Toktokkus tschinkeli, KAMINSKI & GEARNER, 2021

Kamiński, Marcin J., Gearner, Olivia M., Kanda, Kojun, Swichtenberg, Kali, Purchart, Luboš & Smith, Aaron D., 2021, First insights into the phylogeny of tok-tokkie beetles (Tenebrionidae: Molurina, Phanerotomeina) and examination of the status of the Psammodes vialis species-group, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191, pp. 883-901 : 896

TOKTOKKUS TSCHINKELI KAMIŃSKI & GEARNER

( FIG. 3C)

lsid urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:61AAB5AF-1529-4D7D-A25C-90FD186FE037

Type material: Holotype (deposited at USNM), male: ‘ Chiqubo, Mozam. / No. 11–20, II 1964 / Coll. A.L. Moore. ’. Paratypes ( TMNH): male: ‘LimpopoRiv. / Mozambique Territory. / Feb. 1924. / F.Streeter’, ‘ Psammodes / sp? near / tuberculipennis / det. AJH.’; female: same data but lacking the identification label .

Diagnosis: This species can be distinguished from its congeners by having margin of prosternal collar expanded and folded out into a large lip, extremely rounded elytra – almost heart-shaped, and declivous portion of elytra with little to no tubercles ( Fig. 3C).

Description: Length 29.0–32.0 mm, width of pronotum 9.0–10.0 mm and elytra 19.0–23.0 mm. Head: Hypognathous. Frons finely punctate (3–4 diameters apart); frontoclypeal suture course, with deep groove in middle; apical clypeal margin broadly shallowly emarginate; clypeus projected toward front of body; apical margin of labrum sharply emarginate medially, densely punctate (although punctures fine) in apical half, apical side of labrum densely covered with yellowish, acuminate setae. Eye comma-shaped, with reduced ventral part, strongly emarginate around epistomal base; with deep groove on temporal side. Mentum trapezoidal, with straight base, not fully filling buccal cavity; anterior margin not emarginate; covered with fine setae. Submentum semicircular, concave basally. Antenna slender, moderately covered in recumbent acuminate goldish setae; antennomere 2 short, equal to 0.2 of antennomere 3 length; antennomere 4 about half of antennomere 3 length; length of antenna equal to 0.85 of pronotal length. Prothorax: Pronotal lateral margin rounded, well visible. Pronotum widest above middle. Disc dull, impunctate; anterior and basal margins, anterior apices strongly produced. Hypomeron convex, without submarginal groove, impunctate. Prosternal process rounded in lateral view, longitudinally depressed in middle (ventral view). Anterior margin of prosternum labiate, strongly projecting ventrally (lateral view). Pterothorax: Scutellum densely covered with microtubercles. Elytra widest in basal third, rounded laterally; disc impunctate, not covered by tubercles; lateral part (below humerus) covered with tubercles (organized in more or less regular rows) and microtubercles (2–4 diameters apart); remaining lateral part of elytra visible only ventrally, impunctate, without tubercles and microtubercles. Elytral slope steep, densely covered with microtubercles (1–4 diameters apart), with sparsely distributed tubercles, elytral apex flattened. Epipleura, impunctate, not tuberculate, clearly distinguishable from neighbouring portion of elytra, widely enfolding fifth ventrite. Mesoventrite with deep, median groove and elevated sides. Metaventrite impunctate, densely setose. Lateral regions of metaventrite (between coxae) extremely short. Metaepisternal suture abbreviated posteriorly. Legs: Covered with dense, goldish setae. Procoxa exposed basally. Apex of protibia with prominent denticle on outer margin, lateral carina terminating in basal third; median spur reduced, reaching 0.5 of outer lateral spur length. Spurs on meso- and metatibiae of equal length. Tarsi narrowed laterally. Abdomen: Ventrites 1–4 medially densely covered with goldish setae moderately punctate and weakly rugulose; ventrite 5 densely punctate and setose; ventrite 5 without submarginal sulcus, densely punctured (~0.5 diameters apart), each puncture with single goldish setae. Terminalia: Due to scarcity of available specimens, terminalia were not dissected.

Etymology: Named in honour of Dr Walter R.Tschinkel (Florida State University), an internationally renowned entomologist, for his outstanding contributions to darkling beetle systematics.