Three new species of Exocelina Broun, 1886 from the southern slopes of the New Guinea central range, with introduction of the Exocelina skalei group (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Copelatinae)

Abstract

Three new species of the genus Exocelina Broun, 1886: E. brazzasp. nov., E. amabilissp. nov. and E. mimikasp. nov. are described from New Guinea. The former two species are placed into the E. ekari group, while the latter is suggested to be a member of a separate lineage, the newly introduced E. skalei group. The only other species of that group is E. skalei Shaverdo & Balke, 2014. The group is phylogenetically sister of the E. ekari group. All species have been collected on the southern slopes of the New Guinea central range, a region that remains mostly unsampled.