Nymphius gianassoi, Bezděk, 2008

Bezděk, Jan, 2008, New species and subspecies of Nymphius (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae) from Iran and Turkey, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 48 (1), pp. 79-93 : 80-83

Nymphius gianassoi sp. nov.

( Figs. 3 , 11 , 17-18 )

Type locality. Iran, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi province, 35 km W of Mahabad.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♁, ‘NW. Iran / Āzerbāyğān-e Garbī / 35 km W di Mahābād [w, p] // 14-5.2002 m. 1900 / Leg. D. Gianasso [w, p] // Collezione / Daccordi M. [grey label, p] // Nymphius / domenicus / n. sp. [h] / det. M. Daccordi 20 [p] 02 [w, h]’ ( NMPC) . PARATYPES: 1 ♁, ‘NW. Iran / Āzerbāyğān-e Garbī / 35 km W di Mahābād [w, p] // 14-5.2002 m. 1900 / Leg. D. Gianasso [w, p] // Collezione / Daccordi M. [grey label, p] // Nymphius / gianassoi n. sp. [h] / det. M. Daccordi 20 [p] 07 [w, h]’ ( MDVI) ; 3 ♀♀, ‘NW. Iran / Āzerbāyğān-e Garbī / 35 km W di Mahābād [w, p] // 14-5.2002 m. 1900 / Leg. D. Gianasso [w, p] // Collezione / Daccordi M. [grey label, p]’ ( NMPC, MDVI, JBBC).The specimens are provided with additional printed red labels :‘ HOLOTYPUS [or PARATYPUS], / Nymphius / gianassoi sp. nov., / det. J. Bezděk 2007 ’. Two paratypes, male and female, were damaged due to handling during postal transport (both have missing head and pronotum).

Description. Body length: male (holotype) 4.95 mm; females 5.00-5.85 mm.

Male. Body slender, flattened, subparallel, nearly glabrous. Body metallic blue-green. Mouthparths, genae and anterior margin of clypeus yellow, mandibles black at apices. Antennomeres 1-4 yellow, antennomere 5 gradually darkened, antennomeres 6-11 black. Scutellum black. Legs yellow, last two tarsomeres infuscate. Abdomen bluish-black, ventrite 4 brownish laterally.

Head as wide as anterior part of pronotum and 1.83 times as wide as interocular space. Labrum transverse, at each lateral side covered with several setigerous pores bearing pale setae, anterior margin slightly sinuate, lustrous.Anterior part of head nearly lustrous, sparsely covered with small punctures and pale setae. Frontal tubercles large, slightly elevated, subtriangular, with anterior tips separated by nasal keel, lustrous. Both tubercles separated by deep furrow; another deep furrow separating posterior margin of each tubercle from frons. Frons slightly impressed just behind frontal tubercles, nearly lustrous, sparsely punctured at sides. Vertex semiopaque, very finely covered with microreticulation.Antennae slender, 0.77 times as long as body, length ratios of antennomeres 1-11 equal to 16-6-11-17-17-16-16-15-15-13-16.

Pronotum lustrous, glabrous, transverse, 1.53 times as broad as long, widest in middle, slightly narrowed anteriad and posteriad. Surface densely covered with very fine punctures. Lateral margin moderately rounded, anterior and posterior margins nearly straight. All margins distinctly bordered, all angles with distinct tooth bearing long pale seta. Anterior angles nearly rectangular, posterior angles obtusely angulate.

Scutellum subtriangular with widely rounded apex, lustrous, glabrous, impunctate, very indistinctly covered with microsculpture.

Elytra subparallel, very slightly divergent posteriad, with maximal width at the last third, lustrous, glabrous, apical fourth with sparse long pale hairs. Humeral calli well developed. Lateral sides of each elytron with distinct obtuse rib starting from humeral callus and disappearing before apex. Surface along rib slightly longitudinally impressed. Elytral surface covered with small and very dense confluent punctures. Epipleura distinct, gradually tapering, disappearing behind midlength of elytra. Macropterous. Elytra 0.63 times as long as body and 1.56-1.65 times as long as wide.

Legs slender, densely covered with short pale hairs. Protarsomere 1 0.93 as long as two following tarsomeres combined, length ratios of protarsomeres 1-4 equal to 14-10-5-10. Metatarsomere 1 0.94 as long as two following tarsomeres combined, length ratios of metatarsomeres 1-4 equal to 16-11-6-11. Claws with distinct basal tooth.

