Plectrosternus foveatus Patwardhan & Athalye

Patwardhan, Amol, 2012, Plectrosternus Lacordaire, 1857 (Coleoptera: Elateridae); genus new to northern Western Ghats, India with a description of one new species, Zootaxa 3193, pp. 53-61 : 54-57

Plectrosternus foveatus Patwardhan & Athalye sp.nov.

Diagnosis. Elongate. Distinctly bicolored. Scales absent. Punctation small, shallow, sparse. Pubescence long, sparse to dense. Pronotum distinctly darker and narrower than the elytra. Strial suture of elytra deep brown. Antennae deep brown, pectinate, long, reaching middle of the body. Legs brown black.

Holotype. Male ( Fig.1). Length 21.3mm and breadth 7.1 mm. Bicolored, pronotum deep brown red, elytra orange yellow. Sides of elytra broadening posteriorly ending in broadly rounded apex with blunt spines. Pubescence black, long, sparse. Scales absent. Punctation small, shallow, sparse. Head black, inclined, partially covered by pronotum dorsally. Head width including eyes slightly smaller than prothoracic width. Frons concave longitudinally, concavity broadening anteriorly ( Fig.2); covered by dense pubescence. Frontal carina carinate over antennal insertions only. Eyes black, round, facets partially visible. Labrum deep red, bifid, concave, densely pubescent. Mandibles tridentate, deep red with broadly blunt apex. Maxillary palpi black, terminal segment hatchet-shaped slightly reddish with broadly rounded apex. Antennae deep brown, reaching almost middle of the body; with eleven segments, fourth to eleventh segments pectinate. Vestiture begins on third antennomere ( Fig.2). First antennomere broadest of all with arcuate anterior margin. Antennomeres two and three brown. Second antennomere the smallest ( Fig.2). Third antennomere round, smaller than the fourth. Fourth smaller and broader than fifth antennomere. Pectinii length increases from antennomere fourth to the tenth. Eleventh antennomere distinctly longer than the tenth, with pointed apex, pectinii short. Pronotum ( Fig.3) deep brown red, convex dorsally with two foveae.

Anterior margin carinate, distinctly emarginate. Anterior angles not produced. Lateral margins narrowing anteriorly, deflexed anteriorly, carina absent. Hind angles strongly divergent with inwardly curved apex; convex dorsally, without dorsal carina, apex acute, pointed posteriorly. Posterior margin distinct, black, broadly notched in front of scutellum with long and acute sublateral incision at the base of the hind angles. Scutellum subpentagonal with borders deep brown and orange discally; declivous anteriorly; with broadly rounded apex. Elytra yellow orange, convex dorsally. Anterior margin of elytra broadly rounded, black with indistinct anterior angles. Sides broadening posteriorly to broadly rounded apex. Strial suture deep brown, broad, very sparsely punctuate, some sutures without punctation. Striae 3 and 4 unite before posterior end, striae 5 and 6 united near posterior end. Striae tapering posteriorly. Interstrial ridge flat with very minute punctation. Epipleura rounded at the base. Prosternum ( Fig.5) with anterior margin darker. Pronotosternal sutures closed, slightly open anteriorly, concave, slightly margined along hypomera anteriorly. Prosternal projection posterior to procoxae shorter than procoxal diameter, sides black, parallel ending in rounded apex. Mesosternal cavity shallow in anterior two third, posterior third vertical, broad, floor dark, produced ahead of anterior margin of mesosternum. Mesocoxal cavity open to both mesepisternum and mesepimeron ( Fig.6). All three femora with anterior margin arcuate. Tibiae bent and narrow at base, distinctly broadening distally. Outer margins of tibiae with small, brown setae. Two, brown, short, blunt, distantly placed tibial spurs ( Fig.4) and spiniform setae apically. Hind tibia longer than hind femora. Tarsi ( Fig.7) deep brown black, densely pubescent; tarsomeres obliquely truncate apically, densely pilose ventrally. Tarsomeres one to four with spiniform setae apically. First tarsomere size: pro <meso <meta. Overall tarsomere length 5> 1> 2> 3> 4. Hind tarsi longer than hind tibia. Claws brown, stout, blades broad, uniformly curved without setae arising from outer flat portion. Two black, distinct, long setae and bunch of hairs arising between the claws.

Genitalia as in figure Fig.8. Median lobe longer than parameres. The apex of the median lobe rounded. The parameres broad, inwardly bent with bluntly truncated apex. Basal piece with margins parallel in posterior half which narrow towards broad and rounded anterior margin.

Female unknown.

Material studied. One male, [Yeoor, 11/VII/2004, Patwardhan Coll./Co-EL-23, INDIA.], Fig. 1, treated as Holotype, now deposited in the Research Laboratory, B.N. Bandodkar College of Science, Thane, Maharashtra, India.