Chalcogenia brandli, Bílý, 2018

Bílý, Svatopluk, 2018, Chalcogenia brandli sp. nov. from Ethiopia (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Anthaxiini), Zootaxa 4420 (1), pp. 148-150 : 148-150

Chalcogenia brandli sp. nov. ( Figs 1 –4 )

Type locality. Ethiopia, Prov. Oromia, 11.5 km S of Kibre Mengist , 1730 m, 0 5o 47.446´N 38o57.364´E.

Type specimens. Holotype ♂ ( NMPC): “ Ethiopia, Oromia [Prov.], 11.5 km S of Kibre Mengist, 1730 m, 0 5o 47.446´N 38o57.364´E, ex larva 10.iii.2013, leg. Egerˮ; paratype 1♀ ( NMPC) paratypes 1 ♂, 1 ♀ ( PBCK): the same data .

Diagnosis. Medium-sized to large (11.5–13.5 mm), moderately convex, with sexual dimorphism; dorsal surface rather lustrous, dark bronze, frons of male with red tinge, pronotum of both sexes with weak, red lustre, scutellum of male purple; antennomeres 5–11 in male bicolorous (antennomeres bronze with yellow outer half); asetose (except for short, white, frontal pubescence and very short, white pubescence at anterior, pronotal angles); ventral surface bright redbronze in male, bronze with red lustre in female, covered with very short, sparse, recumbent, white pubescence; hind legs in male strongly modified, red-bronze.

Description of the male holotype. Head rather small, as wide as anterior pronotal margin; anterior margin of clypeus widely, shallowly emarginate, frons flat; vertex 1.2 times as wide as width of eye; eyes large, reniform, weakly projecting beyond outline of head; antennae rather short, weakly overlapping midlength of lateral pronotal margins when laid alongside; scape claviform, 4 times as long as wide, pedicel suboval, 1.2 times as long as wide; third antennomere weakly triangular, 1.5 times as long as wide, antennomeres 4–10 obtusely triangular to trapezoidal, 1.3–1.5 times as wide as long, terminal antennomere axe-head shaped, slightly wider than long; sculpture consisting of basal microsculpture and fine polygonal cells combined with fine, transverse rugae.

Pronotum almost regularly convex, 1.7 times as wide as long; anterior margin weakly bisinuate, posterior margin almost straight; lateral margins regularly rounded, posterior angles obtuse-angled, maximum pronotal width at midlength; lateroposterior depressions small, very shallow, prescutellar pit very small, almost absent; sculpture consisting of very small, simple punctures on disc and small, polygonal cells with central grains along lateral margins. Scutellum obtusely triangular, flat, 1.5 times as wide as long.

Elytra moderately convex, almost wedge-shaped, 1.8 times as long as wide, simply acuminate at posterior third; each elytron with 3 fine, longitudinal, weakly elevated carinae, apical third of elytral margins with fine, dense serrations; humeral callosities small, not projecting beyond elytral outline; basal transverse depressions short, falling well short of reaching scutellum; elytral epipleura short, at most reaching midlength of lateral margins; sculpture consisting of fine, simple, sparse punctures on disc and very dense punctures and fine, transverse rugae along lateral margins.

Ventral surface lustrous, prosternum with simple, sparse punctation, proepimera with longitudinally prololonged ocellate sculpture, abdominal ventrites with more or less regular, weak ocellate sculpture; anal ventrite narrowly truncate, with fine lateral serrations. Legs relatively long, protibiae weakly curved, mesotibiae straight, their inner margins weakly emarginate in posterior half, metatibiae short, almost straight, with long, sharp, perpendicular spine (finely serrate on posterior margin) at basal fourth of inner margin ( Fig. 4 ); posterior femora moderately swollen. Tarsal claws fine, thin, weakly hook-shaped, only weakly enlarged at base.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 3 ) long, slender, very weakly assymetrical, median lobe without lateral serration; each paramere with long, narrow, lateral slot at basal half.

Measurements. Length: 11.5–13.5 mm (holotype 11.5 mm); width: 4.0– 4.8 mm (holotype 4.0 mm).

Sexual dimorphism. The female differs from the male by the larger and stouter body, less acuminate elytra, somewhat wider vertex (1.3 times as wide as width of eye), dark bronze scutellum (purple in the male), unmodified legs and by the form of the anal ventrite which bears the fine, longitudinal keel in the middle.

Vatiability. No variability was found except for the sexual dimorphism.

Bionomy. All type specimens were reared from the branches of Acacia sp. ( Fabaceae ).

Distribution. Ethiopia.

Etymology. Chalcogenia brandli sp. nov. is dedicated to my friend and colleague, Peter Brandl (Kolbermoor, Germany), a member of our Buprestophile community.

Differential diagnosis. Chalcogenia brandli sp. nov. belongs to the C. sulcipennis (Gory, 1841) species-group which is characterised by the set of the following characters: disc of elytra with two or three more or less distinct longitudinal carinae or fine keels, never glabrous with depressions, lateral pronotal margins not emarginate before obtuse lateroposterior angles (except for some species with well-developed elytral carinae); aedeagus very often asymmetrical. Chalcogenia brandli sp. nov. is similar and probably related to C.harpelini arabica Bílý, 2008 from the Arabian Peninsula (couplet 28(29) in Bílý, 2008). It differs from it by the darker, less metallic colouration and by the significantly different form of the male metatibiae and genitalia. The inner spine on the male metatibiae is much longer (only short, sharp tooth in C.harpelini arabica —see Fig. 4 vs. Fig. 108 in Bílý, 2008). Aedeagus of C.brandli sp. nov. is less assymetric, more or less tubular possessing deep, lateral slots, the character which has not been observed in Chalcogenia, so far (see Fig . 4 and Fig. 76 in Bílý, 2008).

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Chalcogenia brandli sp. nov. 1—C. brandli sp. nov., holotype, male, 11.5 mm; 2—the same, paratype (NMPC), female, 13.5 mm; 3—the same, aedeagus, holotype; 4—the same, male metatibia, holotype.