Mecodema crenicolle
| Mecodema crenicolle | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Adephaga |
| Family: | Carabidae |
| Genus: | Mecodema |
| Species: | M. crenicolle |
| Binomial name | |
| Mecodema crenicolle Laporte de Castelnau, 1867[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Mecodema crenicolle is an endemic species of ground beetle from New Zealand.
Taxonomy
This species was described by François-Louis Laporte de Castelnau, a French naturalist in 1867. The type specimen is in the Genoa Museum, Italy.[2] This species is now recognised as only being found in the North Island, New Zealand, all specimens once identified as M. crenicolle from the South Island are now recognised as M. venator.[3]
Description
Mecodema crenicolle is a medium-large ground beetle with a length of 22–29 mm. As a member of the ducale group of Mecodema species, the pronotum carina is strongly crenulated and outer striae are coarsely punctured with stellate (star-shaped) asetose punctures. These punctures are irregularly placed and deeper in the outer striae. A distinguishing character of M. crenicolle from its sister species, M. venator[4] is that the punctures in elytral stria 7 are larger than stria 8 and cannot be distinguished at the base of the elytra.[2]
Habitat and ecology
M. crenicolle is a burrowing ground beetle that lives in native forests, pine plantations and pastures. Their elevational distribution ranges from lowland to mountainous forests.[5] Like all Mecodema species, M. crenicolle is flightless and a predator of other invertebrates.[5]
Distribution
This species is only found in the North Island from the Hunua Ranges, southeast Auckland to Wellington Region (2026).
References
- ↑ "NZOR Name Details - Mecodema crenicolle Laporte de Castelnau, 1867". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- 1 2 Britton, E.B. (1949). "The Carabidae (Coleoptera) of New Zealand part 3: A revision of the tribe Broscini". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 77: 533–581.
- ↑ Fong, Hatch M.; Seldon, David S. (14 May 2026). "A revision of the ducale and laterale species groups of the genus Mecodema Blanchard 1853 (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Nothobroscina) from the South Island, Aotearoa New Zealand". ZooNova. 50: 1–38. doi:10.5281/zenodo.20183775.
- ↑ Seldon, D.S.; Buckley, T.R. (2019). "The genus Mecodema Blanchard 1853 (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Broscini) from the North Island, New Zealand". Zootaxa. 4598 (1): 1–148. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4598.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
- 1 2 Larochelle, A.; Larivière, M.-C (2001). "Carabidae (Insecta: Coleoptera): catalogue" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand Series. 43: 53. Retrieved 13 September 2021.