decussates n.sp. and Tarsostenodes howensis n.sp. are described from Lord Howe Island off eastern Australia. A key to all species known from the island is provided and brief summary information for three previously described species is given. The clerid fauna of Lord Howe Island consists of three endemic species, one of which is presumed extinct, and two species introduced from eastern Australia. Bartlett, Justin s., 2009. The Cleridae of Lord Howe Island, with descriptions of two new species (Coleoptera: Cleroidea). Records of the Australian Museum 61(3): 225–228. The beetle family Cleridae is comprised of approximately 4000 mostly predatory species assigned to just over 300 genera (based on Gerstmeier 2000). Lord Howe Island is an isolated oceanic island of volcanic origin located approximately 700 kilometers northeast of Sydney, Australia (31°30’S 159°04’E) (Environment Australia 2002). At present only one clerid species, the flightless Cormodes darwini Pascoe, has been described from Lord Howe Island, though it has not been collected for almost 100 years and is now presumed extinct (DECC 2007). Surveys of Lord Howe Island by Australian Museum staff during the years 2000 and 2001 have produced the most comprehensive sample of Cleridae from the island to date. Identified from this material are two Australian species, Lemidia subaenea Gorham and Thriocerodes bipartitus Pic, apparently introduced to the island by human activity, and two undescribed, presumably endemic, species belonging to the genera Thriocerodes Wolcott & Dybas and Tarsostenodes Blackburn (the former genus, widely distributed throughout Australia, was hitherto represented by five species, the latter, known from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, by seven species). No specimens of C. darwini were among the recently collected material. In this paper Thriocerodes decussates n.sp. and Tarsostenodes howensis n.sp. are described and illustrated, and a dichotomous key to all five species presented. Additionally, brief details are given for C. darwini, L. subaenea and T. bipartitus, including a list of repositories holding Lord Howe collected specimens for each taxon. Materials and methods Adult beetles were studied and measured using a Nikon SMZ1500 stereo dissecting microscope fitted with a scale reticule. Total length is the distance from the distal limit of the clypeus to the elytral apices. Elytral and pronotal length to width ratios were calculated from measurements made of the longest and broadest extremities of those body parts. Terminology used herein follows Lawrence and Britton (1994) and Ekis (1977). Antennomere is abbreviated to “A”. Habitus images of adults were constructed, with the aid of Helicon Focus montage software, from photographs taken through a Nikon SMZ1500 stereo dissecting microscope fitted with a Prior Proscan II stepping-motor and a Nikon DS U2/DS-Fi1 digital image capture system. 226 Records of the Australian Museum (2009) Vol. 61 Specimen repositories are abbreviated as follows: AMS: Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia; ANIC: Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra, Australia; BMNH: Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom; MNHN: Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France; MVMA: Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; QM: Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Australia; SAM: South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia. Cormodes darwini Pascoe (Clerinae) This conspicuous brachypterous species was described from, and is endemic to, Lord Howe Island, though it is now presumed extinct (likely due to predation by rats). Twentyfour specimens are known: AMS (5), SAM (9), BMNH (3), MNHN (3), MVMA (3) and QM (1). One AMS specimen was collected from Kentia palms (Howea sp.). Lemidia subaenea Gorham (Hydnocerinae) Described in 1877 from New South Wales and Tasmania, L. subaenea is likely to have been introduced to Lord Howe Island from southeastern Australia. Three Lord Howe collected specimens are known: AMS (2) and ANIC (1); Figure 1. Thriocerodes decussates n.sp. holotype, scale = 1 mm. the earliest being that collected by T.G. Campbell in 1956 (ANIC specimen). In Tasmania L. subaenea is predatory on the larvae of Synanthedon tipuliformis (Clerck) (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) tunnelling in Ribes nigrum (Hardy 1982) while in southeastern Australia it is a predator of psyllids on Acacia (New 1978). Thriocerodes bipartitus (Pic) (Enopliinae) Likely introduced to Lord Howe Island, T. bipartitus is otherwise known from Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia. Six Lord Howe collected specimens are known: AMS (3) and ANIC (3); first collected from Lord Howe Island in 1985 by G. Bornemissza (ANIC specimen). Thriocerodes decussates n.sp.