Acutogria weigeli, Telnov, 2023

Telnov, Dmitry, 2023, New and poorly-known taxa of Lagriinae Latreille, 1825 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) predominantly from the collections of the Naturkundemuseum Erfurt. 1, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 23 (1), pp. 1-33 : 1-33

Acutogria weigeli sp. nov. ( Figs 1–2 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:F30C9AF8-2A2A-40D3-AF59-8E0501F815EE

Type material designated. Holotype male NME: INDONESIA Irian Jaya Wamena S, Kurima 1700m 04°12'64''S 139°01'32''E 26.I.1999 leg. A.Weigel cult.area [printed].

Paratypes 8 specimens. 1 male DTC and 1 female NME : same label as holotype; 3 males & 2 females NME , 1 female DTC: INDONESIA Irian Jaya Wamena, Ibele Flusstal 04°02'17''S, 138°50'32''E 25.I.1999

leg. A.Weigel 1600m cultivate [sic!] area [printed].

Derivatio nominis. Named for Andreas Weigel (Wernburg, Germany), the first collector of this species.

Measurements. Holotype male, total body length 7.7 mm; head length (excluding cranial ‘neck’) 1.2 mm, maximum head width across compound eyes 1.3 mm, pronotal length 1.2 mm, maximum pronotal width across before midlength 1.4 mm, elytral length 5.5 mm, combined maximum elytral width across postmedium 3 mm. Paratypes males 7.3–8.1 mm, paratypes females – 9.2–9.5 mm long.

Description. Holotype male ( Fig. 1A ). Head black to dark brown dorsally and ventrally, with weak greenish lustre. Pronotum dark brown with weak bronze lustre. Elytra black with dark blue metallic lustre. Ventral pterothorax black to dark brown, abdomen paler brown. Mouthparts except for dark maxillary palps and two to four basal antennomeres yellowish brown. Legs brown to dark brown. Head subquadrate, slightly transverse, slightly glossy dorsally and ventrally. Labrum emarginate medially at anterior margin. Epistoma strongly U-shapely emarginate at anterior margin. Frontoepistomal impression moderately deep, distinct, slightly arched. Anterolateral area of frons slightly projected laterally to hold insertion of antenna. Compound eye large, strongly kidney-shaped, strongly emarginate at anterior margin (emargination extending towards posterior third of eye length, with several long, suberect setae), broadly roundedto subtruncate at posterior margin in lateral view, touching insertion of antenna, moderately prominent in lateral and dorsal aspects. Interfacetal setae not observed. Minimum interocular distance about 0.6× a length of dorsal eye portion. Tempus nearly half a length of dorsal eye portion, barely constricted posteriad, posterior temporal angle rounded, head base truncate. Head dorsum densely and coarsely punctate with rather deep subcircular to strongly elongate punctures. Intervening spaces much narrower than punctures, slightly elevated and glossy. Head dorsal setation yellowish, long, suberect to erect, sparse, not concealing dorsal surface of head. Antenna moderately long, filiform, extending beyond mesocoxa when directed posteriad. Basal antennomere thickened, about twice as long as antennomere two. Antennomere two shortened. Antennomere three about 2.2× as long as antennomere two, 1.5× as long as antennomere four. Antennomeres 5–9 thickened, submoniliform, antennomeres 8–10 widened distally. Penultimate antennomere slightly longer than wide. Terminal antennomere strongly elongate, asymmetrical, nearly straight in basal half, curved in apical half; at about apical forth strongly narrowing into a narrow, elongate, pointedapical process, about 1 mm long, about 5× as long as penultimate antennomere and about as long as combined length of four preceding antennomeres. Terminal maxillary palpomere strongly securiform. Cranial ‘neck’ not exposed from beneath anterior margin of pronotum, glossy, nearly impunctate. Pronotum subtrapezoid, slightly transverse, slightly glossy and flattened dorsally, subtruncate at anterior, slightly emarginate at posterior margin. Maximum width across just before midlength, lateral margins slightly expanding medially, slightly constricted anteriad. Anterior and posterior margin not beaded or rimed. Antero- and posterolateral angles rounded in dorsal view. Dorsal pronotal punctures rather large, coarse, deep and dense. Intervening spaces glossy and not elevated, generally narrower than punctures on median part of pronotal disc. Dorsal pronotal setae as those on head. Scutellar shield small, elongated, apically rounded, densely punctured and appressedly setose. Elytron widened postmedium, dorsally flattened to slightly convex, glossy. Apical sutural angle

