Caccothryptus championi is a species of minute marsh-loving beetle in the subfamily Limnichinae. The species was described alongside five other Caccothryptus species by Natural History Museum entomologist Keita Matsumoto in 2021, using specimens gathered in 1953 by Harry George Champion in Haldwani, India alongside an earlier 1925 specimen collected nearby. Like the other Caccothryptus species described by Matsumoto, it was distinguished from its original classification of C. ripicola due to differences in the shape of its genitalia. Twenty-seven specimens from the British Natural History Museum collection were identified with C. championi, named after Champion.
The Limnichidae (minute marsh-loving beetle) genus Caccothryptus was first described by David Sharp in 1902.[1] In 2014, the genus was divided into five species groups by Carles Hernando and Ignacio Ribera.
A group of Caccothryptus specimens were collected in 1953 by forester Harry George Champion in the Haldwani division of the Kumaon Himalayas, India. These were labeled as C. ripicola, which Champion had previously described in 1923. These were stored at the British Natural History Museum. In 2021, Natural History Museum entomologist Keita Matsumoto identified a number of distinct species from these specimens. One male specimen was labeled as the holotype of Caccothryptus championi. Twenty-six other specimens, including an earlier individual collected in 1925, were labeled as paratypes. C. championi was placed in the species group C. testudo and named for Champion.
The Caccothryptus championi specimens identified have an elytral length of 2.35–2.74mm, and elytral widths of 0.87–1.04 mm. Their prothoraces measured 1.97–2.16 mm in length and 3.01–3.33 mm in width. C. championi
The beetle's genitals display a number of differences from the original classification of C. ripicola, which enabled its classification as a separate species. C. championi