Aplothorax

Aplothorax burchelli (males)

Aplothorax burchelli is a probably extinct ground beetle of the island of St. Helena. The specific epithet honors the British naturalist William John Burchell.

System

Aplothorax burchelli probably originates from South African beetles that reached in the Pliocene St. Helena. The species is the only representative of the genus and the tribe Aplothorax Aplothoracini.

Features

Aplothorax burchelli reached a length 29-38 mm and was unable to fly. The type pointed to similarities with the beetles of the genus Carabus, of which they mainly differed without raised edge and no impressions on the rear corners in the form of smooth and convex pronotum. The head was large and almost as wide as the pronotum. The Beetle was completely black. The sensor had thickened at the center and extending on the third member. The jaws were short and robust. The semi-cylindrical wing covers were flat and rounded at the base. The legs were long, the front feet were not expanded in the male. The four front tarsi were under hand covered with fur felt.

Occurrence and life

Aplothorax burchelli was endemic at Horse Point Plain in the extreme northeast of St. Helena. The species was nocturnal and was observed only during the rainy season.

Status

After Thomas Vernon Wollaston 1875/76 tried to find the way it was long considered lost until it was 1965/66 and 1967 rediscovered, including the larvae. With the new search in the years 1988 and 1993, but no more copy was detected.

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