Notopilo gerstmeieri sp. nov.

ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 0B0DFD7E-52B7-463F-9E2D-1A2D1CC8D10E

(Figs 4, 55, 92, 127, 170; Map 3)

HOLOTYPE ♁: New South Wales: NSW 30km S of Glen Innes 28 Dec. 1982 J.Doyen coll. (ANIC). PARATYPES (15): New South Wales: Australia, NSW, 27km s Glen Innes 28.11.1990 leg. R. Gerstmeier (4, RGCM; 1 ♁, 1, JSBC); Australia, NSW, 15km n Armidale 28.11.1990 leg. R. Gerstmeier (1 ♀, 1, RGCM); Australia, NSW, Mt Kosciusko NP, Sawpit Ck. 1400m 11.- 12.12.1990 leg. M. Baehr (2, RGCM); Australia, NSW, 30km w Cooma 11.12.1990 Leg. M. Baehr (1 ♀, RGCM); Jindabyne 1/06 H.C. // Australie // Museum Paris E. Le Moult 1916 // Opilo congruus Newm. (2 specimens on one card, MNHN); Australie Sidney 12-II-1902 // Museum Paris coll R. Oberthur (1, MNHN); Tarago Rd Bungendore NSW 5.ii.1978 E.B. Britton (1, ANIC).

Diagnosis. Pronotum broadly rounded laterally, disc extremely smooth, almost impunctate dorsally, punctation conspicuous only laterally, central impression shallow; elytra dark with orange fasciate and apical maculations (humeral maculations absent), fascia meeting at the suture (anterior and posterior margins parallel or angled towards lateral margins), punctation with conspicuous lateral nodules, 8 th stria beginning between base and half way towards fascia, at least striae 4–9 reaching apical maculae; profemora entirely, or almost entirely, brown, other femora yellow basally, brown apically, tarsi with three ventral tarsal pads.

Description. Habitus: Fig. 170. Total length: 8.1–12.6 mm (holotype 8.1 mm). Head: Cranium black to dark brown, genae and submentum dark brown, gula orange, clypeus and supra-antennal elevation more reddish, anteclypeus orange, labrum and palpi orange-brown, antennae darker brown; eyes separated by 0.76–0.97 eye widths (holotype 0.73); vertex and frons moderately punctate, frons less punctate above clypeus, surface at narrowest point uneven, clypeus with few punctations; genae and submentum wrinkled; ratio of exterior to interior edges of terminal palpomeres about 1.7:1 (maxillae) and 2:1 (labium); antennae reaching near base of pronotum; eyes and most of cranium vested with erect pale setae, frons with shorter finer medially-directed setae. Prothorax: Black to blackishbrown, pronotal arch may be infused with dark red anteriorly; pronotum 1.13–1.25 times longer than wide (holotype 1.23), sides rounded, middle wider than pronotal arch; subapical depression v-shaped, indistinct near middle, meeting shallow central impression; disc extremely smooth, conspicuously punctate laterally only; sparse short erect setae, even fewer long erect setae. Pterothorax: Ventrites blackish-brown, with numerous pale, posteriorly- to posteromedially-directed setae; elytra blackish to dark brown with orange markings (each elytron with a transverse fascia behind the middle which meets at the suture and narrows slightly towards the lateral margin, and large apical macula); length to width ratio 2.74–2.92:1 (holotype 2.78); 8 th stria beginning between base and half way towards fascia (between 2 nd and 6 th punctations of 7 th stria), at least striae 4–9 reaching apical macula (striae 1 and 10 not reaching apical macula, striae 2 and 3 variable), punctation with conspicuous lateral nodules, punctations posterior of fascia about half the size of those anterior to fascia, epipleurae extending into apical maculae, interstriae with very fine short semi-erect setae and less frequent longer thicker erect setae, not with several setae across interstical width; hindwing with CuA 3+4 cross-vein complete, CuA 1 cross-vein absent. Legs: Profemora entirely, or almost entirely, brown, basal one-third to two-fifths of meso- and metafemora yellow, apical two-thirds to three-fifths brown; tibiae and tarsi brown, ventral tarsal pads yellowish; meso- and metafemora slender, profemora slightly swollen. Abdomen: Ventrites orange to orange-brown. Male genitalia: Tegmen (Figs 4, 55) broadest near middle, narrowing before expanding again before the apically acuminate parameroid lobes, dorsal sinus about one-third tegmen length, sides internally parallel, diverging before opening, ventral sinus about half as deep, apodeme about one-quarter tegmen length; median lobe as in Fig. 92; pygidium as in Fig. 127.

Variation. In dorsal view, the elytral fascia may appear straight (narrowing just before the lateral margins) or angled (narrowing towards the lateral margins from near the suture).

Etymology. We dedicate this species to the Prof. Dr Roland Gerstmeier of Munich, Germany, prolific clerid beetle specialist plus friend and colleague of the first author.

Biology. Specimens were collected during the period November to February.

Distribution (Map 3). Notopilo gerstmeieri sp. nov. has been collected from regions along, or east of, the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, from Mt Kosciuszko to Glen Innes.