Protomauroania mikhailovi Tshernyshev & Perkovsky, 2021

Tshernyshev, Sergei E. & Perkovsky, Evgeny E., 2021, Protomauroania mikhailovi-a new species of malachite beetles (Coleoptera Dasytidae) in Rovno amber, Zootaxa 5006 (1), pp. 189-194 : 190-192

Protomauroania mikhailovi Tshernyshev & Perkovsky , sp. n.

Figs 1 –6

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:78E0C4F4-BC0B-46A1-9EC9-D0D4DB4B8D06

Etymology. The species is named in honour of the famous Russian arachnologist and publisher of scientific literature, Dr Kirill Glebovich Mikhailov, our good friend who made outstanding contribution to development of scientific studies, and is dedicated to his 60s anniversary jubilee.

Material. Holotype. SIZK L-589, male (sex is confirmed by a pronounced antenna club, characteristic apical abdominal sternite (the 8th ultimate ventrite) with elevated and slightly curved distal margin, and a pygidium wide, elongate and dome-shaped providing movement for curved aedeagus during copulation); Rovno amber; late Eocene. A rectangular piece of amber.

Description. Body black-brown, without metallic lustre; dorsal setae are dark brown. Labial palpi yellowbrown, antennal club black. Body elongate and oval, narrowed posteriorly and looks inversely egg-shaped ( Figs. 1 , 2). Head prognathous, slightly deflexed, small, rounded, not protruding distally and not wider than pronotum at the level of eyes; eyes round, large, weakly convex, bare, frons and interocular area slightly convex and lacking impressions. Surface of head evenly and strongly punctured, microsulpture distinct, surface evenly covered with adpressed strong elongate hairs (Figs. 3, 5). Antennae 11-segmented, attached the head near the lower edge of eyes above clypeus, distinctly clavate, short, reaching but not extending over the posterior margin of the pronotum; club 5-segmented, not compact (Fig. 5). First antennomere slightly swollen, oval, the second antennomere is twice as narrow and shorter, as the 1 st, oval, 3 rd antennomere elongate, subcylinrical, 1.5 times as short as the 2 nd and twice as long as the 4 th, 4 th to 6 th antennomeres short, transverse and equal in length, 7 th to 11 th antennomeres wide and transverse, subtriangular, forming club, 7 th antennomere twice as wide as the 6 th and 1.4 times as narrow as the 8 th, 8 th to 11 th equal length, apical antennomere flattened and rounded apically; surface of antennae sparsely covered with short semierect fine hairs. Clypeus narrow, with incrassate and elevate distal margin, labrum small, transverse, rounded apically, with distal margin thin and slightly elevate, labrum is twice as long as the clypeus. Palpi (Figs. 5, 6) elomgate, narrow, 1 st and 2nd palpomeres sub-cylindrical, the 1 st palpomere of the same length as the 3 rd and twice as long as the 2nd, apical palpomere weakly flattened and truncate at apex, looks sub-triangular, four labial palps of equal shape, short, with apical palpomeres narrow and cylindrical. Mandibles bidentate, rounded, not protruding. Pronotum convex, slightly wider than long, evenly rounded laterally and with rounded angles. All sides finely marginate, the laterally with a typical scalloped edge (Fig. 6). Surface evenly and finely punctured, with distinct microsculpture, covered with adpressed strong long hairs. Scutellum is clearly visible ( Figs.1 , 3), transverse, triangular at apex with rounded angles, with the same puncturation and pubescence as on pronotum; disc of scutellum on sides finely marginate, slightly shining. Elytra simple, oval, slightly convex and parallel, evenly rounded posteriorly, slightly wider than pronotum at base ( Figs. 1 , 3); probably not covering the abdomen ( Fig. 1 ). Shoulders small, not protruding; epipleura distinct at basal quarter and thin along the posterior part of elytra and coarsely punctured. Elytra with suture entire for whole length of elytra, surface densely and evenly punctured, with smooth microsculpture, faintly shining; evenly covered with strong, adpressed long hairs ( Figs. 1 , 6). Legs short, simple, not thickened (Figs. 2, 4), finely sparsely punctured and covered with short adpressed hair, surface of tibiae with short erect setae, tarsomeres compressed, with adhesive hairs on pedal part. Femora of all legs somewhat flattened and widened, not curved; tibiae straight, evenly dilated to the apex, two spicular short spurs are visible on apices of tibiae of intermediate and posterior legs; all tarsi 5-segmented, 1st posterior tarsomere is the longest, while the claw tarsomere is the longest in intermediate and anterior legs; in intermediate and posterior legs 1 st and 4 th tarsomeres are equal in length, 2 nd and 3 rd, are equal length, claw segment is 1.5 times as long as 2 nd or 3 rd, and twice as long as 1 st of 4 th tarsomeres, in posterior legs claw tarsomere is 1.5 times as long as 2 nd or 3 rd and twice as long as 4rth tarsomere, claws small, short and sharp, with a tooth at base. Wings normally developed. Underside weakly shining, finely and densely punctured and evenly covered with fine short adpressed hairs, mesepimeres longitudinal, with smoothed fine puntures, pygidium (apical tergite) domed, slightly curved ventrally inward, ultimate ventrite (apical sternite) simple, narrow, not depressed, with elevate and slightly curved distal margin (Fig. 2).

Measurements: length 2.75 mm width (in the area of the base of the elytra) – 1.0 mm.

Differential diagnosis. The new species is small (about 2.75 mm) and, unlike most representatives of the subfamily Danaceinae , it is covered with long, strong, brown, semi-erect setae instead of scales or hairs. The presence of scalloped lateral margin of the pronotum in the genus Protomauroania Tshernyshev, 2021 makes it similar to the genus Mauroania Majer, 1997 , but unusually elongated basal tarsomere in posterior legs and a distinct antenna club, which is atypical in the species of the tribe Amauroniodini are distinguish this fossil genus.

The new species differs from P. chaetophorata Tshernyshev, 2021 described from Baltic amber by the following characters: antennae with 5-segmented widened club, surface covered with dark-brown long semi-erect thin setae, and the 8 th ultimate ventrite (apical sternite) simple, narrow, not depressed.

Several apical antennomeres in Danaceinae can be widened and considered as a “clava”. Number of the antennomeres is varying in different species and even subspecies of one genus, for example it is 3-segmented in Danacea sardoa mancini Pic, 1927 and 4-segmented in Danacea sardoa renosensis Constantin & Liberti, 2006 , or 4-segmented in D. ambigua Mulsant & Rey, 1868 and 5-segmented in D. denticollis Baudi di Selve, 1861 (see Constantin et al. 2011). The term “clava” in Dasytidae is not analogues to clava of apical segments in antennae of the other beetle groups such as Cucujoidea or Byrrhoidea, and means somewhat more strongly widened apical antennomeres, which could be more strongly elongate in some species, for example, Dolochosoma lineare (Rossi, 1794).

Protomauroania is a single extinct Cenozoic genus of the family; in Santonian of Taimyr the family is represented by Acantocnemoides Zherichin ( Kolibáč & Perkovsky 2020).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Protomauroania mikhailovi sp. n., holotype SIZK, no. L-589: (1) upperside (1); underside (2); head pronotum, upperside (3); lateral view, right (4); head, frontal (5); pronotum, lateral view (8). Scale bars 1–4 – 0.5 mm, 5, 6 – 0.2 mm.