Anthaxia (Merocratus) violaceidorsis Bílý, 2019

Bílý, Svatopluk & Plachetka, Mikuláš, 2019, A study on the genus Anthaxia (Merocratus) Bílý 1989 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Anthaxiini), Zootaxa 4701 (1), pp. 82-90 : 82-90

Anthaxia (Merocratus) violaceidorsis Bílý , sp. nov.

( Figs. 7 , 14 )

Type locality: Indonesia, Eastern Kalimantan, Bukit Soeharto .

Type specimen. Holotype (male, NMPC): “ Bukit Soeharto , Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia, 16.–23.iii.1998, H. Makihara leg. // malaise trap, Tower 30–20 mˮ.

Diagnosis. Small (5.0 mm), wedge-shaped, matt with silky lustre; frons and vertex black with violet lustre, frontoclypeus, antennae and narrow lines along inner margins of eyes golden green; pronotum black, lateroposterior depressions and short, elongate, prescutellar line blue-green; elytra dark violet, basal, transverse depression, elongate scutellar triangle, narrow semicircular lines along lateral margins and elytral epipleura blue-green ( Fig. 7 ); ventral surface lustrous, bronze-violet; entire body asetose.

Description of the male holotype. Head small, partly retracted into prothorax; anterior margin of frontoclypeus straight, frons widely, shallowly depressed, vertex flat, 0.5 times as wide as width of eye; eyes large, reniform, weakly projecting beyond outline of head; sculpture of head consisting of dense, polygonal cells and simple punctures without central grains; antennae rather short, reaching posterior fourth of lateral pronotal margins when laid alongside; scape long, claviform, 4 times as long as wide, pedicel subcylindrical, 1.3 times as long as wide, third antennomere obtusely triangular, 1.5 times as long as wide; antennomeres 4–10 trapezoidal, 1.0–1.2 times as wide as long, terminal antennomere rhomboid, 1.4 times as long as wide.

Pronotum rather strongly convex with wide, deep lateroposterior depressions, twice as wide as long; anterior margin very weakly bisinuose, posterior margin almost straight; lateral margins regularly rounded with obtuseangled posterior corners, maximum pronotal width at midlength; pronotal sculpture consisting of short, transverse, prescutellar rugae, fine, polygonal cells on anterior half of disc and rather coarse, polygonal cells without central grains along lateral margins. Scutellum large, flat, triangular, microsculptured.

Elytra regularly convex, wedge-shaped, 2.2 times as long as wide; transverse, basal depression shallow, not reaching scutellum; humeral callosities small, not projecting beyond elytral outline; subhumeral lobe large, elytral epipleura narrow, parallel-sided, almost reaching elytral apex; elytra narrowly rounded apically, preapical, lateral serrations very fine, almost invisible; elytral sculpture homogeneous, consisting of fine, dense punctures and short transverse rugae.

Ventral surface lustrous, finely ocellate, abdominal ventrites almost glabrous; anal ventrite rounded to weakly truncate, slightly depressed preapically, lateral serration very fine. Legs moderately long, slender, anterior tibiae very weakly curved, meso- and metatibiae straight, without inner serrations; tarsal claws fine, strongly hook-shaped, only weakly enlarged at base,

Aedeagus ( Fig. 14 ) long, straight, well-sclerotised, narrowed at distal half, parameres with very fine, lateral, preapical teeth; median lobe pointed apically, without lateral serrations.

Female unknown.

Measurement: length 5.0 mm; width 1.8 mm.

Etymology. The specific epithet is composed of the Latin adjective“ violaceus ˮ (violet) and substantive “ dorsum ˮ (dorsal part of he body) to stress the violet colouration of the species.

Differential diagnosis. Anthaxia (Merocratus) violaceidorsis Bílý , sp. nov. belongs to the A. (M.) tricolor species-group and it resembles by the violet colouration and triangular body A. (M.) longipilis and the male of A. (M.) priska sp. nov. From the former it differs by the entire asetose body and the shape of the male genitalia ( Fig. 14 vs. Fig. 13 in Bílý, 1998) from latter it differs by the more strongly depressed frons, colouration of the pronotum and ventral surface and by the quite different shape of the male genitalia ( Figs. 14 vs. 13).

Distribution. Indonesia (Kalimantan).

Figures

FIGURES 1–9. Subgen. Merocratus (dorsal view). 1—Anthaxia (M.) jakli Bílý, 1996, holotype, 6.2 mm; 2—A. (M.) miranda Deyrolle, 1864, male (Kalimantan), 5.1 mm; 3—A. (M.) miranda, female (Johor), 7.0 mm; 4—A. (M.) angustata Bílý, sp. nov., holotype, 5.4 mm; 5—A. (M.) priska Bílý, sp. nov., holotype, 4.0 mm; 6—A. (M.) priska Bílý, sp. nov., allotype, 4.6 mm; 7—A. (M.) violaceidorsis Bílý, sp. nov., holotype, 5.0 mm; 8—A. (M.) lucifera Plachetka, sp. nov., holotype, 7.0 mm; 9—A. (M.) lucifera Plachetka, sp. nov., allotype, 7.3 mm.

FIGURES 10–15. Subgen. Merocratus (aedeagi, schematically, not in scale). 10—Anthaxia (M.) jakli Bílý, 1996, holotype; 11—A. (M.) miranda Deyrolle, 1864 (Kalimantan); 12—A. (M.) angustata sp. nov., Bílý, holotype; 13—A. (M.) priska Bílý, sp. nov., holotype; 14—A. (M.) violaceidorsis Bílý, sp. nov., holotype; 15—A. (M.) lucifera Plachetka, sp. nov., holotype.