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Issue: Vol. 4258 No. 2: 27 Apr. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-04-27
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4258.2.1
Page range: 101–120
Abstract views: 63
PDF downloaded: 3

Balligratus, new genus of wingless ground beetles from equatorial Andean montane forest (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Lachnophorini)

Laboratoire TRACES, UMR 5608. CNRS, Université de Toulouse Jean Jaurès. 5 allées Antonio-Machado. F-31058 Toulouse, France.
Grupo de Investigación de Biología del Suelo y de los Ecosistemas Subterráneos. Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida. Facultad de Biología, Química y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad de Alcalá (UAH). A.P. 20. Campus Universitario. E-28805, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Coleoptera Carabidae new genus new species biodiversity Ecuador Andes montane forest

Abstract

A new carabid beetle genus, Balligratus gen. nov., belonging to the tribe Lachnophorini, is described. It is geographically restricted to the equatorial Andes, and ecologically linked to the montane pluvial forest ecosystem, at elevations ranging from 1,200 to 3,600 m. As other carabid lineages that have radiated in such environments, Balligratus gen. nov. is a wingless clade, characterized by the loss of flight wings associated with metathoracic reduction, constriction of the elytral base, and reduced eye size. This evolution is unique among Lachnophorini. Four new species are described, all of them from Ecuador: Balligratus brevis sp. nov., Balligratus globosus sp. nov., Balligratus gracilis sp. nov. and Balligratus humerangulus sp. nov.

 

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