Anthelephila sahyadrica, Kejval & Mz & Ch-, 2018

Kejval, Zbyněk, Mz, Leica & Ch-, Olympus, 2018, Review of the Anthelephila maindroni complex, and description of four new species from the Indian subcontinent (Coleoptera: Anthicidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 58 (1), pp. 1-10 : 5-6

Anthelephila sahyadrica sp. nov.

( Figs 14–19 , 35 )

Type locality. India, Tamil Nadu, 32 km E of Kodaikanal.

Type material. HOLOTYPE:, ‘INDIA, Tamil Nadu, 32 km. E. Kodaikanal , 1050m, Sept. 25, 1985 C. W. & L. B. O’Brien [p] // Formicomus sulcipes Pic det. G. Uhmann 1997 [p+h]’ ( BMNH) . PARATYPES: INDIA: TAMIL NADU: 2 3 ♀♀, ‘INDIA: Tamil Nadu, 32 km E Kodaikanal 1050m, IX-29-1985 CW & LB O’Brien [p] // Formicomus sulcipes Pic det. G. Uhmann 1995 [p+h]’ ( DCDC, ZKDC) ; 1, same data, except: ‘Formicomus maindroni Pic det. G. Uhmann 1995 [p+h]’ ( DCDC) .

Description. Male (holotype). Body length 4.2 mm. Head and pronotum reddish-brown; elytra largely brownish- -black, somewhat paler medially, with reddish base; legs and antennae reddish-brown.

Head 1.2 times as long as wide, somewhat unevenly rounded posteriorly, base well-differentiated from short neck; tempora rather strongly narrowing posteriad, temporal angles absent. Eyes medium sized, moderately convex. Dorsal surface only slightly glossy, distinctly punctate and largely rather coarsely corrugated; punctures distinctly separated. Setation subdecumbent; scattered long tactile setae. Antennae only slightly enlarged in terminal third; antennomere X 1.7 times, XI nearly 2.3 times as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.4 times as long as wide, slightly narrower than head including eyes, evenly rounded anteriorly, narrowed and moderately impressed (constricted) postero-laterally in dorsal view; pronotal disc convex. Disc distinctly punctate, with some transverse wrinkles before smooth and glossy antebasal area; antero-lateral convex sides rather glossy, minutely and sparsely punctate, impunctate near procoxal cavities; postero-lateral impression shortly wrinkled and adjacent basal area rugose dorso-laterally. Setation as on head.

Mesoventrite with slight median longitudinal bulge, merging into more prominent, setose median carina posteriorly. Metaventrite simple.

Elytra 1.7 times as long as wide; humeri distinct; postscutellar impression absent. Surface glossy, distinctly punctate; punctation double, setiferous punctures rather widely spaced. Setation evenly developed, sparse, distinctly longer and more raised than on head, decumbent, scattered erect setae.

Metathoracic wings fully developed.

Fore legs modified ( Fig. 14 ); profemora with rather strong, simple, apically bluntly pointed process; protibiae widened and with distinct angulation in distal third; metatibiae slightly flattened medially in apical third; penultimate tarsomere widened/flattened distally, with terminal tarsomere articulated dorsally near base in all tarsi.

Abdominal sternum VII ( Fig. 15 ) deeply emarginate posteriorly, with narrowly produced lateral lobes and conspicuous, simple median process of posterior margin. Tergum VII produced and moderately emarginate apically ( Fig. 16 ). Sternite VIII with simple paired prongs ( Fig. 17 ). Tergite VIII ( Fig. 18 ); paired sclerites narrowly connected medially, subtruncate, with long postero-lateral projections. Aedeagus ( Fig. 19 ); apical portion of tegmen 0.5 times as long as basal-piece, trilobed apically.

Female. In most external characters identical with male, differing by simple legs and sternum VII; tergum VII subtriangular, rounded apically.

Variation. Body length (♀) 3.7–4.2 mm.

Differential diagnosis. Anthelephila sahyadrica sp. nov. resembles A. corrugata ( Krekich-Strassoldo, 1931) from southern India, including some of the male characters (similar shape of profemoral process, sternum VII, tergite VIII, tegmen), but differs clearly in many details, e.g. the male protibiae are widened and with a prominent angulation in their distal third (with a rather slight carina in A. corrugata), male metatibiae are nearly simple (robust, moderately sinuous and distinctly flattened medially in A. corrugata), male tergum VII is emarginate apically, the paired prongs of male sternum VIII are lacking a median projection, and with a dense lateral fringe of long robust setae.

Etymology. The specific epithet is the latinized adjective ‘ sahyadrica ’ referring to the Western Ghats mountain range, also known as Sahyadri, where the type locality of the species is located.

Distribution. India (Tamil Nadu).

Figures

Figs 14–19. Anthelephila sahyadrica sp. nov., male, holotype: 14 – front leg; 15 – sternum VII; 16 – tergum VII; 17 – prong of sternite VIII; 18 – tergite VIII; 19 – apical portion of tegmen. Scale (0.5 mm): A – Fig. 18; B – Fig. 14; C – Fig. 16; D – Fig. 15, 19. (0.2 mm): B – Fig. 17.

Figs 33–38. 33–36 – habitus: 33 – Anthelephila feminea sp. nov. (holotype); 34 – A. maindroni (Pic, 1903), Pondicherry (NHMW); 35 – A. sahyadrica sp. nov. (holotype); 36 – A. semistrigosa sp. nov. (holotype). 37–38 – antenna of females: 37 – A. feminea sp. nov. (holotype); 38 – A. maindroni, Hambantota (ZKDC). Scale (0.5 mm): Figs 37, 38.