Herminella quadrimaculata, Borowiec, Lech & Wietojañska, Jolanta, 2014

Borowiec, Lech & Wietojañska, Jolanta, 2014, A revision of the genus Herminella Spaeth (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Notosacanthini), with a description of a new related genus and species from Madagascar, Zootaxa 3895 (2), pp. 257-272 : 266-267

Herminella quadrimaculata spec. nov.

Type material. Holotype: [ South Africa, Limpopo Province, Kruger National Park]: Olifants Camp / K. N. P. Survey / 17.XI.1961 / Vri & Rorke ( DBET).

Description. Length: 2.55 mm, width: 2.0 mm, length/width ratio: 1.28.

Pronotum completely yellow except transparent extreme margin. Scutellum yellow. Elytra mostly yellow except transparent extreme margin, disc with four, small, brownish spots, two at the middle of basal margin of disc, and two slightly transverse at border between top of disc and slope. Head rusty yellow, ventrites yellow except brown external margin of tibiae. Antennae with yellow funicle and dark brown club.

Pronotum transverse, approximately two times as wide as long with maximum width in basal 1/3 length, anterior margin with shallow triangular median emargination, head not visible from above. Transparent margins of pronotum in apex of the emargination partly overlapped, head not visible from above. Sides subangulate, lateral margin before and behind lateral angulation not crenulate, basal corners well marked, lateral margin before corners shallowly emarginate. Pronotal disc convex, its anterior margin on sides sulcate, surface of disc alutaceous, on top impunctate, on sides and along the base with several coarse but sparse punctures. Explanate margin with very large transparent punctures, the largest anterolaterally, the smallest along the transparent extreme margin of disc, area along border of disc impunctate.

Elytra as wide as or slightly narrower than pronotum, oval, apex broadly rounded, not emarginate before sutural apex, humeri angulate. Disc depressed with very large and dense punctation. Punctures on top of disc arranged in more or less regular rows but in scutellar area and between humeral costa and marginal row disposed partly irregularly. Intervals very narrow, linear, forms only two very narrow but distinct costae. Dorsal costa distinct on whole length, mostly straight but on black posterior spot forms s-shaped figure. Humeral costa complete but in anterior part very narrow, low and obtuse, in slope slightly more elevated, apex of dorsal and humeral costae connected by thin apical transverse costa but no connection between apex of dorsal costa and elevated suture.

Marginal row with coarse punctures, in humeral part two times coarser than punctures on sides of disc. Explanate margin of elytra narrow, in the widest part five times narrower than disc, moderately declivous, in anterior half with only two rows of coarse transparent punctures and without additional irregular punctures between the rows. Along whole length of the transparent extreme margin runs row of small punctures.

Clypeus 1.5 times as long as wide, clypeal plate in the middle with deep triangular impression, in position of mid length of eye the impression as wide as elevated lateral parts of clypeus, base of the triangle slightly wider than half width of labrum. Eyes moderately large, gena slightly shorter than half width of eye. Labrum transverse, very short with very shallow anterior emargination. Antennae stout, second segment large, globular, third segment approximately as long as second segment. Funicle approximately 1.3 times as long as club, segments 9 and 10 of club transverse, slightly more than two times as wide as long.

Distribution. South Africa (Limpopo Province).