Toktokkus barclayi, 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 : 894-895

TOKTOKKUS BARCLAYI KAMIŃSKI & GEARNER

( FIG. 3A)

lsid urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6894F758-CA7B-45F0-8B17-CD4E32967131

Type Material: Holotype ( BMNH), female: ‘ Blantyre. / March 1911 ’, ‘ Nyasaland. / Dr. J.E.S. Old / 1912--433 ’. Paratype ( BMNH), female: ‘ Kota Kota , / to Ngara / Nyasaland / Dec. 1910 ’, ‘ Dr. J.E.S Old / 1914--438 ’.

Diagnosis: Similar to mashunus due to the sparse, deeply angled tubercles. This species can be distinguished from mashunus by its more distinct, non-confluent tubercles, which terminate closer to the humerus ( Fig. 3A).

Description: Length 25.0 mm, width of pronotum 10.0– 11.0mmandelytra 14.0–16.0 mm. Head: Hypognathous. Frons finely punctate (2–5 diameters apart); frontoclypeal suture course, with deep groove in middle; apical clypeal margin broadly shallowly emarginate to non-emarginate; clypeus projected toward front of body; apical margin of labrum shallowly emarginate to nonemarginate medially, little to no punctation, margin 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, not fully filling buccal cavity; longitudinal groove at middle on ventral surface; anterior margin emarginate at middle. 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 roughly equal to pronotal length. Prothorax: Pronotal lateral margin rounded, well visible. Pronotum widest just posterior of middle. Disc dull, impunctate; anterior fully marginated, posterior margin absent at middle, anterior apices strongly produced. Hypomeron convex, without submarginal groove, impunctate but weakly rugulose in places. Prosternal process rounded in lateral view with small projection by coxa, longitudinally depressed in middle (ventral view). Anterior margin of prosternum straight. Pterothorax: Scutellum densely covered with microtubercles. Elytra widest at middle to anterior third, slightly rounded; disc impunctate, not covered by tubercles; lateral part (below humerus) covered with tubercles (organized in ~5–6 more or less regular rows on each elytron); declivous portion on each elytron with additional 1–2 tuberculate rows with occasional scattered microtubercles; elytral margin not visible dorsally except in apical quarter, tuberculate rows extend more or less to lateral margin. Elytral slope relatively steep, 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, with scattered setae. Lateral regions of metaventrite (between coxae) extremely short. Metaepisternal suture abbreviated posteriorly. Legs: covered with dense, gold setae. Procoxa exposed basally. Apex of protibia with prominent denticle on outer margin, lateral carina terminating at middle to basal third; median spur 0.66 to equal length of outer lateral spur. Spurs on meso- and metatibiae of equal length. Tarsi narrowed laterally. Abdomen: Ventrites moderately to weakly punctate and weakly rugulose ventrite 5 with submarginal sulcus at anterior half. Terminalia: Due to scarcity of available specimens, terminalia were not dissected; however, the apical part of the coxites is visible externally in one specimen and is identical to that of the other species of this genus ( Fig. 6A–H).

Etymology: This species is dedicated to Maxwell V. L. Barclay, Curator and Collections Manager of Coleoptera at the Natural History Museum in London (BMNH).