Microhoria janssoni, Telnov, 2022

Telnov, Dmitry, 2022, Revisional notes on the genus Microhoria Chevrolat, 1877 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Anthicidae) from the Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey, with new descriptions, an annotated catalogue, and a key, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 22 (2), pp. 195-312 : 246-250

Microhoria janssoni sp. nov. ( Fig. 26 ) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C32BE6EE­5612­42F7­BACE­6450EBCFE5F4

Type material designated. Holotype male NME: Turkey, E Gülnar 2001­ 05­ 31 N. Jansson

[printed]. Antennomeres 6–11 of the right antenna missing.

Etymology. Patronymic. Named for Dr. Nicklas Jansson (Linköping, Sweden), one of the leaders of the Turkish Oak Habitat project and the collector of the holotype.

Description. Holotype male, total body length 3.5 mm. Head 0.9 mm long, across compound eyes 0.75 mm wide. Pronotum 0.7 mm long, maximum width 0.7 mm. Elytra 1.9 mm long, maximum combined width 1.3 mm. Forebody dorsally and ventrally dark red, elytra black, abdomen brown. Head 1.2× as long as wide, head base broadly rounded, tempora subparallel, posterior temporal angles rounded. Compound eye small, shorter than tempus, strongly protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum subopaque, densely and rather deeply punctate. Intervening spaces smooth, narrower than to about as wide as punctures. Dorsal cranial setae whitish, moderately long, subdecumbent. Antennae slightly enlarged in apical third. Terminal antennomere elongate, pointed, about 2.2× as long as penultimate antennomere, slightly longer than combined length of antennomeres 9–10. Pronotum barely transverse, robust, slightly narrower than head across eyes, broadly rounded at anterior margin. Pronotal disc barely convex in dorsal aspect. Lateral margins of pronotum converging postmedium towards base. Dorsum of pronotum moderately glossy, densely punctate and setose as on head (punctures at most slightly denser than those on head). Elytra about 1.4× as long as wide, laterally broadly rounded, subtruncate at apex, dorsally moderately convex. Humerus obsolete. Apex of elytron modified, with an inconspicuous denticle at opening of gland channel. Surface moderately glossy, densely punctate. Punctures distinctly smaller and shallower than those on forebody. Intervening spaces about 2–3× as wide as punctures. Elytral setae whitish, moderately long and dense, subdecumbent. Apterous. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired (spurs not observed on metatibia). Tergite VII truncate at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VII short, broadly rounded at posterior margin, medially subtruncate. Spiculum gastrale as in Microhoria kaifensis (Pic, 1896) ( Fig. 27 )

= Anthicus obscuriceps Pic, 1899 Anthicus kaifensis Pic, 1896: 180 (description).

Anthicus obscuriceps Pic, 1899a: 177 (description).

Anthicus kaifensis – Pic 1897b: 220 (checklist, record – Syria); Pic 1911a: 56 (checklist, record – Syria); Bodenheimer 1934: 222 (record – Israel); Bodenheimer 1937: 133 (checklist; biogeography).

Anthicus kaifensis ? var. obscuriceps – Pic 1911a: 56 (checklist).

Anthicus (Immicrohoria) kaifensis – Winkler 1927: 849 (checklist, record – Syria); Hariri 1968: 206 (checklist).

Anthicus (Immicrohoria) kaifensis a. ? obscuriceps – Winkler 1927: 849 (checklist).

Microhoria kaifensis – Uhmann 1988: 404 (new combination, records – Jordan, Lebanon); 1989: 389 (records – Israel); Chikatunov et al. 1999: 198 (as Microhoria keifensis [sic!], activity period and biogeography in Israel, general distribution); Chikatunov et al. 2004: 161 (distribution in Israel, general distribution, bionomy); Uhmann et al. 2005: 5 & 42 (biogeography, bibliography, bionomy, records – Israel, Turkey); Chandler et al. 2008: 440 (new synonymy, checklist); Kejval & Chandler 2020: 131 (assigned to the M. terminata species group); Telnov 2020a: 610 (checklist).

Type material. Lectotype male [here designated] MNHN: Syrien. Kaifa. Reitter. [printed, black frame] // TYPE [printed, label red] // TYPE [printed, label red] // Krekich vidit [handwritten] ; Paralectotypes 2 females, MNHN: Syrien Haifa Reitter. [printed, black frame] // Coll. Reitter [handwritten] // type [handwritten] // kaifensis Pic [handwritten] .

