Cautires apterus, a New Species and the First Record of Wingless Male Lycidae (Coleoptera) Discovered in the North Pare Mountains, Tanzania

We report the first know case of male hind-wing aptery among the net-winged beetles (Lycidae). Five male specimens of Cautires apterus sp. nov. were discovered by sifting forest litter in a very small (approximately 300 meters by 50 meters) Kamwala Forest within the North Pare Mountains, Tanzania. B...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnnales zoologici Vol. 64; no. 1; pp. 1 - 7
Main Authors Bocak, Ladislav, Grebennikov Vasily V, Sklenarova Katerina
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences 01.03.2014
Subjects
East Africa
East Arc Mountains
elytra
females
forest litter
forests
Kamwala Forest
Lycidae
male aptery
male genitalia
males
mountains
neoteny
new species
phylogeny
Pleistocene refugium
Tanzania
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Summary:We report the first know case of male hind-wing aptery among the net-winged beetles (Lycidae). Five male specimens of Cautires apterus sp. nov. were discovered by sifting forest litter in a very small (approximately 300 meters by 50 meters) Kamwala Forest within the North Pare Mountains, Tanzania. Besides being wingless, males of C. apterus sp. nov. have remarkably small body, shortened elytra and reduced pronotal and elytral costae. Generic assignment of this externally unusual new species is based on the molecular phylogenetic analysis, the structure of the male genitalia and the shape of the pronotum. We discuss biological and evolutionary significance of the discovery and suggest that the winglessness of male lycid beetles correlates with the female neoteny.
Bibliography:http://dx.doi.org/10.3161%2F000345414X680500
ISSN:0003-4541
1734-1833
DOI:10.3161/000345414X680500