Amelyris ( Asymelyris ) jutlandicus Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov

Tshernyshev, Sergei E., Alekseev, Vitalii, Bukejs, Andris, Vasilenko, Dmitry V., Legalov, Andrej A. & Perkovsky, Evgeny E., 2025, First record of the family Melyridae (Coleoptera: Cleroidea) in late Eocene European ambers with description of a new tribe, a new genus and seven new species, Zootaxa 5696 (4), pp. 542-566 : 561-563

Amelyris ( Asymelyris) jutlandicus Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

( Figs 26–28 )

Type material. Holotype No NHMD 153481 with label “ Cucujidae B. Mortensen / 11-7-1960 ”; adult, male. Danish amber .

Locus typicus. Denmark, precise locality unknown.

Stratum typicum. Danish amber , late Eocene.

Description. External colouration monochromous black-brown, probably with a faint green metallic lustre; dorsal setae black. Body elongate, subparallel, slightly depressed and moderately convex, slightly expanded around the middle and evenly rounded posteriorly with separately rounded elytral apices. Measurements: body length 3.0 mm; body width (in the area of the base of the elytra) 0.95 mm.

Head prognathous, not sculptured, evenly convex, slightly impressed above clypeus, suboval, weakly protruding distally and not wider than pronotum at eye level. Compound eyes round, large, convex, bare. Frons and interocular area flat, without impressions. The surface of head evenly and finely punctate, microsculpture distinct, surface sparsely covered with adpressed short, weakly visible hairs, which, in association with air, assembled cellular structure remained in amber mass. Antennae 11-segmented, attached to head near lower inner edge of eyes near clypeus, short, reaching base of pronotum; antennomeres evenly widened towards apex, forming indistinct loose club. First antennomere swollen and enlarged, round-oval, 2.0× as long as antennomere 2; antennomere 2 oval-triangular, asymmetrical with prominent outer margin; antennomere 3 elongate, triangular, as long as antennomere 2, 2.0× as narrow as antennomere 2, 1.2× as long as antennomere 4; antennomere 4 wide, triangular, equilateral; antennomeres 2–10 triangular, asymmetrical with prominent outer margin; apical segments not strongly widened, triangular, transverse; antennomere 11 oval-rectangular with rounded apex. Antennal club indistinct, loose; surface of antennae shiny, sparsely covered with fine, short, light-coloured hairs. Clypeus very short, narrow, transverse and slightly elevated distally; labrum distinct, slightly transverse, distinctly elongate, narrowed anteriorly, not covering mandibles, distal margin straight. Mandibles not protruding, short and bidentate. Maxillary palpi, elongate, narrow, palpomere 1 subtriangular, palpomeres 2 and 3 elongate-triangular, equal in length to palpomere 1; apical palpomere 2.0× as long as palpomere 1, widened and flattened in apical half, narrowing further to sharp tip. Labial palpi of similar shape, cylindrical, narrow and elongate, with apical palpomere moderately widened anteriorly.

Pronotum convex, distinctly longitudinal, weakly narrowed anteriorly, with acute and slightly stretched posterior angles; laterally with dicarinate side: upper and lower carinae straight, slightly curved inwards distally along disc. Surface evenly punctured with moderate-sized punctures provided with short brown adpressed hairs, surface of pronotum appears cellular, microsculpture distinct in bottom of each cell. Margins of distal and basal sides of pronotum slightly prominent; lateral carinae straight, not prominent but slightly curved distally; all margins smooth, lacking small protuberances or denticles. Pronotal pubescence short, curved, sparse. Disc clearly impressed at posterior angles and near anterior angles, with flattened lateral side along upper carina.

Scutellar shield distinct, subquadrate, with acute angles and slightly widened distally; all margins straight; punctured as in pronotum; with fine adpressed pubescence.

Elytra carinate, elongate, subparallel, slightly widened just below middle, evenly rounded posteriorly, completely covering abdomen, with apices separately rounded. Lateral sides flattened from level of humeri towards elytral slope, apices not flattened. Bases of elytra slightly wider than pronotum. Humeri small, slightly protruding and indistinct, very slightly impressed inwards, provided with narrow short curved carina on upper side. Each elytron with five full carinae reaching from base to apex; all carinae thin and not strongly elevated, only carina 3 distinctly protruding; carina 1 close to suture and looks like elevated sutural margin, but distinctly separated from suture margin at elytral slope and forming wide ‘suture’ appearance; carinae 2 and 3 entire from base to slope of elytra, merged on slope; carina 4 begins below humerus and continues along lateral side towards slope of elytron; carina 5 distinct from base to apex of elytron. Carinae thin, not strongly prominent, only carina 3 more distinctly protruding. Surface between carinae with three longitudinal rows of distinct punctures and developed microsculpture; pubescence sparse, short, located mainly on carinae and near punctures. Elytral epipleura wide, distinct along elytra from base to apex, but wider from base to end of first abdominal ventrite, with a row of sparse punctures in the middle from base to ventrite 4, and further without punctures but with transverse wrinkles; microsculpture distinct. Metathoracic wings well developed.

Legs short, simple, not thickened, densely punctured. Femora of all legs flattened and widened, not curved, reaching epipleura. Tibiae straight, evenly dilated to apex, with two spurs strong slightly curved and sharp, with surface covered by short black hairs along ventral surface and by light erect setae on outer edge near spurs. Tarsi 5-segmented, tarsomeres strongly compressed, not compact or elongate, with short light erect hairs on periphery of pedal part; tarsomeres 1–4 triangular, tarsomere 5 elongate and slightly conical; tarsomere 1 2.0× as short as tarsomere 2 in anterior and intermediate legs and 1.5× as short as tarsomere 2 in posterior legs; tarsomeres 2–4 in all legs equal in size; tarsomere 5 longest in all legs, as long as tarsomeres 2–4 combined. Tarsal claws distinct, narrow, curved and sharp, with strong, sharp tooth at base.

Ventral side moderately convex, densely punctured, fine dense adpressed hairs. Six abdominal segments visible; ventrites 1 and 2 probably connate. Pygidium (apical tergite) and last abdominal ventrite simple, moderately elongate, narrowed, not depressed; last ventrite with small round emargination in middle and archly impressed distal side.

Etymology. The toponymical specific epithet refers to the Jutland peninsula where the amber with the studied inclusion was collected.

Figures

FIGURES 26–28. Amelyris (Asymelyris) jutlandicus sp. nov., male, holotype, No. NHMD 153481, microphotographs: 26— habitus in dorsal view; 27—habitus in ventral view; 28—details of forebody, right lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.