Laricobius schawalleri Háva & Jelínek, 2000

Leschen, Richard A. B., 2011, World review of Laricobius (Coleoptera: Derodontidae), Zootaxa 2908, pp. 1-44 : 27-28

19. Laricobius schawalleri Háva & Jelínek, 2000

(fig 19)

Diagnosis. Body bicolored. Head light; ocelli present. Prothorax transverse without well-developed lateral carina, sides not strongly explanate. Pronotum light; posterior tooth present. Scutellum dark. Surface of elytra incurvate; elytral punctures posteriorly confluent. Epipleura dark. Ventrites dark. Femora dark. Tibiae light.

Description. Length 2.24 mm. Body bicolored, mostly yellowish tan apart from the meso- and metaventritesthat are completely black, the abdominal ventrites which are infuscate, and most of the elytra which is mostly black to the apical 1/3 along suture, then expanding obliquely to apex to level of stria 5; antenna with AI and club slightly darker. Head with ocelli; u-shaped furrow absent; interocular distance about 2x the width of the eye; macropunctures ovate and well-impressed, scattered and present at center of frons; micropunctures moderately coarse; setation short, decumbent, length about 1/3 the width of the eye. Antenna with length of A3 about equal to A4, ratios 2.1:1.8:1.7:1.7:1.6:1.2:1.2:1.0:1.4:1.3:2.2; A11 strongly asymmetrical. Prothorax transverse and moderately convex, widest at apical 1/3, sides sinuate, and strongly convergent posteriorly; about 0.78 x as long as wide (pronotal length/greatest pronotal width = 0.78); depth = 0.32 mm; pronotum not laterally explanate, lateral carina narrow and reduced to a bead; anterior angle deflected, forming a short ridge and not dentate (the angle formed between the anterior margin and lateral carina, excluding the ridge, is about 60°); posterior angle indistinct and broadly rounded and with a very short tooth; anterior foveae visible only in lateral view, posterior foveae visible in dorsal view; macropunctures ovate, deep, and generally well-separated; micropunctures moderately coarse; setae short, decumbent, and about 1/2 the width of eye. Elytra about 2.80 x as long as wide (elytral length/greatest elytral width = 2.80) and 3.00 x as long as pronotum (elytral length/pronotal length = 3.00); surface incurvate at basal third; macropunctures, especially of striae 1–3, coalescing posteriorly to form grooves, separated by an average of 2/3 of a puncture diameter; micropunctures fine; microsculpture not visible; setae suberect to subdecumbent, short, about 1/2 length of the eye.

Comments. Laricobius schawalleri is a distinctive species within the group with confluent elytral punctures by having a transverse prothorax and the apical and posteromedial portions of the elytra yellowish tan. This species was described based on a single female.

Distribution. Nepal.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE ( SMNS). 1 (card mounted and dissected), 564 NEPAL: Dailekh Distr. Dailekh to Mabuchin Pass, 2500 m, 3.–4.VI.1998 leg. W. SCHAWALLER/ Laricobius sp. (hw) det. SCHA- WALLER 1999/ HOLOTYPE Laricobius schawalleri sp. n. J. Jelínek & J. Háva 2000 (red label).