Genus Ruthmuelleria gen. nov.

Type species: Ruthmuelleria grootdrifensis .

Diagnosis. Antennae eight-segmented; head without supraorbital sulcus; prothorax elongate, with sublateral carinae running from base to anterior pits; pronotum with two pairs of pits located latero-dorsally; prosternum with a pair of pits near anterior part of pronotosternal suture; mesoventrite with a pair of postmesocoxal pits with openings shifted to anterior portion of metaventrite; metaventral postcoxal lines not recurved; abdominal postcoxal lines V-shaped.

Description. Body (Fig. 1) elongate and strongly flattened, covered with short setae, colour light brown; BL around 1 mm.

Head (Figs. 3–4) elongate; vertex and frontoclypeus weakly convex; frontoclypeus slightly longer than length of antennal sockets, with anterior margin shallowly emarginate; supraorbital sulcus and subantennal grooves absent; eyes moderately large and convex, coarsely faceted. Gular sutures obliterated. Antenna (Fig. 4) eightsegmented, with a distinct club composed of large terminal antennomere; antennomeres V–VII transverse. Mandibular apex bidentate; maxillary palp large, with cultriform terminal palpomere; submentum very narrow and broadened in anterior portion; mentum much broader than submentum, strongly elongate, subtrapezoidal; ligula shorter than labial palp, with a fringe of setae along anterior margin; labial palpi broadly separated, palpomeres cylindrical, apex of terminal palpomere truncate.

Prothorax (Figs. 5–6) elongate, with three pairs of pits: two on laterodorsal portion of pronotum and one in anterior portion of prosternum. Pronotum (Fig. 5) weakly convex, lateral margin indistinctly microcrenulate; sublateral carinae extending from pronotal base to anterior pits; posterior margin arcuate and strongly expanding caudad. Prosternum (Fig. 6) in front of coxae about three times as long as coxal cavity, flattened; prosternal intercoxal process with nearly parallel lateral margins in posterior half, truncated at apex and extending beyond procoxal cavities, as narrow as about one third of coxal width.

Mesoventrite (Fig. 7) flattened, procoxal rest not demarcated; mesoventral intercoxal process slightly broadened in posterior part, with posterior margin straight.

Mesoscutellum (not shown) well visible between bases of elytra, subtriangular, transverse.

Elytra (Fig. 1) oval; broadest slightly anterior to middle; epipleura incomplete, fused with elytral margin near posterior margin of abdominal ventrite II.

Metaventrite (Fig. 7) strongly transverse, slightly convex and slightly shorter than abdominal ventrite I; postcoxal lines oblique, broadly separated medially, extending from middle width of mesocoxa to lateral margin of metaventrite; posterior margin of metaventrite between metacoxa nearly straight.

Metathoracic wings absent.

Abdomen (Fig. 7) with six ventrites, ventrite I slightly longer than II and III combined; postcoxal lines Vshaped and reaching posterior margin of ventrite. Pygidium and propygidium (Fig. 1) in all studied specimens strongly sclerotized and exposed in dorsal view.

Legs (Figs. 6–7) short but slender; all tarsi three-segmented.

Male genitalia (Figs. 8–9). Tegmen asymmetrical, penis guide broad and relatively short, parameres articulated, anterior strut very short. Penis about 0.7 times as long as abdomen, without basal capsule.

Distribution and composition. A single species is known to occur in the West Cape province of South Africa (Fig. 2).

Etymology. This genus is named in honour of Ruth Müller, a curator at TMSA.