A NEW SPECIES OF TRECHUS FROM THE ETHIOPIAN PLATEAU (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Abstract

A new species of Trechus from the Oromia Province (Ethiopia) is described in the present note. This new taxon shows some peculiar characters, such as a much swollen abdomen of pseudophysiogastric aspect, a feature shared by other high altitude Trechinae, as for instance Queinnectrechus Deuve, 1992 from Asia. The integuments are glabrous; the antennae are short; the pronotum is larger than long, with regularly rounded sides and hind angles; the elytrae are short and rounded (pseudophysiogastric) with the first six striae well engraved, on the third of them two discal foveolate setae are well visible. The aedeagus is big and stout, abruptly narrowing at the tip (in lateral view), with a small botton slanting upwards; the copulatory piece is big and well sclerified, triangular, with a more or less sharpened tip. Well recognizable for the “pseudophysiogastric” aspect, Trechus (Trechus) ericalis n.sp. belongs to the bipartitus group.