Prothemus lycoceroides Kazantsev

Yang, Yuxia, Kazantsev, Sergey V. & Yang, Xingke, 2011, Two remarkable new species of Prothemus Champion from China and Thailand, with comments on their systematic status (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), ZooKeys 119, pp. 53-61 : 56

Prothemus lycoceroides Kazantsev sp. n. Figs 2 10-12

Type material.

Holotype male, THAILAND, Chiang Dao, 1000m, 19°25'N, 98°52'E, 17-24.v.1991, leg. V. Kubáň (ICCM). Paratypes, two males and one female, same data as holotype (ICCM).

Distribution.

Thailand (Chiang Dao).

Diagnosis.

Prothemus lycoceroides sp. n. is fairly similar to Prothemus laticornis sp. n., but distinguishable by the narrower antennae, less prominent longitudinal elytral costae and less curved apices of parameres of the aedeagus.

Description.

Male ( Fig. 2). Black. Pronotum and elytra red; pronotum with a darkened median stripe.

Head surface dorsally densely and finely punctate, slightly depressed between eyes; ultimate maxillary palpomere elongate, securiform, widest near base, acute at apex; antenna extending to apical one-fourth of elytron, antennomere II as long as wide at apex, III–VIII flattened and serrate, at least 2.0 times as long as wide at apices, IX–XI slightly flattened and subparallel-sided ( Fig. 10).

Pronotum slightly wider than long, widest near base, all margins and angles rounded, disc distinctly convex, with an obscure median groove.

Elytra long, about 4.75 times longer than pronotum and 3.2 times longer than wide at humeri, humeral width distinctly wider than that of posterior margin of pronotum, almost parallel-sided, disc surface densely and finely punctate, with 2 distinct longitudinal costae.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 12): fairly similar to Prothemus laticornis sp. n., distinguishable by less curved apices of parameres.

Female. Similar to male, but larger and wider, eye smaller, antenna ( Fig. 11) shorter and wider in middle antennomeres.

Body length 13.2-13.8 mm, width 3.0-3.3 mm.

Etymology.

The name of the new species is modified from Lycocerus , alluding to its similarity to the members of some Lycocerus species.

A key to distinguish the new species from all other species of Prothemus Champion