Two new species of carabid beetles found in Ethiopia

There are more than 150 species of beetles in the genus Calathus, 17 of which have only been found in the mountains of the Ethiopian Highlands. Now scientists have found two new ones—Calathus juan and Calathus carballalae—and have described them in Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

C. juan is named for Juan Novoa, the son of one of the authors, in recognition of his help on various beetle-collecting expeditions. Adults are black and shiny, and are 9.5-11.5 millimeters long. It was found under stones at the base of giant, tree-like plants called lobelias (Lobelia rhynchopetalum) at almost 3,600 meters above sea level.

C. carballalae is named for Regina Carballal, the wife of the first author, also for collaboration on Coleoptera-collecting expeditions. It was found under stones on barren soil nearly 4,150 meters above sea level.