New record of Tricondyla gounellii Horn 1900 (Coleoptera, Cicindelinae), an arboreal tiger beetle from Sri Lanka

Abstract

Arboreal tiger beetles belong to tribe Collyridini of order Coleoptera, family Carabidae, subfamily Cicindelinae and can be found predominantly in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asian countries mainly in forest habitat types (Toki et al., 2017). Tribe Collyridini is divided in to five genera - Collyris, Neocollyris, Protocollyris, Derocrania and Tricondyla. According to records provided by Fowler (1912) from his studies in the Fauna of British India’ five species of genus Tricondyla reside in Sri Lanka - Tricondyla femorata , Tricondyla tumidula , Tricondyla coriacea , Tricondyla nigripalpis , Tricondyla granulifera ). Three of these species, T. coriacea, T. nigripalpis, T. granulifera are endemic to the country, while the other two species also reside in India. However, the sources of this information is far outdated and unreliable and requires current investigations and revision. Thus, the present study was conducted to investigate the current species of arboreal tiger beetles of Sri Lanka, their morphology, locations, habitats and habitat preferences.