Leehermania prorova Chatzimanolis et al., 2012

Criscione-Vastano, Julia & Grimaldi, David A., 2024, Remarkable Diversity Of Beetles (Coleoptera) In The Late Triassic (Norian) “ Solite Deposit ” Of Virginia And North Carolina, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2024 (467), pp. 1-141 : 17

Leehermania prorova Chatzimanolis et al., 2012

Figure 19A–F

DESCRIPTION: Small beetle (2.8 mm long, 0.8 mm wide, excluding terminalia) preserved in dorsal view; preservation excellent; part and counterpart. Head with eyes, mouthparts, and one antenna, pronotum, scutellum, elytra, and abdomen with terminalia preserved. Body elongate, covered in dense microsetae. Elytra rectangular, truncated, abdomen extending well beyond elytral apices. See Chatzimanolis et al. (2012) for a full description of this species.

MATERIAL: Illustration and description based on the holotype specimen, VMNH 49570. Fifty additional specimens are known: VMNH 49628, 49629, 50055, 50064, 50099, 50109, 50129, 50174, 50251, 50277, 51436, 51670, 51899, 53953, 54172, 54211, 90263, 90351, 91722, 93581, 93648, 94304, 94434, 94435, 94705, 94871, 94943, 94997, 95052, 95632, 95936, 96371, 96417, 96550, 96857, 97672, 97930, 98140, 98699, YPM IP 001147, 003131, 003146, 034677, 034689, 036447, 388866, 388885, 388907, 388914, and 527944.

COMMENTS: There are 51 known specimens of Leehermania in the Solite material, all from the Cow Branch Formation. Morphotype 17 (fig. 20) is similar to this species in its shortened elytra and ringlike abdominal segments; however, differences in antennal shape indicate separate taxa. Leehermania was originally described as a staphylinid, but Fikáček et al. (2020) later suggested that the species belongs to an extinct lineage similar to modern Hydroscaphidae (Myxophaga) based on a number of characters, including ringlike abdominal segments lacking paratergites and compound eyes that do not protrude. Holotype specimen formerly published as VMNH 734 ( Chatzimanolis et al., 2012).

Figures

FIG. 19. Leehermania prorova. A, B. VMNH 49570 (holotype, formerly published as VMNH 734, Chatzimanolis et al., 2012). C. VMNH 50174. D. VMNH 50277. E. VMNH 50064. F. YPM IP 036452, staphylinid possibly belonging to L. prorova. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.