Playing hard to get: two new species of subterranean Trechini beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Trechinae) from the Dinaric Karst

Abstract

Almost 200 years of continuous and systematic research in subterranean habitats of the Dinaric Karst and adjoining areas have resulted in the discovery of more than 400 specialized subterranean beetles. Among these, a special place belongs to the morphologically well distinguished and elusive, so called aphaenopsoid trechine beetles, which are characterized by a prolonged head, pronotum and appendages, and widened, ovoid-shaped elytra. Two new species of aphaenopsoid trechines – Derossiella lukici sp. n. from two deep pits on Mt Biokovo, Croatia, and Adriaphaenops petrimaris sp. n. from Pištet 4 Cave, Kameno more, Montenegro – are described, illustrated, and compared with closely related congeners. Identification keys for both genera and an annotated catalogue for all Adriaphaenops species, as well as data on the distribution and the ecology of these remarkable species, are provided and discussed.