Augustia
Genus of insect
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Augustia is a monotypic genus of cave-dwelling leiodid beetle found in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is represented by a single known species, Augustia weiratheri. It was described and named by Ricardo Zariquiey in 1927.[1]
| Augustia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Staphyliniformia |
| Family: | Leiodidae |
| Subfamily: | Cholevinae |
| Tribe: | Leptodirini |
| Subtribe: | Bathysciina Zariquiey, 1927 |
| Genus: | Augustia Zariquiey, 1927 |
The first specimens of Augustia weiratheri were collected by the biospeleologist Leo Weirather, from a cave in Čvrsnica that he nicknamed "Vuk jama".[2] However, he obscured his collection localities using code names to guard them against less scrupulous collectors.[2]
Appearance
The body is 3 mm long with a reddish testaceous color, fine dense punctuation, and short appressed pubescence. The antennae reach the mid-body; the first segment is shorter than the second. Segment III is slightly longer than 4, about 3.5 times longer than wide. Segment 8 is cylindrical, just over twice as long as wide. The final three segments (9–11) are flattened.[1]
The pronotum is bell-shaped, as wide as the elytral base, with slightly rounded sides and a faintly bisinuate base. The elytra are not strongly convex, slightly longer than wide, and attenuated toward both base and apex. Their maximum width is at the posterior two-thirds. The apices are separately rounded and divergent, with a visible marginal rim nearly to the tip. There is no sutural stria.[1]
The fore tibiae lack a true comb and have a well-developed external spur. Intermediate tibiae are slightly spinose. The male fore tarsi are four-segmented, slightly dilated but narrower than the tibial apex.[1]
The mesosternal keel is very high, inserted directly behind the articular collar. Its anterior edge forms a rounded quarter-circle; the ventral edge is faintly sinuate. Their junction forms an obtuse, untoothed angle. The anterior edge is thin, the ventral edge thickens toward the metasternum, which is unkeeled.[1]
Male Genitalia
The genital organ is short and broad. The penis has parallel sides that narrow abruptly and curve at the apex, terminating in a triangular, depressed beak. The basal lamina is broad with a well-developed tongue at its free edge midpoint. The lateral styles are longer than the penis, clubbed apically, and bear three setae: one terminal, one subterminal, and a more distant ventral seta. [1]
The internal sac contains a central chitinous piece: short, broad, strongly incurved, and slightly lanceolate apically. It is flanked by two elongated, slightly bent chitinous pieces that are broad basally and pointed apically. The sac is transparent around this armature; its mid-portion has thicker, opaque, wrinkled walls without chitinous structures.[1]