Murmidius trujilloensis, Jałoszyński & Ślipiński, 2022

Jałoszyński, Paweł & Ślipiński, Adam, 2022, Revision of the family Murmidiidae (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea), Zootaxa 5109 (1), pp. 1-102 : 43-44

Murmidius trujilloensis sp. n.

( Figs 116–122 , 128 , 134 )

Type material examined. Holotype ( Venezuela): ♂, “VENEZUELA: Trujillo / Bocono , 12.9 km SE, 2350 m / 9°14’48’’N, 70°12’17’’W / 19MAY1998; R.Anderson / VEN1 A98 021B ex:cloud forest litter”( KUNHM) . Paratype: 1 ♂, “VENEZUELA: Trujillo / Paramo La Cristalina, Old / Trujillo Rd , km 9.7, 2400 m / 9°21’21’’N, 70°17’51’’W / 20 MAY 1998; R.Anderson / VEN1 A98 022C ex: elfin forest litter” ( KUNHM) .

Diagnosis. Body nearly circular and strongly convex, pitchy black; antennal club over twice as long as broad; anterior clypeal margin smooth; pronotum with distinct, sulciform lateral longitudinal impressions, lacking sublateral impressions; entire head and pronotum with strong and very fine microreticulation, matt; pronotum with fine, inconspicuous punctures; elytra entirely covered with variously large, distinct and dense punctures partly forming strongly disturbed rows; prosternal carinae long, reaching middle of prosternum; mesoventral plate with evenly rounded anterior margin and complete submarginal carina, lacking lateral carinae; elytral epipleura not narrowed at the level of metaventrite and extremely broad, near middle broader than width of mesofemur; metaventrite with sparse, large circular punctures distributed mainly on sides and along each metaventral femoral line; penis slender, in lateral view strongly curved and flattened; in ventral view strongly tapering from near middle to subtriangular, blunt apex; tegmen slender, with barely noticeably emarginate apex bearing four pairs of apical setae directed ventrad and two pairs of subapical setae directed distomesad.

Description. BL 1.40–1.48 mm; BL/EW 1.20–1.24. Body nearly circular ( Fig. 116 ) and in lateral view strongly convex ( Fig. 118 ); pigmentation pitchy black, legs nearly as dark as dorsum except for light brown tarsi; dorsum very finely setose (setae whitish and well-visible under magnification 40 ×) and with variously large, distinct and dense punctures on elytra, contrasting with fine punctures on head and pronotum; entire head and pronotum finely and strongly microreticulate and matt, elytra glossy, with traces of superficial microreticulation.

Head ( Fig. 128 ) 0.40–0.45 mm wide, entirely microreticulate and matt; frons and vertex weakly convex, with indistinct and sparse punctures; clypeus slightly finer microreticulate than frons and vertex; eyes large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Antennal club over twice as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Figs 116 , 134 ) strongly transverse, widest at base; PL 0.30–0.33 mm, PW 0.90–0.98 mm, PL/PW 0.33; lateral margins weakly rounded and very strongly convergent anterad, with narrow lateral carinae; mesal corners of antennal cavities distinctly projecting anterad; lateral longitudinal impressions distinct, broad and deep anteriorly and reducing in width and depth toward pronotal base, posteriorly convergent with lateral pronotal margins; sublateral longitudinal impressions lacking; anterior pronotal margin weakly swollen and demarcated by diffuse marginal line. Punctures on disc fine and obscured by extremely fine, matt microsculpture lacking well-defined meshes ( Fig. 134 ).

Prosternum ( Fig. 117 ) with fine transverse microreticulation more distinct in anterior half and with fine, distinct punctures; prosternal carinae reaching half of prosternum; notosternal carinae nearly straight and nearly reaching anterior prosternal margin, the latter with narrow marginal carina.

Elytra ( Figs 116, 118 ) together oval, with strongly rounded sides, broadest distinctly in front of middle, EL 1.03–1.08 mm, EW 1.13–1.23 mm, EL/EW 0.88–0.91. Humerus lacking callus; elytra with distinct, variously large and dense punctures all over, partly forming strongly disturbed rows; surface with indistinct, superficial traces of microsculpture, moderately glossy (but still strongly contrasting with matt head and pronotum).

Hind wings reduced, narrow and about as long as elytra, unfunctional.

Mesoventral plate ( Fig. 119 ) lacking lateral longitudinal carinae; anterior margin evenly rounded, with complete submarginal carina.

Metaventrite ( Fig. 119 ) with sparse, large, circular punctures unevenly distributed mostly on sides, with row of large punctures along each metaventral femoral line. Discrimen externally not discernible.

Tarsi with conspicuously long setae on tarsomeres 1–3.

Aedeagus ( Figs 120–122 ) 0.60 mm long, slender; penis in ventral view strongly tapering from near middle to blunt subtriangular apex, in lateral view strongly curved and strongly flattened; tegmen relatively slender, with barely noticeably emarginate apex bearing four pairs of apical setae directed ventrad and two pairs of subapical setae directed distomesad.

Distribution. Neotropical ( Venezuela).

Etymology. Named after Trujillo State of Venezuela.

Remarks. Murmidius trujilloensis is a remarkable species, easy to identify solely by the matt, finely microreticulate head and pronotum contrasting with glossy elytra; it also has relatively distinct pronotal and elytral setae, better visible than in other species of the M. campbelli group because of the very dark, pitchy black pigmentation. Its aedeagus is most similar to that of M. meridensis ; see remarks for the latter species.

Figures

FIGURES 116–122. Morphological structures of Murmidius trujilloensis sp. n. Body in dorsal (116), ventral (117) and lateral (118) views; pterothorax in ventral view (119); apical region of tegmen (120), and penis (121–122).

FIGURES 123–128. Murmidius campbelli group, comparison of microsculpture on heads of M. campbelli sp. n. (123), M. panamanus sp. n. (124), M. araguanus sp. n. (125), M. meridensis sp. n. (126), M. tachiranus sp. n. (127), and M. trujilloensis sp. n. (128).

FIGURES 129–134. Murmidius campbelli group, comparison of microsculpture on pronota of M. campbelli sp. n. (129), M. panamanus sp. n. (130), M. araguanus sp. n. (131), M. meridensis sp. n. (132), M. tachiranus sp. n. (133), and M. trujilloensis sp. n. (134).