Notosacantha dembickyi, Sekerka, Luká Š, 2008

Sekerka, Luká Š, 2008, Two new species of Notosacantha Chevrolat, 1834 from India (Coleoptera: Cassidinae: Notosacanthini), Zootaxa 1874, pp. 57-62 : 59-62

Notosacantha dembickyi sp. nov.

Etymology. Dedicated to my friend, specialist in Cerambycidae and collector of the type series Luboš Dembický (Brno, Czech Republic).

Diagnosis. Notosacantha dembickyi belongs to the N. vicaria group. The group is characterized by the following combination of characters: body oval in outline, elytra with distinct costae, basal tubercle without branch to humeral tubercle, complete apical costa, anterior and posterior branches of principal tubercle converging in different points and explanate margin of elytra with dark spots. The group comprises: N. flavicornis (Spaeth, 1913) from Sumba; N. kantneri Świetojańska et Borowiec, 1999 from Thailand; N. nigrodorsata Chen et Zia, 1961 from South China and Laos; N. reinecki (Spaeth, 1913) from Sulawesi; N. riedeli Świetojańska, 2002 from Sulawesi; N. sulawesica Borowiec, 1999 from Sulawesi; N. sumbawaensis Świetojańska et Borowiec, 1999 from Sumbawa; N. vicaria (Spaeth, 1913) from South India and Sri Lanka; and N. weyersi (Spaeth, 1900) from Borneo, Java and Sumatra. Notosacantha riedeli differs in presence of incomplete postapical costa. Notosacantha flavicornis and N. sumbawaensis differ in very slim and long antennae with narrow club ( N. dembickyi has short antennae with well developed and stout club). Notosacantha reinecki differs in complete furca interna (completely missing or preserved in basal and apical rudiments in N. dembickyi ). Notosacantha sulawesica differs in length exceeding 6.5 mm and broad marginalia with blackish spots (in N. dembickyi length is always below 4.5 mm and marginalia narrower with reddish spots). Notosacantha nigrodorsata differs in pronotal and elytral disc black and marginalia with black spots ( N. dembickyi has at most outer margin of elytral disc blackish remaining parts reddish as well as spots on marginalia). Notosacantha weyersi differs in more prominent elytral costae and tubercles and elytral pattern largely blackish. Notosacantha kantneri has costae and tubercles, especially principal tubercle, more prominent (very low in N. dembickyi ) and nearly complete set of posterior costae (in N. dembickyi are visible only apical costa, basal part of furca interna, some rudiments of furca externa and very feeble marked costa ultima). Notosacantha vicaria is the most similar species. It differs in higher elytral costae, disc with blackish pattern with paler branches on slope, blackish tubercles and elytral costae, more prominent humeral spot on marginalia and base of elytra distinctly wider than base of pronotum. Notosacantha dembickyi has very low and reduced costae, elytra without black pattern (brownish-red with pitchy outer margin of disc), tubercles and costae of same colour as disc, humeral spot on marginalia hardly visible or nearly reduced and base of pronotum as wide as or slightly wider than base of elytra. Basal corners of pronotum somewhat obtuse with small dents, while N. vicaria has those corners sharp and rectangular. Both species are separated also geographically. Notosacantha vicaria is distributed Sri Lanka and S India: Andaman Is., Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while N. dembickyi is known from NE India: Meghalaya.

Description. Length of body: 4.19–4.62 mm (mean: 4.41 mm), width of body: 3.43–3.87 mm (mean: 3.63 mm), length of pronotum: 1.05–1.08 mm (mean: 1.054 mm), width of pronotum: 3.04–3.22 mm (mean: 3.15 mm), length/width of body ratio: 1.19–1.24 (mean: 1.22), width/length of pronotum ratio: 2.90–3.04 (mean: 2.99). Body short-oval with moderately rounded sides (Figs, 5, 10).

Frontal plate yellow with darkened basal margin. Vertex black. Ventrites including legs and antennae uniformly yellow. Pronotal disc pitchy brown-blackish, the dark colour extends to marginalia near the base of disc, explanate margin yellow. Scutellum brownish with somewhat darkened apical margin. Elytral disc with reddish-brown plate and gradually pitchy brown on slope. Explanate margin of elytra mostly yellow with humeral spot extending at most to 1/4 width of marginalia or completely reduced and posterolateral spot extending to 1/2 width of marginalia. Spots are reddish-brown and border between them and marginalia diffuse, indistinct. Explanate margin of elytra and pronotum of same colour with similarly coloured extreme margin.

