Hydrocanthus ( Sternocanthus ) australasiae WEHNCKE 1876

Hydrocanthus ( Sternocanthus) australasiae WEHNCKE 1876 ( Figs 3 View Figs 1-6 , 9 View Figs 7-11 , 14 View Figs 12-16 , 18, 19, 20 View Figs 18-20 )

Hydrocanthus australasiae WEHNCKE 1876: 223 (orig. descr.).

Hydrocanthus australasiae WEHNCKE 1876 - SHARP 1882: 279; BRANDEN 1885: 18; ZIMMERMANN 1919: 118; 1920: 14; WATTS 1985: 27; LAWRENCE et al. 1987: 327; LARSON 1993: 60; 1997: 273; WATTS 2001: 61; 2002: 51-55.

Hydrocanthus ( Sternocanthus) australasiae WEHNCKE 1876 - BAMEUL 1994: 362; NILSSON & VONDEL 2005: 114.

Type locality: Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. Type material: Lectotype: Female ( MNHN), here designated: glued on small, triangular card, labelled: "Daemel [small, white, rectangular, black bordered label, handwritten] / Nov Holld [= Nova Hollandia] Rockhampton [slightly larger, rectangular, mauve label, black bordered, handwritten]". Paralectotypes: 9 exs. ( MNHN) unlabelled. M a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: AUSTRALIA: Northern Territory: 1 ex.: Northern Territory, Kakadu

N.P., Jim Jim Falls camping area, 60 m, 26-27.XI.1996, S13°16.218' E132°49.276', L. Hendrich

leg. ( CHB); 1 ex.: Northern Territory, Kakadu N.P., Arnhem Hwy, 12 km WNW Jabiru , ca. 50 m ,

29.XI.1996, S12°37.937 E 132°38.134. L. Hendrich leg. ( CHB) GoogleMaps ; 16 exs.: Fogg Dam/Darwin,

30.VIII.1986, S. Kiener leg. ( NHMB). Queensland: 10 exs.: N Queensland, 20 km E of

Normanton, II.1996, at light, S. Lamond leg. ( CHB) ; 15 exs.: N Queensland, 20 km E of

Normanton , I.1996, at light, riverside ( CHB) ; 10 exs.: Cape York, VI.1993, leg. Uhler ( GWW) ; 10

km S Tully, S Innisfajl, 30 m, 25.I.1993, G. Wewalka leg. ( 12 exs. GWW, FPR). Western

Australia: 1 ex.: W Australia, Shire of Wyndham, E Kimberley, Gibb River Road, creek 10 km W

Bindoola Creek , 13.VI.1999, L. Hendrich leg., WA 5/105 ( CHB) ; 1 ex.: Shire of Derby, W

Kimberley, Gibb River Road, Manning Gorge, 400 m, 20.-21.VI.1999, L. Hendrich leg., WA

18/118 ( CHB); 1 ex.: Shire of Wyndham , E Kimberley, Gibb River Road, King Edward River

Crossing, 280 m, 15.VI.1999, Hendrich leg., WA 10/110 ( CHB) ; 10 exs.: Shire of Wyndham , East

Kimberley, Mitchell Plateau, Little Mertens Falls, 300 m, 15.VI.1999, Hendrich leg., WA 11a/111a

( CHB, MTP); 17 exs.: Shire of Derby - West Kimberley, Gibb River Road , Galvans Gorge , 420 m ,

21.VI.1999, Hendrich leg., WA 19/119 ( CHB) ; 1 ex.: Shire of Wyndham , East Kimberley ,

Mitchell Plateau, Port Warrender Road / Kalumburu Road, Lowya Creek, 290 m, 18.VI.1999,

Hendrich leg., WA 13/113 ( CHB) ; 7 exs.: Shire of Derby, West Kimberley, Gibb River Road ,

Saddler Spring near Iminji Aboriginal Community, 350 m, 22.VI.1999, Hendrich leg., WA 20/120

( CHB, MTP); 2 exs.: E Kimberley, Mt. Barnett , Manning River, S 016°39'22 E 125°55'43.5 GoogleMaps ,

18.VII.1998, Dr. W.G. Ullrich leg. ( NHMB).

D i a g n o s i s: Oblong-oval, poorly convex, more gently tapering toward the elytral apex. Coloration uniformly blackish-brown. Dorsal surface glossy, weakly iridescent. Median lobe of aedeagus distinctive ( Fig. 3 View Figs 1-6 ).

D e s c r i p t i o n: total length: 5.7-6.6 mm ( lectotype: 6.6 mm); total length without head: 5.0- 5.9 mm ( lectotype: 5.9 mm); maximum width: 2.75-3.1 mm ( lectotype: 3.1 mm).

Head: brownish-black, dorsal reticulation quite fine, arranged in irregular wrinkles, together with very scarce, scattered, small dots. Underside and labrum dark brown, antennae and mouthparts reddish.

Pronotum: pitch-black, reddish-brown in some specimens; poorly iridescent. Dorsal surface with a fine microreticulation of wrinkles composed by hardly discernible meshes.

Elytra: pitch-black or dark brown; poorly iridescent, more shining than the two preceding species. Maximum width just close to the base; microreticulation as on pronotum; two regular series of longitudinal dots run on basal half of the elytra, more irregular on the distal half.

Underside: brown or reddish-brown; surface covered by a sculpture of strong polygonal meshes. Prosternum and prosternal with hair dots more scattered than in H. balkei and H. pederzanii ; hair punctures less dense on metasternum and metacoxal process. Legs: reddish-brown.

: Median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 9 View Figs 7-11 ) blunt, rounded apically; transverse ridge on left side very pronounced and deep. Left paramere as in Fig. 14 View Figs 12-16 .

: Similar to, not differing from male externally.

H a b i t a t: According to LARSON (1997) a more lentic species occurring in billabongs, reservoirs and rest pools of intermittent streams. In Western Australia collected at the edge of large, slow flowing and deep (up to 2 m depth) permanent rivers, shaded by old riverine Pandanus aquaticus and Melaleuca trees. The beetles are often found in shallow ( 15 cm), isolated and half-shaded riverine puddles or embayments among roots and organic debris like rotten leaves twigs and grasses ( Fig. 20 View Figs 18-20 ). At Galvan´s Gorge ( Fig. 18 View Figs 18-20 ) in a rocky, shallow ( 25 cm) and very slow flowing stream, partly shaded by mixed Pandanus and Melaleuca forest and overgrown with grass tussocks and Nymphaea violacea ( Fig. 19 View Figs 18-20 ). At this side syntopic with H. waterhousei and Canythdrus ephemeralis WATTS 2001. Also attracted to light.

D i s t r i b u t i o n ( Fig. 17 View Fig ): Tropical north of Australia. From the Kimberley Plateau in Western Australia, Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory to the Atherton Tableland and White Mountains National Park in north-eastern Queensland ( LAWRENCE et al. 1987, LARSON 1993, 1997; WATTS 2001, WEIR 1998). South to northern New South Wales ( WATTS 2002).