Synchonnus testaceithorax Pic, 1923

Kusy, Dominik, 2017, A new species of Synchonnus (Coleoptera: Lycidae) from New Guinea, with an identification key to the Papuan species, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 57 (1), pp. 153-160 : 156

Synchonnus testaceithorax Pic, 1923

( Figs 1, 3 , 5, 9 )

Synchonnus testaceithorax Pic, 1923: 35 (original description).

Type locality. ‘Nouvelle Guinée’.

Material examined. INDONESIA: PAPUA PROVINCE: Jayapura Regency: Lereh env., 03°07′S, 139°57′E, 275 m, 1 ♀ ( LMBC).

Redescription. Female. BL 8.9 mm, WH 2.38 mm, PL 1.38 mm, PW 2.20 mm. Body robust, black, only pronotum, scutellum and basal part of femora orange ( Fig. 1 ). Head small, antennae strongly compressed, serrate ( Fig. 5 ), reaching to two-thirds of elytral length. Pronotum trapezoidal, 1.59 times wider than long at the midline, widest basally, anterior margin widely rounded, lateral margins straight to slightly convex, posterior angles robust, prominent, medi- an areola relatively wide, connected to anterior margin by short longitudinal carina; anterior angles obtuse, ( Fig. 3 ). Elytra 3.17 times longer than wide at humeri, costae 2 and 4 stouter than others, costa 3 shortened and weakly developed in almost whole length, secondary costae present in whole elytra, elytral cells mostly quadrate ( Fig. 9 ).

Mal e. Unknown.

Differential diagnosis. Synchonnus testaceithorax is characterized by uniformly orange pronotum without any patches, completely black elytra, and reddish to dark brown head. Synchonnus testaceithorax is the only species of the genus with a very different strength of elytral longitudinal costae. Costae 1 and 3 are extremely strong in comparison with all other species placed in the genus.

Ecological information. Synchonnus testaceithorax was collected on shaded vegetation in the lowland forest in the central part of the Mamberamo valley. The orange-black aposematic pattern was the most represented in the collected material.

Distribution. New Guinea, the lower Mamberamo Basin.

Remarks. The type of S. testaceithorax has not been found in the collection of M. Pic deposited in the Paris museum and only the original description ( PIC 1923) is available for recognition of this species. As no difference was identified, and the fauna of the New Guinean lowlands contains widely distributed species, we identify the available specimen as S. testaceithorax and provide the redescription and illustrations of this species based on the abovementioned specimen.

Figures

Figs 1–4. Synchonnus species. 1–2 – general appearance (1 – S. testaceithorax Pic, 1923; 2 – S. etheringtoni sp. nov.). 3–4 – detail of pronotum (3 – S. testaceithorax; 4 – S. etheringtoni sp. nov.) Scales = 1 mm (Figs 1–2), 0.5 mm (Figs 3–4).

Figs 5–10. Synchonnus species. 5–6 – basal antennomeres (5 – S. testaceithorax; 6 – S. etheringtoni sp. nov.). 7–8 – male genitalia of S. etheringtoni sp. nov. (7 – ventral view; 8 – lateral view). 9–10 – right elytron, the middle part in detail (9 – S. testaceithorax; 10 – S. etheringtoni sp. nov). Scales = 0.5 mm (Figs 5–10).