Paussus waterhousii

Paussus waterhousii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Beetle
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Family:	Carabidae
Genus:	Paussus
Species:	P. waterhousii
Binomial name
Paussus waterhousii Westwood, 1874

Diagnosis

The present specimen has about the same size as the holotype specimen (“lin. 3.25″ = 6.5 mm) but differs from the original description and accompanying figure (WESTWOOD 1874) by its shorter antennal club and the broader hind part of the pronotum combined with the side angles of the anterior part not so much produced. I would have attributed these differences to sexual dimorphism. However, these differences in the shape of the pronotum have already been mentioned by WASMANN (1899) and FOWLER (1912) who most probably observed males and females. Most likely this wide-spread species shows geographical variation in these morphological characters.

Distribution

China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,Sumatra, Thailand

REFERENCES

• Nagel, P. 2009. Flanged bombardier beetles from Laos (Carabidae,Paussinae). Entomologica Basiliensia et Collectionis Frey 31 101–113 2009 ISSN 1661–8041.

• WESTWOOD J. O. (1874): Order-Coleoptera. Section-Pentamera. Family-Paussidae. Pp 72–96, pls. 15–19. In: WESTWOOD J. O. (ed.): Thesaurus Entomologicus Oxoniensis. Oxford, Clarendon Press.