Frontal plate slightly widened apically, with obtuse apex and shallow apical cleft ( Fig. 5 ).

Pronotum broad, with maximum width close to base, sides rounded and basal corners obtuse to rounded with feeble dents. Disc with two almost similar rows of coarse punctures, one oblique before middle and other close to base. Explanate margin with moderate, regularly distributed pores. Pores on extreme margin fine and nearly rounded, similar in both, pronotal and elytral marginalia. Remaining area of pronotal marginalia with coarse oval pores, somewhat coarser than pores on elytral marginalia.

Base of pronotum as wide as or slightly wider than base of elytra. Elytral disc with low and partly reduced costae, without distinct tubercles ( Figs. 5, 6, 7 , 10). Dorsal costa is interrupted between basal and postbasal elevations, rear rudiment is distinctly higher than basal. Anterior and posterior branch of dorsal costa converging in different points in principal elevation. Sutural costa obliquely raised to suture, extending to it or to first row of punctures. Lateral costa well visible extending at most to submarginal row. Apical costa very low in some specimens nearly broken close to marginal elevation. Sutural branch of apical elevation feeble, almost invisible. Costa ultima and costa terminalis reduced to basal rudiments near manginal elevation. Furca externa feeble, marked at most in first 1/3 length. Furca interna extremely low, incomplete, forms short elevation visible at most in basal 1/4 length. Apical part of dorsal costa is parallelsided extending to submarginal row. Humeral costa completely reduced without rudiments near imaginary crossing with lateral costa, only humeral callus somewhat elevated. Punctation of disc moderate, distance between punctures as wide as puncture diameter. Punctation similar in anterior and posterior parts of elytra. Punctation in marginal row gradually coarser posterad. Punctation of explanate margin distinctly coarser than punctation of disc and with irregular pores, especially in the humeral area. There is tendency to form three more or less regular rows from outer margin of marginalia (especially, in posterior part). Entire surface of beetle is shiny, fovea of punctures on disc with microreticulate bottom.

Antennae short, 11-segmented, slim with distinct 5-segmented club. Length ratio: 100:47:35:51:53:56:68: 59:63:55:83. Second anntenomere thick, rounded almost as long as wide. Second (1.36 times) and fourth antennomere (1.46 times) longer than third. Club 3.3 times longer than pedicel ( Fig. 8 ).

Clypeus rectangular, clypeal grooves converging in triangle with sharp top ending in apical cleft of frontal plate. Frontal plate bent downwards. Mid area of clypeus with deep triangular impression, which has oval sulcus in the middle. Surface of clypeus microreticulate and shiny. Prosternal collar, legs and remaining parts of underside without diagnostic characters.

Distribution. India: Meghalaya state.

Material examined. Holotype and two paratypes: “NE INDIA Meghalaya, SW of CHERRAPUNJEE, 25°13’–14’ N 91°40’ E, 900m, L. Dembický leg. 1.–24.v.2005 ”, “ BMNH {E}, 2006-48, L. Dembicky”; one paratype: “NE INDIA, MEGHALAYA, SW of CHERRAPUNJEE, 25°13’–14’ N 91°40’ E, 5.–24.v. 2005, 900 m, P. Pacholátko leg.”, “ BMNH {E}, 2006-48, L. Dembicky”; one paratype: “NE INDIA, MEGHALAYA, KHASI Hills, MAWSYNRAM, 28°18’ N 91°29’ E, 800± 100m, P. Pacholátko leg., 5.–9.vi.2006 ”, “L. Dembický& P. Pacholátko, BMNH {E} 2006-48 ”; two paratypes: “NE INDIA Meghalaya, SW of Sohra, 800– 1000m, 29°14’N 91°40’E, v.2005, C. L. Peša lgt.” “Collection, Jan Bezdĕk, Brno, Czech Republic ”: Holotype and three paratypes preserved at the Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom; one paratype in collection Jan Bezdĕk (Brno, Czech Republic) and two paratypes at the Departmet of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budĕjovice, Czech Republic.

FIGURES 9–10. 9— Notosacantha cherrapunjiensis , 10— N. dembickyi .

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 8. Notosacantha dembickyi: 5 — body dorsal, 6 — body lateral, 7 — body apical, 8 — antenna.