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Five new Pycnomerus Erichson (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Pycnomerini) from Raivavae, French Polynesia

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posted on 2020-01-01, 00:00 authored by Nicholas PorchNicholas Porch, Tessa Smith, K Greig
We describe five new species of Pycnomerus (P. mahanatoa, P. rairua, P. raivavae, P. taralewisae, and P. vavitu spp. nov.) from subfossil material collected on the island of Raivavae in the Austral Archipelago of French Polynesia. Like the two species of Pycnomerus recently described from Rimatara (Porch & Smith 2017), we consider it is probable that some or even most of the endemic Raivavae species are globally extinct. This is because the species have, so far, only been found in as subfossil specimens in sediments that date to the period immediately before or just after human arrival on the island (c.1300 AD), they have not been collected historically, and very little indigenous forest of Raivavae remains. These species add to the growing body of knowledge regarding the zopherid fauna of eastern Polynesia, which is, and unfortunately will always likely be, based primarily on the subfossil record from the region.

History

Journal

Zootaxa

Volume

4718

Issue

2

Pagination

239 - 250

Publisher

Magnolia Press

Location

Auckland, N.Z.

ISSN

1175-5326

eISSN

1175-5334

Language

English

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal