Microplinthus brevipennis Meregalli, 2020

Meregalli, Massimo, 2020, Revision of the Nepalese genus Microplinthus Zherichin, 1987 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae), with description of 25 new species, Zootaxa 4794 (1), pp. 1-63 : 25

Microplinthus brevipennis Meregalli n. sp.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6C0C319F-B94A-4912-859C-5335AB7AEEEF

Fig. 11

Material examined. Holotype ♂: “ Nepal Manaslu Himal / Bara Pokhari [= Bhara Pokhari, 28°18’N, 84°28’E] 3000 m / 4.4.99 / leg. Lau & Schmidt // Ankauf A. Dobbertin / Rostok, 2001 / Museum Dresden” ( MTD).

Diagnostic description. Length 3.07 mm. Body oval, integument glossy, dark ferruginous. Vestiture very scarce, limited to few short setae, on elytra appressed to integument. Rostrum robust, relatively short, sides almost linearly slightly narrowed to antennal insertion, interantennal width 2/3 as width at base; in lateral view irregularly and moderately curved, mainly at midlength, less curved basad and apicad; dorsum with rows of longitudinally aligned punctures, quite regularly impressed and evenly spaced, delimiting very narrow and irregular longitudinal lines, apex glossy from before antennal insertion. Antennal scape thick, strongly thickened from midlength; funicle antennomere 1 and 2 subequal in length, about 1.5 longer than wide, thick, scarcely narrowed basad, 3–5 globose, 3 slightly smaller, 6 larger, 7 bigger, transverse; club shortly oval. Eye oblong, with about 30 ommatidia. Pronotum subcylindrical, sides weakly and evenly curved from base to apex, only slightly more convergent apicad, maximum width slightly beyond midlength, median keel raised on disc, lowered anteriad and basad; sculpture very dense and irregular, with deep punctures partly merged in groups, interspaces linear, raised, generally more raised and angular towards the external side, here with a small pit bearing a centripetal seta. Elytra oval, convex, intervals convex and with oblong low, obtusely raised humps; striae deep and irregular, narrower in correspondence of intervals humps, with small punctures deeply and irregularly impressed, not evenly spaced. Femur thickened medially, robust, lacking a differentiated inner tooth, strongly narrowed at articulation with tibia, tibia strongly expanded internally in basal half, outer part with spaced erect setae, apex with round margin, not obliquely extended to outer part of tibia. Tarsomere 3 with lobes scarcely developed, claws with very short triangular inner teeth. Penis strongly curved in apical half, sides slightly and evenly narrowed forwards, lamella long triangular, very acutely pointed.

Origin of the name. This species is named for its shortly oval elytra.

Differential remarks. This species is sympatric with M. longipennis , which differs in the slender elytra, with almost parallel sides.

Distribution. Western Nepal, mountains on the east of the Marsyangdi river valley ( Fig. 28 ).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Microplinthus brevipennis, Holotype ♂. Body (A, B); rostrum (F, G); antenna (C); pronotum (E); elytra (D); femur (O); foretibia (G); apex of foretibia (N); claws (M); ventrites (H); penis (J, K, L). Bar: 2 mm.

FIGURE 28. Distribution map of some species of Microplinthus. Map data: Google Earth, Maxar Technologies, used according to Google Earth Terms of Service.