Chaetomargoreicheia gljevensis, Ćurčić & Pavićević & Vesović & Rađa, 2018

Ćurčić, Srećko, Pavićević, Dragan, Vesović, Nikola & Rađa, Tonći, 2018, A new hypogean species of the genus Chaetomargoreicheia Magrini & Bulirsch, 2005 (Carabidae: Scaritinae: Clivinini) from Croatia, Zootaxa 4438 (1), pp. 183-188 : 183-188

Chaetomargoreicheia gljevensis , sp. n. ( Figs. 1–6 )

Type material. Holotype ♂, Jama u Ljučici Cave, village of Gljev, near Sinj, Mt. Kamešnica, 470 m a.s.l., Dalmatia, S Croatia, 22.xi.2016, TR (p) HOLOTYPE Chaetomargoreicheia gljevensis sp. n. Ćurčić, Pavićević, Vesović & Rađa, 2017 (red p) ( IZFB).

Description. Relatively small, robust, very convex, TL 3.09 mm, EW 0.975 mm. Body rusty-brown, antennae and mouthparts rusty-yellow, legs rusty-red (front legs somewhat darker) ( Fig. 1 ). Integument shiny, with fine polygonal microsculpture.

Head robust, narrow, elongate, HL/HW 1.58, narrower and longer than pronotum, HW 0.475 mm ( Fig. 1 ). Anterior margin of clypeus slightly concave, while anterior margin of labrum relatively straight. Labrum with five setae, of which two terminal being the longest. Frontal furrows short, broad, deep, posteriorly divergent. Eyes missing. Cheeks convex and glabrous. Head integument shiny, with barely visible microsculpture. Chaetotaxy: with one pair of clypeal setae and two pairs of supraorbital setae. Antennae elongate, narrow, pubescent, AL 1.16 mm, TL/AL 2.66. Antennomere 1 subcylindrical, somewhat widened basally, A1 0.11 mm, antennomere 2 the longest, slightly curved, A2 (0.18 mm) slightly longer than A3 (0.08 mm) and A4 (0.09 mm) combined, A5 0.09 mm, antennomeres 6–10 moniliform, slightly longer than wide, similar to antennomere 5, terminal antennomere sub-ovoid, A11 0.14 mm ( Table 1). Mandibles long, sicklelike. Terminal maxillary palpomere rudimentary, maxillary palps of medium length, slightly pubescent.

Pronotum convex, slightly wider than long, PL/PW 0.965, regularly narrowed posteriorly, PW 0.725 mm, widest slightly prior to the middle ( Figs. 1 and 2 ; Table 1). Anterior pronotal margin straight. Lateral pronotal margins arcuate, extended from fore angles to base as a very distinct prebasal groove. Fore pronotal angles prominent, pointed, almost right, hind pronotal angles broadly rounded. Median impression narrow, deep, not reaching anterior pronotal margin and prebasal groove, somewhat widened posteriorly. Lateral marginal gutter very narrow, regular. Proepisterna visible from above basally. Peduncle long and very wide. Disc with polygonal microsculpture. Chaetotaxy: with four marginal setiferous pores slightly out of lateral marginal furrow on each side. First seta situated at the level of anterior pronotal margin, second seta at sixth of pronotal length, third seta prior to the middle of pronotum, and fourth seta at the level of 7/10 of pronotal length. First seta being the shortest. Two submedian discal setae on each side, sublateral setae absent.

Legs robust, of medium length ( Fig. 1 ). Each protibia with three outer apical spines, of which distalmost being the longest. Apical spur and distalmost spine of almost equal length, slightly curved. First protarsomere elongate. HT 0.46 mm. First metatarsomere very elongate.

Elytra convex, oval, widest around the middle, EL 1.56 mm, EW 0.975 mm, EL/EW 1.60 ( Fig. 1 ; Table 1). Base bordered, sloping, straight in the middle. Shoulders broadly rounded. Suture depressed. Prescutellar setiferous punctures isolated. Lateral marginal gutter very wide, lateral margin with a number (28 on the left side, 27 on the right side) of small well-expressed denticles diminishing in size from base to apex of elytra. Striae impressed, punctuated, while intervals convex, shiny and with fine polygonal microsculpture. Intervals 2–7 with setae (up to 20 per interval). Setae of umbilicate series elongate. Elytral apex rounded.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 3–6 ). Aedeagus relatively large. Median lobe curved, somewhat widened apically, slightly impressed dorsally sub-basally, with a distinct, rounded apex in lateral view ( Figs. 3 and 4 ). Median lobe in dorsal and ventral views gradually narrowing basally, slightly curved to the left and more sclerotized apically ( Figs. 5 and 6 ). Inner sac colored, with a number of small teeth. Copulatory piece consisting of three sclerotized lamellae, one dorsal and two ventral, of which one ventral is longer and broader, with a small digit-like, weakly sclerotized distal end directed upwards ( Figs. 3–6 ). Lamellae mutually merged posteriorly. Basal bulb elongate, pointed apically in left lateral and dorsal views ( Figs. 3 and 5 ), rounded in right lateral and ventral views ( Figs. 4 and 6 ). Parameres straight, elongate, of different shape and size, each with two apical setae of similar length. Right paramere massive, longer and broader, left one shorter and narrower ( Figs. 3–6 ).

