Chileanthicus audax, Kejval, 2009

Kejval, Zbyněk, 2009, Taxonomic revision of the genus Chileanthicus Werner (Coleoptera: Anthicidae) 2180, Zootaxa 2180 (1), pp. 1-82 : 33

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.2180.1.1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5321570
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3949251E-FF8D-7747-FF63-DC20FACAF842
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Chileanthicus audax
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Chileanthicus audax sp. nov.

( Figs 90–93 View FIGURES 90–101 , 232 View FIGURES 232–241 )

Type locality. Australia, Western Australia, ca 80 km N of Perth, Bindoon.

Description (female, holotype). Body black, elytra with slight bronze reflection; legs rufous brown, distal swollen portion of femora darkened, brown black; palpi brown, antennae rufous brown in basal half, gradually darkening, brown to brown black in terminal half.

Head 1.3 times as long as wide, widely rounded posteriorly; posterior temporal angles somewhat rounded but distinct. Eyes small, convex. Dorsal surface slightly glossy, rather densely punctured ( Fig. 91 View FIGURES 90–101 ); punctation simple, sparser medially in anterior half.

Setation short, subdecumbent to appressed, with a few, quite inconspicuous, short, erect setae. Antennae long and rather distinctly enlarged in apical third ( Fig. 92 View FIGURES 90–101 ); antennomere III 1.6 times as long as wide, slightly shorter than IV; antennomere X 1.4 times, XI 1.9 times as long as wide.

Pronotum elongate, 1.5 times as long as wide, narrower than head including eyes, somewhat unevenly rounded anteriorly in dorsal view. Pronotal disc less conspicuous, dorso-lateral sides rounded (not carinate), lateral outlines slightly angulate at widest point, moderately impressed and then straightly narrowing towards base in dorsal view, disc with shallow median longitudinal impression. Dorsal surface slightly glossy, densely punctured; punctation similar to that on head, evenly developed. Setation as on head.

Elytra ovoid, 1.6 times as long as wide, conjointly rounded apically. Surface moderately glossy, finely but distinctly punctured (interspaces smooth); punctation simple, finer and sparser than on head, rather evenly developed ( Fig. 91 View FIGURES 90–101 ). Setation longer and more prominent than on head, bicoloured, mostly brownish and evenly directed posteriad, with whitish/silvery setae forming two paired transverse bands, these setae partly obliquely directed in posterior and transversely directed laterad in anterior band ( Figs 90 View FIGURES 90–101 , 232 View FIGURES 232–241 ); erect setae sparsely scattered, short, less conspicuous.

Metafemora long, clavate, unidentate ( Fig. 93 View FIGURES 90–101 ), subapical process strong, sharply pointed apically, facing inner side of tibia. Setation uniformly short and fine.

Body length. 2.6 mm.

Type material. Holotype: ♀, R. P. McMILLAN DATE 21 MAY 19... [illegible] BINDOON W. A. // 41 // ex R. P. McMillan INQUILINE Collection // Western Australian Museum Entomology Reg no. 70560 // Western Australian Museum Entomology Reg no. 70561 ( WAM).

Differential diagnosis. C. audax sp. nov. resembles C. pulcher sp. nov. in having dark unicolourous, simply and finely punctured elytra, whitish setose bands of the elytra with setae pointing (partly) laterad, metafemora unidentate, pronotal disc less conspicuous, with rounded dorso-lateral margins, and a shallow median longitudinal impression (indicated anteriorly in the latter species). It can be distinguished from C. pulcher sp. nov. by the partly darkened legs and antennae (unicolourous yellowish rufous in the latter species), body proportions (shorter elytra, head distinctly wider than pronotum), by the widely rounded head base, the distinctly impressed lateral margins of the pronotum in dorsal view (behind the widest point), by the somewhat less densely punctured body surface (cf. Figs 90, 91 View FIGURES 90–101 and 185 View FIGURES 183–191 ), and by the longer clavate femora (rather abrupty swollen, Fig. 93 View FIGURES 90–101 ).

Etymology. From Latin audax (daring, audacious); named in reference to its probable occurrence with ants (see Remarks).

Distribution. Australia (Western Australia).

Remarks. Based on label data the holotype specimen of C. audax sp. nov. was probably found in/near an ant nest and was regarded as an inquiline. A specimen is mounted on triangular label and pinned below the type (therefore the two registration labels of WAM). This associated ant species belongs probably to Hypoponera Santschi, 1938 . It was tentatively identified by using the key of Shattuck & Barnet (2001).