Ventral surface semiopaque, finely punctate and covered with microsculpture and dense pale hairs. Abdomen modified ( Fig. 3 ): ventrites 1 and 2 simple, without modifications. Ventrite 3 prolonged posteriad to a tapered process, apex widened, posterior margin truncated, with two small indicated teeth laterally and distinct marginal angles slightly bent dorsally; posterior margin densely covered with long pale setae, lateral margins before apex with sparse setae; anterior margin with distinct round depression, middle of ventrite (at the narrowest place) with shallow longitudinal depression. Ventrite 4 robust, simple, in ventral view mostly covered by ventrite 3, thus only small lateral parts visible. Ventrite 5 prolonged into two long appendages with relatively robust bases, prolonged parts narrow; gradually narrowed in second third; last third strongly rectangularly bent ventrally.

Shape of aedeagus as in Fig. 11 .

Female. Antennomeres 1-6 yellow, antennomeres 7 and 8 gradually darkened, antennomeres 9 to 11 black. Depression in the middle of last ventrite brownish. Head 1.58-1.66 times as wide as interocular space. Antennae 0.65 times as long as body, length ratios of antennomeres 1-11 equal to 14-7-11-15-15-14-15-15-15-15-17. Pronotum 1.46-1.53 times as broad as long, widest at anterior third. Elytra 0.70 times as long as body and 1.72-1.83 times as long as wide. Protarsomere 1 as long as two following tarsomeres combined, slightly shorter than in male, length ratios of protarsomeres 1-4 equal to 12-8-4-12. Metatarsomere 1 as long as two following tarsomeres combined, slightly slimmer than in male, length ratios of metatarsomeres 1-4 equal to 16-10-6-12. Last ventrite with shallow longitudinal depression along midline ( Fig. 17 ). Pygidium with sharply pointed apex ( Fig. 18 ).

Variability. In one female the scutellum has a brownish apical margin.

Differential diagnosis. Nymphius gianassoi sp. nov. seems to be very similar to N. forcipifer , which differs in the structure of male ventrites ( Figs. 2 and 3 ): ventrite 3 is shorter, much more tapered, and the posterior margin is not truncated but forms a distinct furca. Ventrite 4 has large transverse corrugations (smooth in N. gianassoi sp. nov.). The appendages of ventrite 5 are more robust, shorter, and with only small ventrally bent teeth. The aedeagi of both species are also similar but in the lateral view, the aedeagus of N. gianassoi sp. nov. is almost straight while it is distinctly sinuated in N. forcipifer . In dorsal view, the subapical area of the aedeagus is somewhat extended in N. gianassoi sp. nov. and nearly parallel in N. forcipifer .

Etymology. Dedicated to the collector of the type series, Dr. Domenico Gianasso (Castelnuovo don Bosco, Italy), a specialist in the Buprestidae .

Bionomics. The specimens were collected in a hilly steppe environment with growths of Astragalus sp. and low bushes of Prunus sp., with a nearby stream with willows on the shores. The herbaceous vegetation was varied with numerous flowers of the Asteraceae (Gianasso 2008, pers. comm.).

Distribution. North-western Iran, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi province.

Figures

Figs. 1-4. Male abdomen (a – ventral view; b – lateral view). 1 – Nymphius ensifer (Guillebeau, 1891); 2 – N. forcipifer (Weise, 1900); 3 – N. gianassoi sp. nov.; 4 – N. lydius (Weise, 1886). Scale: 2 mm for Fig. 3; Figs. 1-2, and 4 redrawn from FOGATO (1981).

Figs. 9-16. Aedeagus (a – dorsal view; b – lateral view). 9 – Nymphius ensifer (Guillebeau, 1891); 10 – N. forcipifer (Weise, 1900); 11 – N. gianassoi sp. nov.; 12 – N. lydius (Weise, 1886); 13 – N. pravei (Jacobson, 1899); 14 – N. stylifer stylifer (Weise, 1899); 15 – N. stylifer ogloblini (Bogachev, 1947); 16 – N. stylifer kadleci ssp. nov. Scale: 1 mm for Figs. 11, 14-16; Figs. 9-10, 12-13 redrawn from FOGATO (1981).

Figs. 17-20. 17-18 – Nymphius gianassoi sp. nov. (female). 17 – last ventrite; 18 – pygidium. 19-20 – N. stylifer kadleci ssp. nov. (female). 19 – last ventrite; 20 – pygidium. Scale: 1 mm.