Oniphenes subunicolor Kirejtshuk, 2022

Kirejtshuk, Alexander G. & Kovalev, Alexey V., 2022, Monograph on the Cillaeinae (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) from the Australian Region with comments on the taxonomy of the subfamily, Zootaxa 5103 (1), pp. 1-133 : 124-127

52. Oniphenes subunicolor Kirejtshuk et Kovalev, sp. nov.

Figs 38 , A–H

LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:00100FAA-D853-47D9-8CCE-557C5162867E

Type specimens examined: Australia, QLD: Holotype, male ( ANIC)—“16.03S to 16.05S, 145.28E, QLD, Cape Tribulation area , 1 – 11 May 1992, J.F. Lawrence ”, “unindified agaricales”; 1 paratype, female ( ANIC / QMB)— “Bellenden Ker Range, NQ, 1 km S of Cable 6, Oct.17—Nov.5 1981, 500 m, Earthwatch/QLD Mus.”, “ ANIC COLEOPTERA , voucher No 83-0722.”

Diagnosis. This new species is very distinct from all congeners due to its unicolorous and less convex body, emarginate anterior edge of frons, shape of pronotum, gently sloping elytral sides and comparatively widely emarginate at lateral edge, markedly deeper elytral striae with dense, coarse and shallow punctures, rather stronger preapical teeth of protibiae and characteristic structure of genitalia of both sexes. See also the above key to species of the genus and Diagnosis of Oniphenes bicoloratus sp. nov.

Etymology. The epithet of this new species means “nearly unicolorous.”

Description of holotype (male). Length of body with abdomen 3.1, length without abdomen 1.8, width 1.0, height 0.3 mm. Body moderately elongate oval, slightly convex dorsally and ventrally; subunicolorous reddish; head, pronotum and elytra without pubescence, sides of pronotum and elytra not ciliate, but along middle of anterior and posterior edges with very short and sparse microsetae, uncovered abdominal sclerites with fine and extremely short, slightly conspicuous yellowish hairs; underside with rather short and moderately sparse fine yellowish hairs.

Head and pronotum with punctures, slightly coarser than eye facets, separated by 2.0–3.0 puncture diameters, interspaces between them completely smooth. Elytra with punctures markedly coarser and sparsely arranged in longitudinal rows on bottom of weakly deepened one short prescutellar and five long striae on adsutural parts, but becoming confuse at sides; interstriae as wide as 2–3 puncture diameters and with diffuse finer punctures and rather smooth. Exposed abdominal dorsal sclerites with punctures slightly finer and denser than those on head and pronotum, partly dislodged by microtubercles; interspaces between punctures and microtubercles rather shining. Prosternum and metaventrite with punctures and partly microtubercles similar to those on uncovered abdominal sclerites, but much coarser, interspaces between them very great, microreticulate and only on prosternal process and posterior median part of metaventrite smooth. Abdominal ventrites along middle with punctation as that on prosternal process and distal part of metaventrite with smooth interspaces, but at sides punctation becoming denser and interspaces between punctures smoothly microreticulate.

Head subflattened, with moderately large and finely faceted eyes located anteriorly from arcuate temples, anterior edge of frons distinctly emarginate. Labrum moderately short and with subemarginate anterior edge. Mandibles stout and short, externally dilated and curved before narrow bidentate apices forming anterior angular excision at anterior edge. Antennal grooves distinctly outlined and S-likely convergent and with minimal distance nearly less than 0.7 × as great as width of mentum. Mentum subpentagonal and medially rather long, moderately wide and slightly subrectilinearly widening anteriorly, and with anterior lateral angles subangular and very slightly projecting anteriorly. Pregenal process at hypostomal sinus moderately wide and very slightly curved, subtruncate at apex and with subangular outer and inner angles. Terminal labial palpomere very short, cup-liked and markedly shorter than wide; terminal maxillary palpomere comparatively short and subconical markedly less 2.0 × as long as thick. Antennae with scape moderately swollen and about 2.0 × as long as thick, pedicel about 0.6 × as long as scape, antennomere 3 only slightly longer than pedicel, following antennomeres 4 and 5 about 0.5 × as long antennomeres 3, club about 1.7 × as long thick, antennomeres 10 and 11 consolidated and somewhat separated from antennomere 9, and with comparable widest antennomere 10.

