Amara similata

This was the second of two similar (but different) beetles which gave me trouble with their identification. On both beetles (the first turned out to be Amara ovata) the bothrium in the hind corner of the pronotum was further from the side that the keys suggest it should be on ovata and similata, and so I keyed them both to Amara montivega/nitida - however there were problems with calling them either montivega or notida. I was unable to get to the bottom of this until I passed the first to Martin Collier and he identified it as Amara ovata.

Armed with an improved understanding of how far away from the corner the bothrium should really be on these two species pairs I re-examined this specimen and realised it too was ovata/similata. I had noticed differences between the two specimens in the clarity and punctuation of the foveae at the base of the pronotum, this one being considerably more heavily punctured. I'd also noticed that this one had paler reddish tibia (the ovata's tibia were a little more reddish than the femora, but still dark). It turns out that these are two of the main differences between ovata and similata, this one being spot on for similata. I could also now make out the differences in the pronotum shape, this one having more paralell sides towards the base.

This one measured around 7.9mm after death but was slightly hunched up so the true life size would have been a little longer. It was found in a pitfall trap.

Amara similata showing scutellary pore, distance of hind angle puncture from margin, pronotal foveae and whole pronotum, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 17th-18th May 2023