Philharmostes nelsoni, Ballerio, 2021

Ballerio, Alberto, 2021, The Ceratocanthinae of Madagascar and Comoro Islands: a revision of the genera Synarmostes and Goudotostes, and of the flightless Philharmostes, with description of 64 new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea, Hybosoridae), Fragmenta entomologica 53 (2), pp. 105-282 : 254-255

Philharmostes nelsoni sp. nov.

( Figs 84 e-h, 85 a-f, p 87 f-h 89) http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8F5539CA-11A9-4B5A-B8AE-A43DC7F03954

Type series. Holotype, ♂, deposited in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, labelled as follows: / CASTYPE 20293 / Madagascar: Toliara Parc National Andohahela, Col de Tanatana , 33.3 km NW Tolagnaro elev. 275 m 22-24 November 2006 / 24° 45’ 31” S 046° 51’ 13” E California Academy of Sciences coll. Brian L. Fisher et al. sifted litter rainforest collection code: BLF15100 / Philharmostes nelsoni n. sp. det. A. Ballerio 2020 Holotypus /. Paratypes: 11 exx. same collecting data as holotype (8 in CASC and 3 in ABCB) . Other material examined (excluded from the type series):): 30 exx. (25 in CASC and 5 in ABCB): Madagascar: Toliara Prov. Parc National d’Andohahela, Col du Sedro, 3.8 km 113° ESE Mahamavo, 37.6 km 341° NNW Tolagnaro, 21-25.I.2002 / 24° 45’ 50” S 046° 45’ 6” E coll: Fisher , Griswold et al., California Acad. of Sciences sifted litter montane rainforest elev. 900 m code: BLF 5010 /. 2 ♂ and 1 ♀ ( FMNH): / Madagascar: Enakara (10 Km NW), Rés. Andohahela, 24°34’S, 46°49’E, 800 m, rainforest, 17.XI.1992 / FMHD #92-163, Winkler extraction of sifted litter (leaf mold, rotten wood) B. L. Fisher #492 (1-50) Field Mus. Nat. Hist. / Photographed S. Ware 2020 EMu catalog / FMNHINS 3982341 Field Museum /. 32 exx (28 in CASC and 4 in ABCB): / Madagascar: Toliara Foret Ivohibe, 55.0 km N Tolagnaro 2-4 Dec. 2006 24° 34’ 08” S 047° 12’ 14” E / California Acad. of Sciences coll. B. L. Fisher et al. sifted litter elev. 200 m rainforest BLF15450 /. 1 ex. ( CASC): / Madagascar: Toliara Grand Lavasoa 25.9 km W Tolagnaro elev. 450 m 30 Nov. – 2 Dec. 2006 / 25° 05’ 16” S 046° 44’ 56” E / California Acad. of Sciences coll. B. L. Fisher et al. sifted litter, rainforest BLF 15410/. / 2 exx. ( FMNH): Madagascar: Enakara (11 km NW), Rés. Andohahela 24° 34’ S 46° 49’ E, 800 m, rainforest, 17.XI.1992 / FMHD #92-163, Winkler extraction of sifted litter (leaf mold, rotten wood) B. L. Fisher #492 (1-50) Field Mus. Nat. Hist. /. 194 exx. (180 in FMNH and 14 in ABCB): Madagascar: Province de Toliara, Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d’Andohahela, Enakara (11 km NW), Rés. Andohahela 24° 34’ S 46° 49’ E, 800 m, 17.XI.1992 / FMHD #92-163, rainforest (leaf mold, rotten wood), Winkler extraction of leaf litter, B. L. Fisher, mad92, 492 Hist . /.

Diagnosis. Philharmostes nelsoni sp. nov. can be differentiated from all other species of Philharmostes by the following combination of characters: a) flightlessness, b) dorsal ocular area small, c) head with clypeal disc covered by large impressed simple punctation, d) dorsum with brown colour, without metallic sheen, e) pronotal fore angles broadly truncate, f) pronotum with disc slightly raised with respect to sides, g) pronotal disc covered by sparse impressed simple punctation, h) elytral lateral carina complete, h) elytral lateral carina sharp, i) elytral lateral carina strongly sinuate in lateral view, j) elytral basal third with parasutural area covered by longitudinally oriented comma-shaped punctures.

Description. HL: 0.9 mm; HW: 1.2 mm; PL: 1.0 mm; PW: 1.9 mm; EL: 2.2 mm; EW 2.1;