Pronotum with widely emargtinate anterior edge; posterior edge widely rounded and with widely rounded posterior angles; sides gently sloping at narrowly explanate sides, all edges narrowly bordered. Scutellar shield subpentangular, nearly 2.0× as wide as long, angular at apex. Elytra as long as combined width, slightly arcuate to subparallel-sided along elytral sides and widely rounded at outer apical angles, leaving last three abdominal segments completely exposed, sides gently sloping to comparatively widely explanate at edge (nearly as widely explanate as width of scape). Abdominal laterosternites V and VI at least 4.5–5.0× as long as wide. Three last abdominal tergites medially rather convex and weakly subdepressed at sides. Male pygidium about 1.3 × as wide as long, arcuately narrowing to subemarginate or subtruncate apex.

Prosternum medially convex and with process moderately narrow between procoxae, very strongly and arcuately widened at widely rounded apex, with maximum width comparable with that of antennal club. Distance between procoxae only slightly smaller than that between mesocoxae and nearly 2.0 × as great as that between metacoxae. Metaventrite with a distinct median suture nearly reaching anterior fifth. Metepisterna very narrow, at anterior end slightly wider than thickness of scape. Hypopygidium nearly 1.3 × as wide as long, shallowly emarginate at apex.

Tibiae subtriangilar, protibia nearly as wide as antennal club and with preapical teeth strongly raised, meso- and metatibiae subangular at outer subapical angles, spurs moderately long; outer side of meso- and metatibiae with short spines only along posterior edge. Femora rather wide and moderately short; each femur about 2.0 × as wide as corresponding tibiae. Protarsus slightly wider than pedicel and somewhat narrower than scape, meso- and metatarsi somewhat narrower than protarsus.

Anal sclerite well exposed, widely rounded to subemarginate at apex. Aedeagus moderately sclerotized and more than 1.5 × as long as wide; tegmen slightly arcuate at sides and widely rounded and subangulate at apex, without visible marginal setae; penis trunk about 1.5 × as long as tegmen, widely rounded at apex and with lobes of apical orifice not reaching apex of penis trunk.

Female. Length of female body (paratype) with abdomen 3.3 mm. Differs from the male only in the slightly narrower protarsi, and also in the length and shape of sclerites of the last abdominal segment (pygidium and hypopygidium about 1.2 × as wide as long and arcuately narrowing to rounded apex). Ovipositor moderately sclerotized; rather wide, inner and outer lobes of gonocoxites clearly isolated and outer lobe about 0.3 × as long as inner lobe; styli very short and slightly visible, with one comparatively thick and long apical seta and located at considerable distance from blunt apex.

Distribution. QLD; type locality is on Cape Tribulation area; also known from the Bellenden Ker Range.

Notes on bionomy. Thу holotype of this new species was collected in the fruiting body of species of Agaricales.

Figures

FIGURE 38. Oniphenes subunicolor gen. et sp. nov., orig. A–H: holotype, male from QLD (“… Cape Tribulation area, 1–11 May 1992 …”) and I: paratype, female from QLD (“Bellenden Ker Range …”); A: body, dorsal; B: head, dorsal; C: head and thorax, ventral; D: lateral side of abdominal segments 5 and 6, dorsal; E: male anal sclerite and spiculum gastrale, ventral; F: tegmen, ventral; G: penis trunk, dorsal; H: ovipositor, ventral. Scale bars: a = 0.5 mm to Fig. A; b = 0.5 mm to Figs B–D; с = 0.25 mm to Figs E–I.