Falsopedilus bismacrocephalus ( Báguena Corella, 1948 ) Gompel & Telnov, 2023

Gompel, Nicolas & Telnov, Dmitry, 2023, On the taxonomic status of the tenebrionoid genera Falsopedilus Pic, 1924 and Hintonosia Báguena Corella, 1948 (Coleoptera: Mycteridae) with descriptions of new species, Zootaxa 5318 (3), pp. 421-431 : 426-428

Falsopedilus bismacrocephalus ( Báguena Corella, 1948) comb. nov. ( Figures 1A, B , B’, D and 2A, E, I)

Báguena Corella (1948: 105).

Type material studied, Hintonosia bismacrocephalus . Holotype [original designation] 1♁ BMNH: 3002 [printed] // CAMEROONS D. R.ROSEVEAR [handwritten] // Pres.by Imp.Inst.Ent. B.M.1935-357. [printed] // Xylophilidae [handwritten] // Type [printed, label circular, red frame] //? Hylophilus macrocephalus n sp [handwritten] // trés desire [handwritten] // NHMUK 014663214 [printed, supplemented with QR code]; Paratype 1♁ MNCN: Evinayong Guinea Española DR. L. BÁGUENA [printed] // HINTONOSIA bismacrocephalus m. [handwritten] L. Baguena det., 19 [printed] 48 [handwritten] // MNCN _Ent 351018 [printed].

New material studied. 1♁ BMNH: IVORY COAST, 174m, Taï NP, Taï Research Station ( SRET), 05°50’00’’N, 07°20’32.0’’W, 25.III–17.IV.2017 // MV Light Aristophanous,A., Aristophanous,M., Geiser,M., Moretto,P., leg. , BMNH (E) 2017-93 [printed] // NHMUK014391402 [printed, supplemented with QR code]; 1 ♁ BMNH: IVORY COAST 380m Yéalé Village , Mt Nimba. 07°31’35.3’’N, 08°25’20.1’’W. 18–29.IV.2016. Light trap. // Aristophanous,M., Geiser, M., Moretto, P. leg. BMNH (E)2016-109 Trip. Ref:CI-003 ( ANHRT 17 ) // NHMUK013800406 [supplemented with QR code]; 1 ♁ BMNH: same labels but NHMUK014403170 ; 1 ♁ BMNH: IVORY COAST 1171m Mt Tonkoui Peak. 07°27’15.2’’N, 07°38’12.5’’W 16–21.VII.2016. Light Trap. [printed] // Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P. leg. BMNH (E) 2016-109 Trip Ref : CI-004 ( ANHRT 20 ) [printed] // NHMUK013309726 [printed, supplemented with QR code]; 1 ♁ BMNH: same labels but NHMUK013309725 .

Redescription. ♁ holotype. Dorsum black-brown to black. Antenna brown to black-brown. Body elongate, flattened dorso-ventrally.Head slightly glossy, anterior part slightly inclined.Frons narrow, strongly narrows anteriad, about 0.5–0.6× as wide as dorsal eye length. Compound eye very large, hemispherical, occupying whole head side, very strongly protruding from lateral and dorsal outline of head, shallowly emarginate at anterior margin, touching insertion of antenna. Tempus not present. Head dorsal punctures coarse and dense. Antenna long, extending beyond mesocoxal cavity when directed posteriad, strongly pectinate. Antennomere two shorter than basal antennomere, less wide. Antennomere three 3.3–3.5× as long as antennomere two, broadly emarginate at posterior margin, with small distal tooth. Antennomeres 4–10 strongly pectinate, each with variably long median lobe, of which lobe of antennomere four is the shortest but every lobe is longer than corresponding antennomere. Terminal antennomere elongate, slender, curved, about 2.5× as long as penultimate antennomere, apically rounded. Pronotum slightly transverse, much narrower than head across compound eyes, subquadrate, flattened in dorsal aspect. Anterior and posterior margin broadly rounded to subtruncate. Lateral pronotal margins subparallel. Pronotal dorsal punctures somewhat less strong than those on head. Pronotal dorsal setation moderately long, nearly appressed, directed in pat transversely. Scutellar shield semicircular. Elytron elongate, moderately glossy, dorsally flattened, parallel-sided to barely widened in apical third. Apicoventral binding patch present, elongate elliptical, barely convex, provided with somewhat longer setation. Elytral dorsal punctures generally larger than those on forebody. Legs long, slender. ♁ basal metatarsomere shorter than combined length of remaining metatarsomeres. Genital organs as in Figure 2A, E . ♁ tergite VII and VIII, morphological sternite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin. ♁ morphological sternite VIII bipartite (deeply cleft at posterior margin, shortly interconnected basally), posterior margin subtruncate, with several long setae.

Sexual dimorphism. ♀ is unknown.

Ecology. Some of the examined specimens attracted to artificial light source.

Distribution. Western equatorial and western Africa ( Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast). Likely also occurs in Guinea and Liberia considering the new record from Mount Nimba.

Figures

FIGURE 1. External morphology of Falsopedilus species. A:Abdominal sternites (III–VII) of Falsopedilus bismacrocephalus (Báguena Corella, 1948). Note the apparent separation of ventrites III and IV (double white arrowheads). B, B’: Falsopedilus bismacrocephalus (Báguena Corella, 1948), mouthparts (B) and outline of left maxilary palpomere (B’). C, C’: Elonus gruberi Gompel, 2017, mouthparts (C) and outline of left maxilary palpomere (C’). D–H: Habitus of Falsopedilus: Falsopedilus bismacrocephalus (Báguena Corella, 1948) (♁ holotype) (D); Falsopedilus aristophanousi, n. sp. (♁ holotype) (E); Falsopedilus grossepunctatus, n. sp. (♁ holotype) (F); Falsopedilus elongatus (Pic, 1921) (♁ holotype of Falsopedilus modestus Pic, 1924) (G); Falsopedilus elongatus (Pic, 1921) (♀ holotype) (H). Scale bars: A, D–H: 1 mm; B–C, B’–C’: 100 µm.

FIGURE 2. Antennae and ♁ genitalia of Falsopedilus species. Tegmen (A–D), aedeagus (E–H), and right ♁ antenna (I–L) of Falsopedilus bismacrocephalus (Báguena Corella, 1948) (A, E, I); Falsopedilus elongatus (Pic, 1921) (B, F, J); Falsopedilus aristophanousi, n. sp. (C, G, K) and Falsopedilus grossepunctatus, n. sp. (D, H, L). M, ♀ ovipositor of Falsopedilus elongatus (Pic, 1921). Note the different conformation of antennomeres 3 (arrowhead) and 11 (arrow) among these species. Scale bars: 100 µm.