Murmidius meridensis, Jałoszyński & Ślipiński, 2022

Jałoszyński, Paweł & Ślipiński, Adam, 2022, Revision of the family Murmidiidae (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea), Zootaxa 5109 (1), pp. 1-102 : 39-41

Murmidius meridensis sp. n.

( Figs 103–108 , 126 , 132 )

Type material examined. Holotype (Venezuela): ♂, “ VENEZUELA: Merida / Paso Pico Aguila, Paramo / de Mucuchies 3740 m / 8°50’58’’N, 70°48’34’’W / 21 MAY 1998; R. Anderson / VEN1 A98 025 ex: dead leaves” ( KUNHM) . Paratypes: 2 ♀♀, same data as for holotype ( KUNHM) .

Diagnosis. Body circular and moderately convex, reddish brown; antennal club over twice as long as broad; anterior clypeal margin smooth; pronotum with distinct, sulciform lateral longitudinal impressions, lacking sublateral impressions; clypeus, frons, vertex and pronotum with strong microreticulation but relatively glossy; pronotum with fine, inconspicuous punctures; elytra entirely covered with large, distinct punctures partly forming irregular rows; prosternal carinae short, slightly shorter than 1/3 of prosternum; mesoventral plate with evenly rounded anterior margin and complete submarginal carina, lacking lateral carinae; elytral epipleura not narrowed at the level of metaventrite and extremely broad, near middle broader than width of mesofemur; metaventrite with sparse, large circular punctures distributed on its entire surface, with several forming row along each metaventral femoral line; penis relatively slender, in lateral view strongly curved and flattened; in ventral view with tapering from near middle and with subtriangular, blunt apex; tegmen slender, with distinctly emarginate apex bearing three pairs of short setae.

Description. BL 1.38–1.60 mm; BL/EW 1.17–1.28. Body circular ( Fig. 103 ) and in lateral view moderately convex ( Fig. 105 ); pigmentation reddish brown, legs indistinctly lighter; dorsum very finely setose and with large punctures on elytra, contrasting with fine punctures on head and pronotum; cuticle glossy, especially on elytra, less so on distinctly microreticulate clypeus, frons, vertex and pronotum.

Head ( Fig. 126 ) 0.43–0.45 mm wide, entirely microreticulate; frons weakly convex, with distinct and sparse punctures; clypeus slightly less glossy than frons; eyes large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Antennal club over twice as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Figs 103 , 132 ) strongly transverse, widest at base; PL 0.30–0.33 mm, PW 0.90–0.93 mm, PL/PW 0.33–0.35; lateral margins weakly rounded and very strongly convergent anterad, with narrow lateral carinae; mesal corners of antennal cavities distinctly projecting anterad; lateral longitudinal impressions distinct, broad and deep anteriorly and reducing in width and depth toward pronotal base, posteriorly convergent with lateral pronotal margins; sublateral longitudinal impressions lacking; anterior pronotal margin not swollen and with indistinct marginal line. Punctures on disc fine but distinct, slightly unevenly distributed, those on median area separated by spaces 3–5 as wide as their diameters, large punctures lacking, surface of disc moderately glossy, with distinct microreticulation.

Prosternum ( Fig. 104 ) with fine transverse microreticulation more distinct in anterior half and with fine, distinct punctures; prosternal carinae slightly shorter than 1/3 of prosternum; notosternal carinae weakly sinuate, not reaching anterior prosternal margin, the latter with narrow marginal carina.

Elytra ( Figs 103, 105 ) together oval, with strongly rounded sides, broadest distinctly in front of middle, EL 1.00– 1.20 mm, EW 1.18–1.25 mm, EL/EW 0.85–0.96. Humerus lacking callus; elytra with large and sparse punc- tures all over, partly forming irregular rows; surface with indistinct, superficial traces of microsculpture, glossy.

Hind wings reduced, narrow and about as long as elytra, unfunctional.

Mesoventral plate ( Fig. 106 ) lacking lateral longitudinal carinae; anterior margin evenly rounded, with complete submarginal carina.

Metaventrite ( Fig. 106 ) with sparse, large, circular punctures unevenly distributed on its entire surface, slightly denser on sides, with row of large punctures along each metaventral femoral line. Discrimen externally not visible. Tarsi with conspicuously long setae on tarsomeres 1–3 ( Fig. 104 ).

Aedeagus ( Figs 107–108 ) 0.58 mm long, slender; penis in ventral view tapering from nearly middle to blunt, subtriangular apex, in lateral view strongly curved and strongly flattened; tegmen slender, with shallowly emarginate apex bearing 3 pairs of short setae.

Distribution. Neotropical ( Venezuela).

Etymology. Named after Mérida State of Venezuela.

Remarks. Murmidius meridensis is externally most similar to M. tachiranus , with which it shares large elytral punctures distributed on its entire surface and a reddish-brown pigmentation. Moreover, these two species are less convex than their congeners of the M. campbelli group. They clearly differ in the aedeagi; the penis in M. meriden- sis is narrowing in its distal half and has a subtriangular apex, and that of M. tachiranus is nearly parallel-sided up to a subrectangular apex. The aedeagus of M. meridensis is most similar to that of M. trujilloensis , which also has a subtriangular, but distinctly slenderer apex. However, M. meridensis has much shorter prosternal carinae, much lighter body pigmentation, and much larger meshes of pronotal microreticulation, so that the pronotum is glossy, and not strongly matt as that in the extremely finely microreticulate M. trujilloensis .

Figures

FIGURES 103–108. Morphological structures of Murmidius meridensis sp. n. Body in dorsal (103), ventral (104) and lateral (105) views; pterothorax in ventral view (106); and aedeagus (107–108).

FIGURES 123–128. Murmidius campbelli group, comparison of microsculpture on heads of M. campbelli sp. n. (123), M. panamanus sp. n. (124), M. araguanus sp. n. (125), M. meridensis sp. n. (126), M. tachiranus sp. n. (127), and M. trujilloensis sp. n. (128).

FIGURES 129–134. Murmidius campbelli group, comparison of microsculpture on pronota of M. campbelli sp. n. (129), M. panamanus sp. n. (130), M. araguanus sp. n. (131), M. meridensis sp. n. (132), M. tachiranus sp. n. (133), and M. trujilloensis sp. n. (134).