''Caccothryptus larryi'' is a species of minute marsh-loving beetle in the subfamily Limnichinae. The species was described, alongside five other ''Caccothryptus'' species, by

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

entomologist Keita Matsumoto in 2021, using specimens gathered in 1953 by Harry George Champion in

Haldwani Haldwani (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Haldvānī'') is the largest city of Kumaon division, Kumaon. It is also the second List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Haldwani is said to be ...

, India. Both of the ''C. larryi'' specimens featured genital structures distinct from Champion's initial classification of ''C. ripicola''. The species was named after

Larry Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer * Larry Boo ...

, the

Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is the title of the official resident cat at 10 Downing Street, the residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in London. There has been a resident cat in the British government employed ...

at the British Prime Minister's residence at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

Taxonomy

The

Limnichidae Limnichidae, commonly called minute marsh-loving beetles, is a family of beetles belonging to Byrrhoidea. There are at least 30 genera and 350 described species in Limnichidae. They are found worldwide, with the greatest diversity in tropical regi ...

(minute marsh-loving beetle) genus ''

Caccothryptus ''Caccothryptus'' is a genus of Limnichidae, minute marsh-loving beetles in the subfamily Limnichinae. The genus was formally established (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed) by the entomologist David Sharp (entomologist), David Sharp in ...

'' was first described by David Sharp in 1902. In 2014, the genus was divided into five species groups by Carles Hernando and Ignacio Ribera, as part of a reclassification which brought the genus from seven to 23 species. A group of ''Caccothryptus'' specimens were collected in 1953 by forester Harry George Champion in the

division of the Kumaon Himalayas, India. These were labeled as ''C. ripicola'', which Champion had previously described in 1923. These were stored at the British Natural History Museum. In 2021, Natural History Museum entomologist Keita Matsumoto identified a number of distinct species from these specimens. Two specimens, a male and a female, were identified as a distinct species and became the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

and

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype (biology), isotype ...

specimens of ''Caccothryptus larryi''. This new species was placed in the species group typified by ''C. compactus'', and was named after

, the cat serving as

since 2011.

Description

Both ''Caccothryptus larryi'' specimens identified have an elytral length of around 2.5 mm, and elytral widths of around 2 mm. Their prothoraces both measured around 0.75 mm in length and 1.7 mm in width. The female paratype is slightly larger in all measurements. The body of ''C. larryi'' is dark brown and covered with long, light yellow

seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...

e. Its tarsi are divided into five segments, of increasing length, with the fifth segment as long as the others combined. It has long, narrow, light brown tarsal claws. The beetle's head, smooth and punctured, is slightly retracted into its

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

, and features eleven-segment antennae. Little sexual dimorphism exists between the male and female specimens, beyond a longer fifth abdominal ventrite on the female. The beetle's genitals display a number of differences from their original classification of ''C. ripicola'', which enabled its recognition as a separate species. The

paramere Parameres ('side parts') are part of the external reproductive organs of male insects and the term was first used by Karl Wilhelm Verhoeff, Verhoeff in 1893 for the lateral genital lobes in Coleoptera. The primary phallic lobes which appear in th ...

s of ''C. larryi'' have oval-shaped notches on the upper side, as opposed to the semicircular notches of ''C. ripicola''; they also feature asymmetrical notches on the side of the median lobe, and are generally wider and shorter. The depression between the parameres in ''C. larryi'' are narrow and elongated with a pointed end.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q127161374 Limnichidae Beetles described in 2021 Beetles of Asia