Goudotostes elegans, Ballerio, 2021

Ballerio, Alberto, 2021, The Ceratocanthinae of Madagascar and Comoro Islands: a revision of the genera Synarmostes and Goudotostes, and of the flightless Philharmostes, with description of 64 new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea, Hybosoridae), Fragmenta entomologica 53 (2), pp. 105-282 : 176-177

Goudotostes elegans sp. nov.

( Figs 63 a-j, 77) http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:269ED34F-5B37-4A9D-AF0A-F0B32E397794

Type series. Holotype, ♂, deposited in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, labelled as follows: / CASTYPE 20264 / CASENT 8135298 / Madagascar: Toliara Prov. Parc National de Zombitse 19.8 km 84° E Sakaraha elev. 770 m 5-9 Feb. 2003 22° 50’ 36” S 044° 42’ 36” E / coll. Fisher, Griswold et al. California Acad. of Sciences sifted litter (leaf mold, rotten wood) in tropical dry forest collection code: BLF7510/ / Goudotostes elegans n. sp. det. A. Ballerio 2020 Holotypus ♂ / [distended specimen glued on a card, dissected, male genitalia glued in DMHF resin on a separate card, same pin]. Paratypes [1 ♂ dissect- ed]: 3 ♂♂ and 2 ♀♀ (3 in CASC and 2 in ABCB), same collecting data as holotype . Further material examined (excluded from the type series): 3 ♀♀ (2 in CASC and 1 in ABCB): / Madagascar: Fianarantsoa Parc National de Ranomafana Vatoharanana River 4.1 km 231° SW Ranomafana elev. 1100 m 27-31 Mar. 2003 / 21° 17’ 24” S 047° 26’ 00” E / California Acad. of Sciences coll. Fisher, Griswold et al. sifted litter, montane rainforest collection code: BLF8400 /.

Diagnosis. Goudotostes elegans sp. nov. can be easily differentiated from all other species of Goudotostes by the following combination of characters: a) small size, b) dorsal ocular area absent, c) pronotal anterior carina monolobate, d) pronotal basal carina monolobate, e) each elytron with one median longitudinal continuous carina occupying about three quarters of elytral length, f) aedeagus with distinctly hooked left paramere. Because of the peculiar elytral carination, the only species with which Goudotostes elegans sp. nov. can be mistaken is Goudotostes angelii sp. nov., which however is larger and which has bilobate basal and anterior pronotal carina as well as a small vestigial dorsal ocular area.

Description. Size: HL = 0.8 mm; HW = 1.1 mm; PL = 1.2 mm; PW = 2.1 mm; EL = 2.2 mm; EW = 2.0 mm. Overall morphology as in generic diagnosis. Small-sized Goudotostes . Body convex. Black, shiny, dorsum with extremely short fine setation (50×), underside, tarsi and antennae dark reddish-brown, setation yellowish-brown. Head: W/L ratio = 1.58; clypeal apex obtuse, apical projection developed and sexually dimorphic, sides relatively rounded with slightly unaligned genae; dorsal ocular area absent, genal canthus indistinct, ventral ocular area small-sized, genae acute, distinctly protruding outwards, genal suture indistinct; head dorsal surface with vertex covered by large impressed simple punctures becoming transversely comma-shaped on frons and clypeus, fore margin marked by some irregular transverse lines. Interpunctural distance of punctures equal to or inferior than punctural diameter. Frons bearing a transverse row of three weakly raised tubercles. Pronotum: subrectangular (dorsal view) (W/L ratio = 1.67), convex, fore angles broadly subtruncate; pronotal disc covered by short large impressed transverse comma-shaped punctures becoming smaller horseshoe-shaped with opening directed outwards at sides and base, each one bearing a fine setigerous pore inside, interpunctural distance about equal to punctural diameter; pronotal bead complete although not visible at base; pronotal base distinctly raised in correspondence with scutellum; pronotal anterior carina monolobate; pronotal sculpturing made of large and raised tubercles and carinae as follows: posterior carina monolobate, disc with two raised tubercles, each side with one raised tubercle and one transverse carina, anterior monolobate carina distinctly raised with truncate apex. Scutellum : covered by impressed transverse comma-shaped punctures, apical third and sides smooth. Elytra: longer than wide (W/L ratio = 0.86), subovoidal (dorsal view), convex; inferior sutural stria visible and complete; humeral callus marked by a tubercle; elytral surface uniformly covered by large horseshoe-shaped punctures with opening directed backwards and having a setigerous pore inside, interpunctural distance about equal to punctural diameter. Striated articular area hardly visible in lateral view, relatively narrow and short; marginal area medium-sized; elytral articular process well developed, smooth and shiny, isolated from remaining elytral surface by a deep furrow. Elytral sculpturing as follows: base with one raised large oblique tubercle near apex of scutellum (parasutural tubercle), next to it a humeral oblique tubercle (humeral tubercle); almost parallel to elytral suture and aligned with the tubercle near scutellar apex a slightly sinuated longitudinal carina with smooth edge, starting just after the tubercle and ending before elytral apical third; elytral sides with three irregular rows of short longitudinal carinae, outer row with four carinae, inner rows with a lesser number of carinae; elytral distal third with some weakly raised irregular tubercles. Wings: flightless. Male genitalia: aedeagus (L = 0.8 mm) with parameres as in Figs 63 g-j, spiculum gastrale (L = 0.7 mm) as in Fig. 63 f .

Variability. I attribute to this species (without including them in the type series) also three females from Ranomafana, some 300 km East of the type locality. Those three specimens display slightly stronger elytral sculpturing (carinae and tubercles) and slightly denser elytral punctuation ( Fig. 63 e ). Only the finding of males and the examination of the aedeagus could reveal if they represent a separate species or not.

Etymology. Latin adjective in the nominative singular, meaning “elegant” due to elegant geometric pattern of the elytral sculpturing.

Distribution and habitat. Known from two localities in southern Madagascar. The type locality is in western Madagascar and the type series was there collected by sifting litter (leaf mold, rotten wood) in tropical dry forest. For more details on the type locality see under Synarmostes separatus sp. nov.. The three females excluded from the type series from Ranomafana (the exact collecting locality falls within the protected area “Parc National de Ranomafana”), if confirmed to belog to G. elegans sp. nov., would extend the ecological range of the species to “medium altitude moist evergreen forest” ( Goodman et al. 2018) also known as “humid forest” ( Moat & Smith 2007).

Figures

Fig. 63 – Goudotostes elegans sp. nov., a, holotype, dorsal view of distended specimen; b, paratype, ventral view of rolled up specimen; c, paratype, dorsal view of rolled up specimen; d, paratype, lateral view of rolled up specimen; e, specimen excluded from type series from Ranomafana, dorsal view of rolled up specimen; f, holotype, spiculum gastrale; g-j, holotype, four views of aedeagus.