Meloe (Meloe) scabrus, Pan & Ren, 2018

Pan, Zhao & Ren, Guodong, 2018, Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Meloinae (Coleoptera: Meloidae) from Xizang, China, with description of a new species, Zoological Systematics 43 (1), pp. 66-88 : 77-78

Meloe (Meloe) scabrus sp. nov. ( Figs 16 , 26–33 )

Diagnosis. Body is unicolor black, almost without metallic blue. Head and pronotum with irregular large shallow punctures, but the frons. Male antennomeres V–VII are modified, as in Figs 26–27 . Pronotum is slightly longer than wide, with a shallow large depression at center, sides sinuate. Mesonotum is triangularly stretch out, clearly visible ( Fig. 29 ). Male parameres with three sub-rounded yellow spots on ventral surface. Penial distal hook is positioned almost in the middle between apex and the proximal hook, and slightly smaller than the proximal hook.

The new species has similar pronotal punctures with four species/subspecies from the Himalayan region, M. semicoriaceus Fairmaire, M. proscarabaeus proscarabaeus Linnaeus , M. proscarabaeus sericeorugosus Aksentjev, and M. arunachalae Saha. However, M. scabrus is distinguishable from them by the following features: 1) antennomere VII of M. semicoriaceus is triangluar; antennomere VII of M. scabrus is sub-quadrangluar ( Fig. 27 ); 2) antennomere V of M. proscarabaeus proscarabaeus and M. proscarabaeus sericeorugosus are not transverse widened (fig. 132c in Bolonga, 1991), and their parameres have big yellow spot on ventral surface (fig. 4 in Aksentjev, 1987); but antennomere V of M. scabrus is widened ( Fig. 27 ), and parameres with three small yellow spots ( Fig. 30 ); 3) antennomere VII of M. arunachalae is conspicuously wider than VI (fig. 1 in Saha, 1979); but antennomere VII of M. scabrus is narrower than VI ( Fig. 27 ).

Description. Body unicolor black with, at most, antennae and legs slightly metallic blue; surface opaque. Body with sparse and very short black setae, also on ventral side, only with golden setae on tarsal pads. Body length (apex of mandiblesapex of abdomen) 20.3 mm (holotype, male), 32.4mm (paratype, female).

Head subquadrate, approximately 0.8 as long as wide, subparallel on sides. Punctures large, irregular, and dense (its diameter conspicuously larger than the distance between punctures), but inconspicuous at center. Frons rugulose, with a finely impressed median line and an inconspicuous depression in middle, between eyes. Eye subreniform, weakly narrowed in ventral, with antero-dorsal margin slightly sinuate, just behind antennal insertion. Temple subparallel, only slightly curved posteriad and conspicuously longer than longitudinal diameter of eye. Clypeus posteriorly with large punctures and anteriorly almost smooth, posterior margin (frontoclypeal suture) obtuse-angled curved in middle. Labrum entire, anterior margin conspicuously sinuate; maxillary palpomeres slightly enlarged apically, palpomere IV slightly shorter than II; labial palpomere III conspicuously widening; mandibles curved and progressively narrowed on apical half. Antennae modified in male, but almost non modified in female ( Figs 26–28 ): male antennomere III subequel in length to I, IV subequel in length to II, V–VII conspicuously modified ( Figs 26–27 ), VI positioned almost in middle of V in dorsal view, VII slightly longer but narrower than VI in exteral lateral view, VIII slightly shorter than III, decreasing in width from VIII to IX, IX to XI similar in width, XI subfusiformed, nearly 1.8 as long as X; female antennomeres similar to male but slightly stronger, antennomeres V–VII not modified, only slightly wider than others, and XI subcylindrical ( Fig. 28 ).

Pronotum ( Fig. 29 ) slightly longer than wide (length/width approximately equal to 1.05), sides sinuate, widest at apical third, and subparallel on sides on basal third; disk with a median shallow depression in basal half; punctures similar but slightly denser than those of head; posterior margin conspicuously sinuate in middle, fully visible from above. Mesonotum to triangularly stretch out, clearly visible ( Fig. 29 ). Elytra obsolescently rugose, its length more than two times (ca. 2.5) of pronotal length. All tibiae with two spurs in both sexes; inner protibial spur longer than external spur, both slender; mesotibial spurs both slender either, in similar length; external metatibial spur widened, spoon-shaped at apex, longer and wider than inner one. Tarsal pads moderately developed on all legs in both sexes but absent on metatarsomere I of female.

Posterior margin of last visible sternite shallowly emarginate in male, and almost straight in female.

Parameres slightly shorter than phallobase, with three sub-rounded yellow spots in middle of parameres in ventral view ( Fig. 30 ); apical lobe ca. 0.25 times of total length of parameres in lateral view ( Fig. 31 ). Penis ( Fig. 32 ) slender, distal hook positioned almost in middle between apex and proximal hook, and slightly smaller than proximal hook; endophallic hook small and slender. Spiculum gastrale as in Fig. 33 .

Material examined. Holotype ♂, 1 ♀ paratype (presented by Prof. Aimin Shi of CWNU, deposited in MHBU) with the following labels: “ 2010.VIII.14 // Comai, Xizang // Yongsheng Pan & Yunchun Li leg. // Museum of China West Normal University” (white, printed, in Chinese), “ HOLOTYPE (and PARATYPE respectively) // Meloe (Meloe) scabrus Pan & Ren det. 2016” (red or yellow, printed and handwritten). 1 ♂ paratype ( MHBU) with the following labels: “ 2014.VIII.8 // Comai, Xizang // Guodong Ren, Xinglong Bai & Junsheng Shan leg. // Museum of Hebei University” (white, printed, in Chinese), “ 28°27.594'N // 91°25.643'E // Alt. 4262 m // Museum of Hebei University” (white, printed, in Chinese ), “ PARATYPE // Meloe (Meloe) scabrus Pan & Ren det. 2016” (yellow, printed and handwritten).

Distribution. China: Xizang (Comai (MHBU)).

Etymology. The specific name “ scabrus ” is a Latin adjective (= scabrous), referring to its large and irregular punctation on head and pronotum.

Figures

Figures 13–25. Habitus, dorsal view. 13. Lytta taliana Pic. 14. Meloe servulus Bates. 15. Meloe proscarabaeus proscarabaeus Linnaeus. 16. Meloe scabrus sp. nov. 17. Hycleus cichorii (Linnaeus). 18. Hycleus dorsetiferus Pan, Ren & Wang. 19. Hycleus medioinsignatus (Pic). 20. Hycleus phaleratus phaleratus (Pallas). 21. Pseudabris hingstoni (Blair). 22. Pseudabris latimaculata Pan & Bologna. 23. Pseudabris longiventris (Blair). 24. Pseudabris przewalskyi (Dokhtouroff). 25. Pseudabris regularis Pan & Bologna.

Figure 26–33. Meloe (Meloe) scabrus sp. nov. 26. Antenna, dorsal view, male. 27. Antennomeres V– VII, external lateral view. 28. Antenna, dorsal view, female. 29. Pronotum and mesonotum, dorsal view. 30. Tegmen, ventral view. 31. Tegmen, lateral view. 32. Penis, lateral view. 33. Spiculum gastrale, dorsal view. Scale bar: 1mm.