Malthodes (Malthodes) marialuisae, Parisi & Fanti, 2020

Parisi, Francesco & Fanti, Fabrizio, 2020, Baltic amber: A new Cacomorphocerus Schaufuss, 1892 with two specimens preserved in a single piece, and four new Malthodes Kiesenwetter, 1852, Zootaxa 4778 (3), pp. 546-560 : 553-555

Malthodes (Malthodes) marialuisae PARISI & FANTI sp. nov.

( Figs. 7–8 , 11C )

Description. Male, winged. Body length 4.2 mm; elytra 1.1 mm; pronotum 0.2 mm; antennae about 4.4 mm. Entirely blackish-dark brown, without yellow spots on the elytral apex.

Head exposed, rounded, with shallow punctation. Eyes rounded, very prominent, inserted in the lateral-upper part of the head. Maxillary palpi 4-segmented, with the last palpomere globular and distally pointed (point thin and very elongate). Labial palpi 3-segmented, last palpomere globular and distally pointed. Antennae filiform, 11-segmented, extremely long, slightly surpassing the last abdominal segment; antennomere I very elongate, club-shaped; antennomere II enlarged apically and about 1.3 times shorter than antennomere I; antennomere III enlarged apically and slightly shorter than antennomere II; antennomeres IV–VIII sub-equal and very elongate; antennomere IX very slightly shorter than previous ones; antennomere X shorter than previous; antennomere XI elongate and with rounded apex; all antennomeres densely covered by short setae. Pronotum transverse, narrower than the head, surface with sparce punctation, anterior margin undulate, posterior margin straight and slightly bordered, sides straight and slightly bordered. Elytra very short, reaching the middle of the abdomen, slightly wider than pronotum, covered with scattered and short setae, parallel-sided, rounded at apices. Hind wings transparent, almost reaching the last abdominal segment (left wing totally extroverted and equipped with few nervations well visible). Legs long, slender, densely pubescent; coxae elongate; trochanters robust with rounded apex; femora slightly enlarged and almost straight; tibiae cylindrical with a spur near the apex, pro- and metatibiae shorter than pro- and metafemora, mesotibiae longer than mesofemora; tarsi 5-segmented, pubescent; tarsomeres I thin, elongate; tarsomeres II slightly enlarged apically and shorter than tarsomeres I; tarsomeres III short, triangular-shaped; tarsomeres IV strongly bilobed and robust; tarsomeres V elongate and slender; claws simple. Metasternum sub-quadrate. Sternites transverse and pubescent. Last tergite (tg10) in the shape of an elongate and broad lobe, strongly curved, narrower to the middle, with the apical margin sinuous equipped with two small points at the middle and with the apical sides slightly expanded; last sternite (st9) short, elongate, curved, flat and apically deeply forked (with robust, apically rounded lobes). Aedeagus not visible. Female unknown.

Etymology. Named in honor of Marialuisa Vessella, mother of the first author.

Holotype. Male, in Baltic amber, deposited at the University of Molise (Unimol) with accession No. Unimol AAA006FP.

Type locality. Yantarny mine, Sambian Peninsula, Kaliningrad region, Russia.

Type horizon. Middle Eocene (Lutetian) (47.8–41.2 MYA) to Late Eocene (Priabonian) (37.8–33.9 MYA).

Syninclusions. Air bubbles, debris, stellate hairs, a disarticulated spider.

Differential diagnosis. The shape of the penultimate and last tergite makes Malthodes marialuisae sp. nov. unique and easily distinguishable from all the known fossil species of Malthodes , both from Baltic amber, Bitterfeld amber, and Rovno amber (Fanti 2017, 2019; Fanti & Vitali 2017; Fanti & Sontag 2019; Parisi & Fanti 2019c).

Remarks. The yellow amber piece measures 15 x 8 x 3 mm. The inclusion is complete except for the left antenna preserved up to the sixth antennomere and has also extruded left elytron with the metathoracic wing clearly visible.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Malthodes (Malthodes) marialuisae sp. nov. in Baltic amber (UNIMOL AAA006FP). Holotype, dorsal view, scale bar = 500 μm.

FIGURE 8. Malthodes (Malthodes) marialuisae sp. nov. in Baltic amber (UNIMOL AAA006FP). A: Holotype, ventral view, scale bar = 600 μm. B: Holotype, detail of right antenna, scale bar = 500 μm. C: Holotype, detail of last tergite, scale bar = 300 μm. D: Holotype, detail of last sternite, scale bar = 300 μm.

FIGURE 11. A: Malthodes (Malthodes) giannii sp. nov. Reconstruction of the last abdominal segments, scale bar = 25 μm. B: Malthodes (Malthodes) immortalis sp. nov. Reconstruction of the last abdominal segments, scale bar = 400 μm. C: Malthodes (Malthodes) marialuisae sp. nov. Reconstruction of the last abdominal segments, scale bar = 200 μm. D: Malthodes (Malthodes) unimol sp. nov. Reconstruction of the last abdominal segments, scale bar = 100 μm.