Agrilus (Duttus) delchevi, Curletti & Sakalian, 2009

Curletti, Gianfranco & Sakalian, Vladimir, 2009, Sixteen new species of Agrilus Curtis, 1825 from East Africa (Coleoptera, Buprestidae), ZooKeys 24 (24), pp. 1-29 : 14-16

Agrilus (Duttus) delchevi , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:63FCB200-1EFA-4955-9435-EEC9FC4B14C1

Figs 15, 16

Type specimens. Holotype ♁: “ Kenya, Ngong Hills , Kiserian distr. (01°26´56˝S – 36°38´19˝E), 1940 m, 28.04.2004, V. Sakalian leg.”. Th e holotype is deposited in IZBAS.

Description. Body robust, subcylindrical, dark copper colored, with reddish tinge on frons and pronotum and blackish tinge on elytra; underside and legs bright copper; elytra with two longitudinal impressions and short lateral pubescence from posterior third to apex.

Head with medial depression on vertex and upper portion of frons; with longitudinal striae and dense punctation on sides of vertex portion of depression; width of vertex between eyes 0.75 mm; frons protruding at middle portion, with two depressions, one deeper and wider, situated in upper portion of frons, with sculpture of transverse wrinkles; another situated in lower portion of frons, with sculpture of concentric wrinkles; frons and clypeus with short, dense, red pubescence; genae with white pubescence; eyes convex and large; antennae very short, barely reaching to posterior third of eyes; antennomeres 4–11 much wider than long, triangular.

Pronotum widest at anterior third; anterior margin carinate; lateral margins distinctly curved in posterior third; latero-posterior angles acute; pronotum with two medial and two lateral depressions; posterior medial depression larger, longitudinal, long oval, separated in middle portion of pronotum from oval, smaller anterior depression; prehumeral pronotal carinae rib-formed, extending from latero-posterior angles to middle portion of pronotum, widely separated from lateral margins; marginal and submarginal carinae coalescent at posterior third of pronotum; discal sculpture consisting of transverse striae; lateral depressions with dense red pubescence.

Scutellum large, anterior portion triangular; transverse carina present; hind projection acutely pointed.

Elytra slightly wider across humeri than pronotal base, widest at posterior third; humeral depressions deep and wide; apices widely jointly rounded, distinctly serrulate; disk with two longitudinal impressions extending from humeral depressions to apical portion; elytra with short, sparse, lateral pubescence on posterior third; discal elytral sculpture consisting of transverse wrinkles.

Underside. Prosternal lobe robust, evenly arcuate. Prosternal process narrowed between procoxae; medial portion of prosternum and prosternal process with long, white, sparse pubescence; medial portion of meso and metasternum with short, sparse, white pubescence. Ventrites with regular, short, sparse, golden pubescence; apex of last ventrite subtruncate, with long pubescence. Metatarsus shorter than metatibia; basal metatarsomere shorter than following metatarsomeres together; tarsal claws bifid with long inner tooth. Aedeagus (Fig. 16).

Size. Length of the holotype 8.75 mm; width of the holotype 2.50 mm.

Differential diagnosis. This new species was found at the same locality as Agrilus (Duttus) marietae Curletti & Sakalian, 2007 . It is similar to A. marietae but differs by its larger size; narrower vertex, red pubescence of frons, clypeus and pronotum, sides of pronotum sinuate before posterior angles, lack of bidentate ventral apical portion and aedeagus thinner and more elongate.

Figure |5. Agrilus (Duttus) delchevi , sp. n. (dorsal view). Figure |6. Aedeagus of Agrilus (Duttus) delchevi , sp. n. (dorsal view). Scale: 2 mm.

Etymology. The name is chosent to honor the Bulgarian arachnologist Dr. Hristo Delchev Head of Departament of “Taxonomy, Faunistic and Zoogeography” of the Institute of Zoology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, for his great body of work on different families of spiders of the world.