Anthelephila laopako, Kejval, 2017

Kejval, Zbyněk, 2017, Studies of the genus Anthelephila Hope (Coleoptera: Anthicidae) 14. Twenty-four new species from Asia and new records of A. fossicollis Kejval, Zootaxa 4306 (1), pp. 1-52 : 40-42

Anthelephila laopako sp. nov.

Figs 85–88 , 111

Description. Male (holotype). Body length 3.3 mm. Body brown, basal third/fourth of elytra slightly paler; legs and antennae reddish to brown, terminal 3–4 antennomeres brownish.

Head 1.1 times as long as wide, somewhat produced posteriorly (parabolic), differentiated from short neck; tempora strongly narrowing posteriad, posterior angles absent. Eyes medium-sized, convex. Dorsal surface distinctly punctate and partly corrugated, smooth and glossy in basal third; punctures coarser, umbiliform anteriorly, finer basally, distinctly separated. Setation short, subdecumbent; numerous tactile setae. Antennae distinctly enlarged in terminal third; antennomere X 1.2 times, XI 1.8 times as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.4 times as long as wide, much narrower than head including eyes, nearly evenly rounded anteriorly, narrowed and strongly impressed (constricted) postero-laterally in dorsal view; pronotal disc convex anteriorly, distinctly impressed posteriorly and slightly bulging before base in lateral view, disc convex with conspicuous median longitudinal impression/groove anteriorly, similarly posterior bulge divided by moderate median impression. Surface rather glossy; antero-lateral sides minutely and sparsely punctate, impunctate near procoxal cavities; disc with some coarser punctures, distinctly corrugated at constriction anterior to smooth antebasal bulge; postero-lateral impressions coarsely longitudinally wrinkled, adjacent dorso-lateral surface rugose. Setation as on head.

Mesosternum simple. Metasternum with paired submedian projections near posterior margin.

Elytra 1.6 times as long as wide, conjointly rounded apically; humeri and postscutellar impression distinct. Surface glossy, distinctly punctate; punctation uneven, double, setiferous punctures both rather widely separated and forming dense transverse band in postscutellar impression. Setation uneven, diversified, pale and whitish; ordinary pale setae somewhat longer and sparser in basal fourth, mostly subdecument; whitish setae short, subdecumbent, coarse, forming narrow transverse setose band in postscutellar impression; some tactile setae.

Metathoracic wings fully developed.

Fore legs modified ( Fig. 85 ); profemoral process robust, obliquely truncate apically, with conspicuous fringe of short, stiff black setae subapically; protibiae moderately swollen and with short carina on inner margin; penultimate tarsomere widened/flattened distally, with terminal tarsomere articulated dorsally near base in all tarsi. Pro- and mesotibiae with two, metatibiae with single distinct terminal spur; metatibiae with tuft of long stiff setae on median side subapically.

Abdominal sternum VII moderately impressed to excavated posteriorly ( Fig. 86 ). Tergum VII distinctly produced and bluntly pointed apically. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 87 ); paired prongs narrow and straight in lateral view. Tergite VIII with simple paired sclerites narrowly rounded apically, narrowly connected medially. Terminal sclerite of segment IX (spiculum) thin, membranous. Aedeagus ( Fig. 88 ); apical portion of tegmen 0.3 times as long as basal-piece, trilobed apically.

Female. Externally differing from male as follows: fore legs, metasternum, and abdominal sternum VII simple; metatibiae shortly setose; tergum VII subtriangular, rounded apically.

Variation. Body length (♂♀) 3.2–3.3 mm.

Type material. Holotype, ♂: LAOS c., Vientiane Prov. 35 km NE of Vientiane, Lao Pako, 1.–4.v. 2006, 200 m, P. Kresl lgt. [p] ( NMPC).

Additional specimens. Laos: 1 ♀, same data as holotype ( ZKDC).

Differential diagnosis. Anthelephila laopako sp. nov. belongs to the A. praetor species-group ( Kejval 1999). It can be easily confused with A. ayutthaya sp. nov., A. praetor aequiparens ( Kejval, 1999) , and A. celer ( Kejval, 1999) ; all occuring in Laos, the first two species have been taken together in the same samples. It shares a longer and narrower male profemoral process and simply emarginate male sternum VII with A. ayutthaya sp. nov., but differs by the more prominent median longitudinal impression of the pronotal disc and by the morphology and setation of paired prongs of sternite VIII (cf. Figs. 87 versus 26).

Etymology. Named after the type locality. Noun in apposition.

Distribution. Laos.

Figures

FIGURES 85 – 88. Anthelephila laopako sp. nov. (holotype ♂). Profemur and tibia (85); abdominal sternum VII (86); sternite VIII, dorsal view (87); apical portion of aedeagus (88). Scale (0.5 mm): A—Fig. 85; (0.2 mm): B—Fig. 87, C—Figs 86, 88.

FIGURES 107 – 114. Body in dorsal view. Anthelephila abnormis sp. nov., paratype ♂ (107); A. ailani sp. nov., holotype ♂ (108); A. disparilis sp. nov., holotype ♂ (109); A. keahi sp. nov., holotype ♂ (110); A. laopako sp. nov., holotype ♂ (111); A. provecta sp. nov., holotype ♀ (112); A. theravada sp. nov., paratype ♀ (113); A. triplex sp. nov., holotype ♂ (114).