New material. 1 female BMNH: PALESTINE Jerusalem [printed] 13.V. [handwritten] 1931 F S Bodenheimer [printed] // Pres. by Imp. Inst. Ent. Brit. Mus. 1933­ 295. [printed] // Anthicus kaifensis Pic [handwritten] Dr. R.F.Heberdey [printed] ; 1 male HMNH: SYRIA, muh. Dimashq, 1 km E Burqush , N 33°28.261, E 36°01.636, 1140 m, // 29.IV.2005, leg. N. Rahmé, A. Márkus, A. Kotán & A. Podlussány ; 28 specimens SMNS: ISRAEL (North distr.) Upper Galilee Meron mts. Meron field school ca 1000 m (open woodland, light) 20.IV.–3.V.2006 D.W.Wrase [27] .

Supplementary description. Belongs to the M. terminata species group. Male lectotype. Total body length 3.2 mm. Head black­brown, pronotum pale rufous, elytra brown with moderately dark blue tinge. Antenna, palps and legs yellowish, terminal antennomere darkened. Venter dark brown except for rufous prosternum. Head about 1.2× as long as wide, basal margin broadly rounded in arc with posterior temporal angles. Compound eye moderate, moderately protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum moderately glossy, punctures rather large, deep and dense, generally oval. Intervening spaces smooth, smaller than to twice as wide as punctures, denser medially, sparser on lateral sides. Dorsal cranial setae yellowish, inconspicuous, rather sparse, appressed. Antenna slightly thickened in apical half. Terminal antennomere moderately elongate, acutely pointed at apex, about twice as long as penultimate antennomere, slightly longer than combined length of antennomeres 9–10. Pronotum as long as wide, slightly narrower than head across eyes, moderately glossy, rounded at anterior margin. Lateral margins strongly converging in posterior half. Latero­basal pronotal fovea broad and deep, with curved, whitish setation. Pronotal disc slightly convex in dorsal aspect. Pronotal punctures generally smaller and sparser than those on head. Intervening spaces glossy, as wide as to (rarely) 3× as wide as punctures. Pronotal setae whitish to yellowish, rather short and sparse, subdecumbent. Elytra about 1.5–1.6× as long as wide, laterally subparallel to broadly rounded, dorsally slightly convex. Humerus broadly rounded, not protruding.Apex of elytron modified, with short, acute triangular denticle. Elytral disc moderately glossy, punctures moderate, dense. Intervening spaces as wide as to 3× as wide as punctures, smooth, glossy. Elytral setae whitish, moderately long and dense, appressed. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired. Tergite VII subtruncate at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin. Tergite VIII with a strong, hair­like, membranous lamina ( Fig. 27F ). Aedeagus as in Fig. 27D–E . Tegmen apex hooked, fused baculi inconspicuous; endophallic armature with numerous, broad to narrow, subtriangular spinules.

Sexual dimorphism. Female generally larger than male, elytra more robust, elytral apex without modifications.

Interspecific variability. Head almost entirely rufous in some specimens, elytra moderately strongly dark blue shiny in some individuals.

Ecology. Some specimens attracted to light in an open woodland.

Distribution. Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey. Occurrence of this species in Syria is likely but no records are yet known from this country except for the one in Pic’s (1897b, 1911) and Winkler’s (1927) catalogues (both authors for unstated reason mention Syria as the type locality instead of Palestine or Israel, from where this species was originally described) and Chikatunov et al. (2004) who subsequently followed Pic and Winkler.

Chorotype. SW­Asiatic (1.13 SWA).

Figures

Fig. 26. Microhoria janssoni sp. nov. male holotype. A – Habitus, dorsal view; B – Forebody, dorsal view; C – Spiculum gastrale; D – Aedeagus, lateral view; E – Endophallic armature [not to scale].

Fig. 27. Microhoria kaifensis (Pic, 1896). A – Male lectotype, habitus, dorsal view; B – ditto, forebody, dorsal view; C – Female from Jerusalem, Israel / Palestine, habitus, dorsal view; D – Aedeagus, lateral view; E – ditto, apical portion; F – Lamina of tergite VIII [not to scale].