Apophylia laotica, Bezdek, 2005

Bezdek, Jan, 2005, New And Interesting Apophylia Species From South-East Asia (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 53 (1), pp. 35-45 : 38

Apophylia laotica , new species

( Fig. 11 )

Material examined. – Holotype - male, Laos, Phongsaly province, Phongsaly environs, 1500 m, 21 41.2'N 102 6.8'E, coll. P. Pacholátko, 28 May - 20 Jun.2003 ( NHMB).

Paratypes – 1 male, same data as holotype ( JBCB) ; 1 male, Laos, 20 km NW Louang Namtha, 900 m, 21 09'N 101 18'E, coll. M. Strba ˇ & R. Hergovits, 5-11 May.1997 ( FKCC) .

Description. – Male. Body flattened, parallel, subopaque. Head black, labrum brown with anterior margin yellow, palpi maxillares brown, clypeus at sides with small indistinct brownish spot. Antennomeres 1 to 4 yellow, the rest of antennomeres gradually darkenned to apex, antennomeres 1 and 2 infuscate dorsaly. Pronotum, scutellum and underside black. Legs yellow, last two tarsomeres infuscate. Elytra dark metallic blue.

Labrum transverse, covered with several long setae at each side, anterior margin sinuate. Anterior part of head sparsely punctured, lustrous. Interantennal space with small deep groove. Frontal tubercles small, subtriangular, slightly elevated above vertex, covered with microsculpture, lustrous. Vertex dull, densely covered with large punctures and short fine pale hairs. Antennae filiform, 0.75 times as long as body; length ratio of antennomeres 1 to 11: 15-8-15-23-19-19-18- 16-14-13-16.

Pronotum transverse, 1.80-1.85 times as broad as long, widest before the middle. Posterior margin distinctly bordered, anterior and lateral margins indistinctly bordered. Anterior margin rounded, with incision in the middle, posterior margin almost straight, lateral margins rounded. Anterior angles widely rounded, posterior angles obtusely angulate, all angles with very small dent bearing long pale seta. The stout ridge, interrupted in the middle, is situated along anterior margin. Surface uneven, with two very large deep depressions laterally and longitudinal furrow running from middle of anterior margin to the middle of posterior margin, indistinct on the disc. Anterior margin and the stout ridge sparsely covered with very large punctures, subopaque, the rest of surface with smaller dense punctures and dense short pale hairs, dull.

Scutellum subtriangular, with apex widely rounded, densely covered with small punctures and short pale hairs, dull. Elytra densely covered with small punctures and short dense pale hairs. Humeral calli well developed. Epipleura distinct, gradually narrowed to apex. Macropterous. Underside with microsculpture and fine punctures, covered with dense short pale hairs. Last visible sternite with large semicircular excision. Basimetatarsomere 1.75 times as long as two following metatarsomeres combined. Claws bifid. The shape of aedeagus as in Fig. 11 . Body length 5.30-5.65 mm (holotype 5.30 mm).

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. – Named after Laos, a country where the type series was collected.

Remarks. – A. laotica , new species, A. nigriceps Laboissière, 1927 (from Vietnam and China), A. sikkimensis Bezdek ˇ, 2003 (from Sikkim), A. clypeata Samoderzhenkov, 1988 (from Vietnam and Laos), A. denisae Bezdek ˇ, new species, and A. velai Bezdek ˇ, 2003 (from Taiwan), form a species group very similar externally. The exact identification is possible only with the examination of aedeagi ( Figs. 6-11 ).

Figures

Figs. 10-11. Apophylia species, aedeagus in dorsal and lateral view: 10, A. velai Bezdekˇ; 11, A. laotica, new species. Scale: 1 mm.

Figs. 6-9. Apophylia species, aedeagus in dorsal and lateral view: 6, A. sikkimensis Bezdekˇ; 7, A. nigriceps Laboissière; 8, A. clypeata Samoderzhenkov (Holotype, Vietnam); 9, A. clypeata Samoderzhenkov (specimen from Laos). Scale: 1 mm.