Stenothemus melleus, Švihla, 2005

Švihla, Vladimír, 2005, New taxa of the subfamily Cantharinae (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) from south-eastern Asia with notes on other species II, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 45, pp. 71-110 : 103

Stenothemus melleus sp. nov.

( Fig. 71 )

Type locality. China, Sichuan Province, Quingchenghou mts., 70 km W of Chengdu, 1500 m a.s.l.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‘ China: Sichuan prov., Quingchenghou mts. , 70 km W of Chengdu, 1500 m, 15.-22.x.2004, S. Murzin lgt.’ ( NMPC) . PARATYPES: same data, 2 JJ ( NMPC).

Description. Coloration. Head rusty, clypeus and maxillary palpi chestnut to sepia brown, antennae sepia. Basal half to two thirds of femora sienna, rest of legs sooty. Prothorax and scutellum rusty, meso- and metasternum and ventral part of abdomen sepia to sooty, elytra honey yellow.

Male. Eyes of moderate size, strongly prominent, head across eyes as wide as pronotum, temples arcuate and convergent posteriorly.Antennae moderately exceeding elytral midlength, antennomeres 4-10 slightly flattened, without impressions. Surface of head finely ruguloselacunose and yellow pubescent, vertex matt, rest of head semilustrous. Pronotum as long as wide, its anterior margin straight, anterior corners roundly truncate, lateral margins slightly sinuate, posterior corners nearly sharp, slightly prominent, posterior margin straight. Surface of pronotum sparsely and finely punctate, finely yellow pubescent, semilustrous to lustrous. Elytra moderately dilated posteriorly, elytral nervation very slightly indicated, surface of elytra finely punctate basaly, sparsely yellow pubescent, lustrous, rest of elytra finely ruguloselacunose, finely yellow pubescent and matt. Aedeagus as in Fig. 71 . Female unknown.

Length J: 7.9-8.9 mm.

Differential diagnosis. Given the shape of the dorsal part of aedeagus, S. melleus sp. nov. is related to S. fukienensis Wittmer, 1974 from Fujian and to S. schneideri Švihla, 2004 from Sichuan. It differs from the former species in unicolorous pronotum and elytra and rounded apical corners of the dorsal part of the aedeagus, and from the latter in semilustrous pronotum, unicolorous elytra and shorter laterophyses not exceeding the emargination of the dorsal part of the aedeagus (cf. WITTMER 1974, ŠVIHLA 2004).

Etymology. Melleus (Latin) = honey yellow, named in reference to the colour of the elytra.

Distribution. China: Sichuan.

Figures

Figs. 6-11. 6-8 – Micropodabrus kopetzi sp. nov. 6 – aedeagus, ventral view; 7 – ditto, lateral view; 8 – dorsal part of aedeagus. 9-11 – M. kantnerorum sp. nov. 9 – aedeagus, ventral view; 10 – ditto, lateral view; 11 – dorsal part of aedeagus.