Female genitalia unknown.

Differential diagnosis. C. gljevensis sp. n. is closely related to up-to-now known congeners, C. zoufali and C. lakotai , which are distributed in certain mountain ranges in E Herzegovina and S Montenegro ( Fig. 7 ).

The new species differs from C. zoufali in the greater value of TL (3.09 mm vs. 2.60 mm), lack of sublateral pronotal discal setae (0 vs. one pair), shape (oval vs. subovoid) and maximum width of the elytra (widest at the middle vs. widest after the middle) and number of teeth on lateral elytral margins (27–28 on each side vs. 25 on each side) ( Reitter, 1913; Holdhaus, 1924; Jeannel, 1957; Magrini & Bulirsch, 2005; Bulirsch & Guéorguiev, 2008).

Chaetomargoreicheia gljevensis sp. n. differs from C. lakotai in the greater values of TL (3.09 mm vs. 2.41 mm), HW (0.475 mm vs. 0.41 mm), AL (1.16 mm vs. 0.90 mm), PL (0.70 mm vs. 0.58 mm), PW (0.725 mm vs. 0.59 mm), EL (1.56 mm vs. 1.30 mm), EW (0.975 mm vs. 0.90 mm) and EL/EW (1.60 vs. 1.44), lack of sublateral pronotal discal setae (0 vs. two pairs), presence of submedian pronotal discal setae (two pairs vs. 0), shape of fore pronotal angles (almost right vs. obtuse), shape of the shoulders (sloping, less rounded vs. elevate, more rounded), number and size of teeth on lateral elytral margins (27–28 on each side, more distinct vs. about 30 on each side, less distinct), and shape of the aedeagus in right lateral (median lobe more curved, medially thin, apex longer, basal bulb wider vs. median lobe less curved, medially thick, apex shorter, basal bulb narrower) and ventral views (median lobe gradually narrowing basally, apex curved to the right vs. median lobe widened medially, apex curved to the left) ( Table 1) ( Magrini & Bulirsch, 2005; Bulirsch & Guéorguiev, 2008).

Notes. Bulirsch & Guéorguiev (2008) mentioned that the position of the fifth lateral pronotal setae is unclear in C. zoufali —one seta is almost in the marginal gutter on the left and another seta is rather distinctly removed to disc on the right, so it is not quite clear whether C. zoufali possesses four or five pairs of lateral pronotal setae, i.e., one pair of sublateral pronotal discal setae or lacks the setae. Within the diagnosis of the new species with C. zoufali , we presented the numbers of lateral and sublateral pronotal setae for C. zoufali as reported in the original description and other relevant literature sources ( Reitter, 1913; Holdhaus, 1924; Jeannel, 1957; Magrini & Bulirsch, 2005).

Etymology. The species is named after the village of Gljev, near Sinj (S Croatia), in which is situated the type locality.

Type locality. Jama u Ljučici Cave , village of Gljev , near Sinj, Mt. Kamešnica, 470 m a.s.l., Dalmatia, S Croatia.

Distribution, habitat, and bionomy. The type specimen was collected by hand in the middle (20 m from the entrance, 4 m below ground surface), totally dark part of the Jama u Ljučici Cave, below a rock, on tuffy and limestone ground with a relatively low level of humidity ( Fig. 8 ). The cave in question is in its front and medium parts relatively dry (except in rainy season), in spite of the fact that a 1–2-m-thick stone layer occurs above it, but the walls in the posterior part are always wet. Tuff amount in the cave is high, which points out to the existence of a strong hydrological activity in the remote past.

We have been tried to gather more specimens by pitfall trapping with rotten meat as bait (which is usually used for collecting cave-dwelling and endogean beetles) within the type locality, but any additional efforts were unsuccessful.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Distribution map of the species of the genus Chaetomargoreicheia. The blue star represents the known distribution of C. gljevensis sp. n., the pink circle—that of C. zoufali, while the orange triangle shows that of C. lakotai. Scale = 50 km.

FIGURE 8. A chamber in the Jama u Ljučici Cave, village of Gljev, near Sinj, Mt. Kamešnica, Dalmatia, S Croatia. The blackbordered arrow indicates the place where the holotype of C. gljevensis sp. n. was found.

FIGURES 1–6. Chaetomargoreicheia gljevensis sp. n. from the Jama u Ljučici Cave, village of Gljev, near Sinj, Mt. Kamešnica, Dalmatia, S Croatia, holotype male. 1—habitus (dorsal view); 2—pronotum (dorsal view); 3—aedeagus (left lateral view); 4— aedeagus (right lateral view); 5—aedeagus (dorsal view); 6—aedeagus (ventral view). Scales = 0.5 mm (Fig. 1), 0.3 mm (Fig. 2), and 0.2 mm (Figs. 3–6).