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narrowly rounded. Elytral sculpture of, moderately deep and large punctures which becoming sparser along lateral margins. Intervening spaces glossy, generally narrower than punctures on median part of elytral disc, about as wide as those on lateral parts of elytron, not or rarely subconfluent, generally not elevated with some exceptions, not plicate. Elytral setae whitish, long, moderately dense, suberect. Epipleuron complete, broad at most of its length except at elytral apex, densely punctured. Metathoracic wings fully developed (functional). Ventral pterothorax and abdominal sternites densely white setose by short setae, in part effectively concealing their ventral sculpture. Legs long, slender, slightly glossy, with whitish, moderately longsuberect setae. Femora long and slen- der, profemur distinctly clavate. Tibiae subequally long to corresponding femora. Protibia ( Fig. 1B ) curved and medially twisted, inner margin with a large broad median tooth-like widening and several very long whitish setae, distal margin of protibia widened and truncate, short and densely setose. Mesotibia distinctly serrate at inner margin

( Fig. 1C ). Metatibia strongly denticulate at inner margin ( Fig. 1C ). Protarsomeres somewhat widened likely pointing on arboreal lifestyle. Male basal metatarsomere nearly as long as combined length of remaining metatarsomeres. Male tergite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin, morphological sternite VII obtusely angulate medially at posterior margin. Aedeagus as in Fig. 2 .

Sexual dimorphism. Female ( Fig. 1D ) larger, pronotal disc dorsally with two pairs of variably deep elliptical impressions not observed in males; posterior pair comparatively shallower. Minimum interocular distance about as wide as dorsal eye length. Terminal antennomere less elongate than that of male, slightly asymmetrical, pointed apically, about as long as combined length of 2.5 preceding antennomeres. Median

4 part of pronotal disc in some female paratypes with a flattened, irregularly elliptical, densely punctate area split by a low longitudinal carina. Profemur not clavate. Protibia without modifications and long setae, meso- and metatibia gently serrate at inner margin in two female paratypes, without modifications in two other female paratypes.

Interspecific variability. Teneral specimens with elytra pale brown with narrowly darkened suture, dorsal forebody and legs comparatively darker brown.

Differential diagnosis. The only known congener, A. falcata Merkl, 1988 ( Papua New Guinea), appears very close to the new species, but differs in the presence of the darker postmedian common spot on the elytra (the elytra entirely black with dark blue metallic lustre in older specimens, pale brown with narrowly darkened suture in teneral specimens), the male terminal antennomere being as long as combined length of five preceding antennomeres (about as long as combined length of four preceding antennomeres in A. weigeli sp. nov.), the pronotum being slightly longer than broad in males (the pronotum is slightly transverse in both sexes in A. weigeli sp. nov.), the presence of the four shallow pronotal impressions in both sexes (only observed in females of A. weigeli sp. nov.), the irregularly punctate elytra with the elevated, subplicate intervening spaces (the elytra comparatively less densely and coarsely punctate, the intervening spaces not or hardly elevated and not subplicate in A. weigeli sp. nov.), the metatibia with the “fine denticulation” (the metatibia with rather strong, acute denticles in A. weigeli sp. nov.), and the slightly different structure of the aedeagus.

Ecology. Diurnal, occurs at about 1600– 1700m in degraded habitats.

Distribution. Baliem Valley, Central Cordillera of New Guinea.

Figures

Fig. 1.Acutogria weigeli sp. nov., habitus, dorsal view. A – Holotype male; B – ditto, left foreleg; C – ditto, meso- and metatibia, dorsal view; D – Paratype female [not to scale].

Fig. 2.Acutogria weigeli sp. nov., paratype male, aedeagus in dorsal (A), ventral (B) and lateral (C) view.