Anthelephila ayutthaya, 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 : 13-15

Anthelephila ayutthaya sp. nov. Figs 24–27

Description. Male (holotype). Body length 2.8 mm. Head, pronotum and elytra brown; legs reddish-brown, antennae largely reddish, distinctly darkened, brownish in terminal third.

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, moderately convex. Dorsal surface glossy, distinctly punctate; punctures coarser, umbiliform anteriorly, finer basally, distinctly separated. Setation short, subdecumbent; few tactile setae. Antennae distinctly enlarged in terminal third; antennomere X 1.1 times, XI 1.8 times as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.5 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, anterior convex part with shallow but distinct median longitudinal impression/groove, posterior bulge divided by slight 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, before smooth antebasal area; postero-lateral impressions distinctly longitudinally wrinkled, adjacent dorso-lateral surface rugose. Setation as on head.

Mesosternum simple. Metasternum with paired submedian projections close to posterior margin near metacoxae.

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 subdecumbent; whitish setae short, subdecumbent, coarse, forming narrow transverse setose band in postscutellar impression; some tactile setae.

Metathoracic wings fully developed.

Fore legs modified ( Fig. 24 ); profemoral process robust, obliquely truncate apically, with short fringe of stiff setae subapically; protibiae slightly impressed and with small lobule on inner side in distal third; 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. 25 ). Tergum VII produced and rounded apically. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 26 ); paired prongs narrow and straight in lateral view. Tergite VIII with simple paired sclerites narrowed and rounded apically, narrowly connected medially. Terminal sclerite of segment IX (spiculum) thin and inconspicuous. Aedeagus ( Fig. 27 ); 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; tergum VII subtriangular, narrowly rounded apically.

Variation. Body length (♂♀) 2.8–2.9 mm.

Type material. Holotype, ♂: Thailand Ayuthaya nördl. Bangkok 24.3.1977 leg. J & S. Klapperich [p] // Formicomus praetor Laferté det. G. Uhmann 1987 [p] ( NMPC).

Paratypes: 6 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀, same data as holotype ( ZKDC, SMNS, ZSMC) ; 1 ♂, LAOS c., Vientiane Prov. 35 km NE of Vientiane, Lao Pako, 1.–4.v. 2006, 200 m, P. Kresl lgt. [p] ( ZKDC) .

Differential diagnosis. Anthelephila ayutthaya sp. nov. belongs to the A. praetor species-group ( Kejval 1999). It can be recognized by the shallower median longitudinal impression of the pronotal disc, comparatively slender and longer male profemoral process, shallowly emarginate male sternum VII, narrowly rounded apex of female tergum VII, and by numerous details of the morphology and setation of the paired prongs of male sternite VIII.

Etymology. Named after the ancient Kingdom of Ayutthaya and the type locality. Noun in apposition. Distribution. Laos, Thailand.

Remark. The holotype and most paratypes were identified as Formicomus praetor LaFerté-Sénectère, 1849 and recorded as such by Uhmann (1988).

Figures

FIGURES 24 – 27. Anthelephila ayutthaya sp. nov. (holotype ♂). Profemur and tibia (24); abdominal sternum VII (25); sternite VIII, dorsal view (26); apical portion of aedeagus (27). Scale (0.3 mm): A—Figs 25 – 27; (0.5 mm): B—Fig. 24.