Dichtha inflata (Gerstäcker 1854)

Dichtha inflata is the type species of the genus Dichtha, erected and described by Haag-Rutenberg:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/81206#page/188/mode/1up

• Maxillary palps hardly axe-shaped. Head retractable. Antennae robust.
• Thorax subglobose, deeply emarginate anteriorly, angles produced, base rounded, angles absent.
• Scutellum triangular, apex excavated on both sides, smooth in the middle, produced.
• Elytra enlarged, moderately convex; marginal carina very elevated, epipleura [lateral interval] subvertical. [Elytra often depressed, almost flat in Distretus]
• The prosternum is strongly produced anteriorly, covering the lower part of the head.
• The legs are slightly elongated, the femora, especially the front ones, are thickened.

Dichtha inflata is a reddish-brownish opaque beetle with very expanded elytra of red-brownish ground colour with three pairs of black stripes on each elytron. Elytral disc almost smooth, with indistinct puncture-dots and sharp marginal costae. Lateral interval almost vertical and with few scattered punctures only.

Original description in:
Gerstaecker A. 1854. Bericht über die zur Bekanntmachung geeigneten Verhandlungen der Königl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/41573#page/544/mode/1up

Redescription & illustration in Peters Reise. Vol 5. 1862
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/103636#page/310/mode/1up
Plate 16, fig. 12: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/103636#page/627/mode/1up
Translated from Latin & German:
Black, dark, antennae and legs densely yellow-tomentose: thorax humped, strongly wrinkled-punctate, elytra expanded, reddish-grey, obsoletely black-lined.
The head is roughly dotted with wrinkles, dull black, the head shield is set off by an indistinct transverse furrow; the lip and mandibles are black, the palps pitch brown. The antennae are black, covered with dense yellow-brown tomanetum, the first two segments bare, reddish brown. The pronotum is semi-ovoid, deeply emarginate at the anterior edge, with sharply protruding anterior angles, the lateral margins notched, the surface curved backwards, roughly dotted with pits and wrinkles, matt black, appearing more or less gray due to earthy deposits in the punctures. The pronotum is dense and fairly finely punctured on the anterior, raised part. The elytra are together twice as wide as the pronotum, seen from above almost square with rounded corners, laterally with a sharp, slightly bent irregular costa, which disappears in front of the tip towards the suture. The surface is moderately convex, dull reddish gray, with six often indistinct black longitudinal stripes, arranged in pairs. At higher magnification one notices very fine and scattered punctures on it; the lateral surfaces [lateral intervals], on the other hand, which descend vertically from the sharp edge, are covered with clear, scattered dots. The underside is black, with a slight sheen, the anterior abdominal segments very finely wrinkled lengthwise, the posterior ones individually punctured. The legs are short, densely covered with yellow-brown tomentum.

Type locality: Tete, Mozambique

Haag-Rutenberg's description (also informative) in:
Haag-Rutenberg G. 1871. Beiträge zur Familie der Tenebrioniden (II. Stück). Coleopterologische Hefte VII.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/81206#page/189/mode/1up
Translated from Latin & German:
Oval, brown, opaque; antennae and legs densely yellowish-gray tomentose, head rugose, thorax posteriorly constricted, anteriorly emarginate, with sharp angles, globose above, coarsely pitted and punctured, sometimes with some smooth patches; elytra almost square, moderately convex, suture and marginal costae subcristate, curved, abbreviated at the apex, raised high; the elytral disc is scarcely punctate, with black lines; body beneath dark, scarcely punctate. - Length 20-22 mm, width 14-16 mm.
The whole beetle is dull, dirty dark brown, with 5-6 black longitudinal stripes across the elytral disc instead of the costae. The head and pronotum are very coarsely wrinkled and punctured every now and then with individual larger shiny elevations present. Legs and antennae are densely covered with yellow-gray tomentum.
Mozambique and Zambezi.

Photos of a male and a female from Lilongwe, Malawi, close to type locality on RBINS Virtual Collections:
https://virtualcollections.naturalsciences.be/virtual-collections/entomology/coleoptera/tenebrionidae/pimeliinae/dichtha-inflata-gerstaecker-1854-1
https://virtualcollections.naturalsciences.be/virtual-collections/entomology/coleoptera/tenebrionidae/pimeliinae/dichtha-inflata-gerstaecker-1854

iNat observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142831825

הועלה ב-אפריל 21, 2024 12:38 אחה"צ על ידי traianbertau