Overall morphology as in generic diagnosis. Small flightless Ceratocanthinae . Body moderately convex. Dark brown, shiny, dorsum glabrous (40×), fore margin of clypeus, sides of pronotum, underside, tarsi and antennae reddish-brown. Head: W/L ratio = 1.44; clypeus triangular with angle blunt and obtuse and sides weakly curved; genae distinctly produced outwards, acute; genal canthus complete, fused with the occipital portion of head; dorsal ocular area small-sized, interocular distance about 18 times the maximum width of dorsal ocular area, disc uniformly covered by strongly impressed simple punctation, fore margin with some irregular impressed transverse short lines. Interpunctural distance of simple punctures once or twice larger than the punctural diameter. Pronotum: short and transverse (W/L ratio = 1.71), weakly convex, surface irregular; base and sides broadly rounded (dorsal view); fore margin thick and limited to the median portion, not reaching the fore angles, fore angles truncate, disc covered anteriorly by impressed simple punctures with interpunctural distance three to four times punctural diameter, replaced posteriorly by impressed transverse comma-shaped punctures, sides covered by dense medium-sized relatively shallow horseshoe-shaped punctures, with a broad opening outwards, replaced by comma-shaped punctures near fore angles. Each puncture bearing in the middle a very short simple seta. Interpunctural distance shorter than punctural diameter. Scutellum : covered by several impressed horseshoe-shaped or comma-shaped punctures. Elytra: slightly longer than wide (W/L ratio = 0.92); subovoidal (dorsal view) with maximum width at proximal third of elytral length; humeral callus indistinct but marked by the thick starting point of lateral carina; elytral surface convex, covered by dense (interpunctural distance shorter than punctural diameter) punctation. Punctures on proximal third simple near base then comma-shaped. remaining surface covered by dense horseshoe-shaped punctures with a broad opening directed backwards. Lateral carina distinct, thick, sharp and complete, broadly S-shaped (lateral view). Pseudoepileura covered by dense broad horseshoe-shaped shallow punctures with a broad opening directed towards lateral carina. Wings: flightless. Male genitalia: aedeagus (L = 0.7 mm) with parameres as in Figs 10 a-b, spiculum gastrale (L = 0.7 mm) as in Fig. 10 c .

Variability. The populations included in the material examined show a strong interpopulational variability and, in the case of the population from Enakara, also intrapop- ulational. The distinctive (diagnostic) punctation pattern of pronotal disc and of parasutural punctation on elytra remain constant, while the dorsal view of elytra, as shown in Fig. 85 a-f, reveals the strong variability in the punctation patterns of distal third and in the overall dorsal shape of elytra. The author was unable to interpret such a variability. That’s why all those populations are excluded from the type series, which is here limited to the population from Col de Tanatana.

Etymology. Noun in the genitive case. Named after Harry G. Nelson, former curator at FMNH.

Distribution and habitat. Known from various localities in southern Madagascar, at the southern foothills of the Anosyenne and Vohimena Ranges. The type series was collected by sifting leaf litter in rainforest. One specimen has been collected in a nest of Nasutitermes in the Managortry forest (Andohahela) ( Fig. 92 b-c). The vegetation cover of the area, located in a sharp transition zone between the climate of the east and the sub-arid climate of the southwest, consists of patches of “moist evergreen forest” with weak seasonal variation ( Goodman et al. 2018), also known as “humid forest” ( Moat & Smith 2007). The type locality and the other collecting localities (apart from the Grand Lavasoa and Ivohibe) fall within the protected area “Parc National d’Andohahela”, the Grand Lavasoa falls within the protected area “Réserve Spéciale de Ambatotsirongorongo” and the Ivohibe locality within the “Réserve des Ressources Naturelles de la Forêt Naturelle de Tsitongambarika”.

Figures

Fig. 84 – Philharmostes ornatulus sp. nov., holotype, a, pronotum; b, ventral view of rolled up specimen; c, dorsal view of rolled up specimen; d,, lateral view of rolled up specimen (prc: parasutural longitudinal raised carina); Philharmostes nelsoni sp. nov., paratype from Col de Tanatana, e, dorsal view of distended specimen; f, ventral view of rolled up specimen; g, dorsal view of rolled up specimen; h, lateral view of rolled up specimen.

Fig. 10 – Wings. a, Synarmostes tibialis; b, Synarmostes occidentalis sp. nov.; c, Synarmostes sp. C; d, Philharmostes metallicus sp. nov.; e, Synarmostes makirovanae sp. nov.; f, Goudotostes laevis sp. nov..

Fig. 85 – a–f, Philharmostes nelsoni sp. nov., dorsal view of rolled up specimen (a, Enakara; b, Enakara; c, Grand Lavasoa; d, Ivohibe; e, Col du Se- dro; f, Col de Tanatana); g–r, dorsal elytral sculpturing: anterior parasutural area (g, Philharmostes acutus sp. nov.; h, Philharmostes apterus sp. nov.; i, Philharmostes fereocellatus sp. nov.; j, Philharmostes schweikerti sp. nov.; k, Philharmostes centralis sp. nov.; l: Philharmostes ornatulus sp. nov.; m, Philharmostes rotundatus sp. nov.; n, Philharmostes indri sp. nov.; o, Philharmostes manomboensis sp. nov.; p, Philharmostes nelsoni sp. nov.; q, Philharmostes metallicus sp. nov.; r, Philharmostes scapulatus sp. nov.).

Fig. 92 – Habitat, a, Maromizaha forest (Andasibe/Perinet), habitat of Synarmostes eugenii sp. nov. and Synarmostes tibialis, b, Andohahela forest, Managortry, habitat of Philharmostes nelsoni sp. nov., c, nest of Nasutitermes where a specimen of P. nelsoni sp. nov. has been collected together with Manjarivolo randrianirinai Ballerio & Montreuil, 2019 (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae Aphodiinae Aulonocnemini).