Notocupes excellens Ponomarenko, 1966

STRELNIKOVA, OLESYA D. & YAN, EVGENY V., 2021, Redescriptions of beetles of the Notocupes generic complex (Coleoptera: Archostemata: Ommatidae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Buryatia, Palaeoentomology 4 (5), pp. 499-514 : 502-505

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/palaeoentomology.4.5.15
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3747A7EE-21F8-4FC5-9B57-4B726A0AFBD0
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/370687D4-9131-FFE4-1B15-06FEFC87FAF9
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Notocupes excellens Ponomarenko, 1966
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( Figs 2–4 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 View FIGURE 4 )

Material. Holotype PIN, 1989/3007, part and counterpart of full body, Baissa locality; Lower Cretaceous.

Diagnosis. Genae protruding anteriorly as pair of acute processes, lateral to mandibles. Pronotum with dentate lateral margins.Antennae reaching slightly beyond pronotal base, weakly moniliform. Elytra with rectangular cells with somewhat rounded angles. Maximum of cells in a row 26. Black maculae absent. Cells occupy more than half distance between veins, often reaching lateral margin of fields, forming weak zigzag pattern. Epipleural margin dentate near elytral base, epipleuron narrow.

Description. Body length/width ratio 2.8. Cuticular tubercles roundish, uniformly covering entire body, on most regions around 0.02 mm in diameter with density of 720 tubercles per mm² ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 C-b); larger on meso- and metaventrite, apical abdominal sternite and on depressed areas of abdominal sternites III–VI, with 0.06 mm diameter and density of 228 per mm² ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 C-a). Distance between tubercles on areas with smaller ones 0.01–0.02 mm, approximately equal to single tubercle diameter; on areas with large tubercles distance at most 0.01 mm, notably smaller than diameter of tubercles. Elytra without color pattern.

Head: transverse, length 1.8 mm, head length/body length ratio 5.3. Maximum width 1.2 mm. Head not narrowed in front of eyes, gradually narrowing behind eyes, with neck constriction weak. Head length in front of eyes less than behind them, slightly longer than diameter of eyes. Protuberances on head not visible. Eyes large, protruding laterally, approximately 0.4 mm in diameter. Head width/ocular diameter ratio 3.1. Labrum transverse, medially incised, anterior angles not rounded.Praementum small, semioval; mentum, submentum and gular plate fused. Mandibles with at least 2 preapical teeth; weakly curved. Antennae reaching slightly beyond pronotal base, 2.7 mm long, weakly moniliform, attached near anterior ocular margins. Antennomeres slightly widening distally; 1–6 elongate-oval, subsequent ones narrower, subtrapezoidal; scapus length 0.4 mm, width 0.3 mm; pedicellus equal to antennomere 3, 0.7 times as long as scapus, almost 0.8 times as long as 4, and 1.4 times as long as 5; remaining antennomeres gradually decreasing in size towards antennal apex.

Pronotum: 1.8 mm long, maximum width— 2.7 mm; posterior margin 1.5 times wider than long. Pronotal maximum width/head width ratio 2.2. Anterior angles strongly protruding forward. Pronotal posterior margin straight, without posterior angles protruding posterolaterally; lateral margin dentate; disk with two median protuberances.

Prosternum: 1.2 mm long. Body length/prosternal length ratio 7.9. Prosternum longer than wide. Prosternal length/head length ratio 0.7. Notopleural and pleurosternal sutures clearly visible, former thickened, both angled towards midline of body at 1/3 of anterior length, then straight. Prosternal process indistinct, procoxae contiguous.

Scutellar shield: pentagonal.

Elytra: Rectangular cells with somewhat rounded angles. Field I lacks cells, other fields with double rows of cells; fields II and IV contain 26 cells, field III 21 cells; field V has 20–21 cells and field VI about 25; field VII lacks cells. Number of cell rows 10. Cells occupy more than half distance between veins, often reaching lateral margins of fields, forming weak zigzag patterns. Elytral length/width ratio 3.1. Eight veins in total, veins 2 and 3 with common stem, starting 2 cells anterior to basal elytral margin; vein 2 curved, bordering epipleural margin; vein 3 gently s-shaped; veins 2 and 3 with four cells merged, veins 4 with five cells merged anterior to elytral apex; veins 2+3 and 4+5 meet margin of elytra. Maximum width of elytra at midlength. Epipleural margin dentate near elytral base; epipleuron narrow, width near elytral base/width near apex ratio 4. Elytral base straight, humeral bulge distinct and convex; elytral apex acute. Elytra extending beyond abdominal apex posteriorly. Elytral maximum width/pronotal maximum width ratio 1.5.

Metaventrite: long, width at anterior margin 0.8 mm, at posterior margin 2 mm. Pronotal length/length of metaventrite ratio 1.8; posterior width of metaventrite/ anterior width ratio 2.5; width at posterior margin/length ratio 2; metaventrite slightly shorter than mesoventrite. Lateral region with oblique depressions, covered with large tubercles, similar to those on abdominal sternites. Median portion of metaventrite with elongate-triangular elevation.

Abdomen: pattern of sternites forming distinct relief. Sides of apical sternite VII and sternites III–VI (ventrites 1–4) with paired roundish or triangular depressions ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 —dep). Abdomen slightly narrowing towards pointed apex, starting from the fourth ventrite. Length ratio of visible ventrites (sternites III–VII) 2:1:1:1:2.6. Length/ width ratio of apical sternite VII 1.6.

Legs: procoxae round, contiguous, located at posterior prosternal margin, 0.4 mm wide. Pronotal width/procoxal width ratio 6.7. Profemora thickest at midlength, 1.5 mm long; profemoral length/maximum width of pronotum ratio 1.8. Tibiae parallel-sided, with longitudinal keel and one or two rows of transverse ridges; length 1.2–1.3 mm. Tarsomeres sizes from 1 to 5 are: 0.2:0.2:0.1:0.1:0.2. Middle coxae rounded. Metacoxae cover more than half of first abdominal ventrite (sternite III), width 1.3 times exceeding length.

Measurements. Length— 9.5 mm, width— 3.3 mm, elytral length— 6.5 mm, elytral width— 2.1 mm.

Remarks. In the original descriptions it was stated that the cephalic area between the eyes has longitudinal keels, that pointed protuberances are present above the eyes, and that deep antennal furrows are present on the ventral surface of the head. Our investigation reveals that these observations were likely incorrect: the head is mostly visible in ventral view, which makes it impossible to verify the characters mentioned above. Structures addressed as “antennal furrows” are most likely gular sutures.

The species under consideration is similar to Triassic N. laticella in the length of the antennae, which also reach slightly beyond the base of the pronotum; with N. khasurtyiensis Strelnikova, 2019 it shares moniliform antenna, with N. caudatus Ponomarenko, 1966 a dentate lateral edge of the pronotum.