Kuskaella bajerae, Fanti & Damgaard, 2018

Fanti, Fabrizio & Damgaard, Anders Leth, 2018, Fossil soldier beetles from Baltic amber of the Anders Damgaard amber collection (Coleoptera Cantharidae), Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 18 (1), pp. 1-32 : 24-25

Kuskaella bajerae n. sp.

( Figs. 17 - 18 )

Holotype. Male, in Baltic amber, accession No. ALDC0050 /ALD. Ba.Can. 1

Type locality. Russia, Kaliningrad Region, Sambian Peninsula, amber quarry near Yantarny (previously known as Palmnicken).

Type horizon. Middle Eocene (Lutetian) (47.8- 41.2 MY) to Late Eocene (Priabonian) (37.8- 33.9 MY).

Differential diagnosis. This specimen is tentatively attributed to the extinct genus

Kuskaella , based on the habitus, characters and the very similar long and enlarged apically terminal appendix. But in this new species, it is not completely clear whether this is the last sternite or instead, a part of the aedeagus. The only other known species of this genus - Kuskaella macroptera Fanti & Kupryjanowicz, 2017 - shows a different length of antennomeres and particularly, a different shape of sternites. The penultimate is short and slightly transverse and the last is elongated and roundish ( Fanti & Kupryjanowicz 2017).

Description. Adult, winged, small and slender. Male, based on the last long sternite and for the visible part of aedeagus. Body length 3.9 mm; antennal length 3.0 mm. Entirely browntestaceous. Head exposed, globular, convex, as wide as pronotum, equipped with strong punctation. Eyes large, roundish, convex. Mandibles not visible. Maxillary palpomeres unequal; first segment very short, second elongated and globular; third small and short; last globular and equipped with a thin and short apical appendix. Labial palps 3-segmented with the last article globular and pointed. Antennae 11-segmented, filiform, long, reaching the half of the elytral length; scape very long, inflated; pedicel robust and more than two times shorter than scape; antennomere III robust and longer than pedicel; antennomere IV more robust and longer than III; antennomeres V-XI, filiform, thinner than others and subequal in length; all antennomeres covered with short and sparse setae. Pronotum transverse, large at base and narrowed from half length to apex, with strongly bordered basal angles; apical margin very slightly curved; basal margin straight; surface irregular and equipped with long pubescence and shallow punctation. Scutellum triangular, short, wide and with strongly rounded apex. Elytra long, slender, slightly wider than base of pronotum, and surpassing the last abdominal segments, parallel-sided with rounded apex, equipped with short setae and rugosity. Posterior wings opaque and slightly longer than elytra and abdominal segments. Sternum quadrangular, abdominal segments strongly transverse and short. Aedeagus (?) with a very elongate lobe, narrow, and apically enlarged and roundish. Legs robust; coxae massive; trochanteres elongated and roundish at apex; femora robust, enlarged; tibiae stout, cylindrical, slightly enlarged apically and slightly longer than femora. Tarsal formula 5- 5-5; first tarsomere elongated, widened apically and approximately 1.3 times longer than second; second and third tarsomere elongated and widened apically; fourth short and bilobed; fifth elongated, robust, wide and flat; claws simple without denticle.

Etymology. This new species is named in memory of the Danish women’s rights activist and pacifist Pauline Matilde Theodora Bajer (Frederikseg - Herlufmagle Sogn, 4 January 1840 - Copenhagen, 4 March 1934).

Syninclusions. Air bubbles and wood remains.

Remarks. The amber piece is yellow-reddish in colour and measures 27 x 9 x 5 mm. The inclusion is well visible and almost complete except for the lack of an anterior leg and a mesothoracic leg conserved until the second tarsomere. The left antenna is folded and a little rolled up along the body.

Figures

Fig. 17. Kuskaella bajerae n. sp. in Baltic amber. A: Holotype, dorsal view, bar = 1.0 mm; B: Holotype, ventro-lateral view, bar = 1.0 mm; C: Holotype, detail of last ventrites, bar = 500 μm; D: Holotype, detail of apex of elytra, bar = 200 μm.

Fig. 18. Kuskaella bajerae n. sp. in Baltic amber. Holotype, detail of pronotum, bar = 200 μm.