Indogethes Audisio & Cline, 2009

Audisio, Paolo, Cline, Andrew Richard, Biase, Alessio De, Antonini, Gloria, Mancini, Emiliano, Trizzino, Marco, Costantini, Lorenzo, Strika, Sirio, Lamanna, Francesco & Cerretti, Pierfilippo, 2009, Preliminary re-examination of genus-level taxonomy of the pollen beetle subfamily Meligethinae (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (2), pp. 341-504 : 382-384

11. Indogethes Audisio & Cline , gen. nov.

( Figs. 11 a–m )

Type species. Meligethes curvipes Grouvelle, 1908: 373 , 374 (by present designation) [= Indogethes curvipes (Grouvelle, 1908) comb. nov.].

Generic description and diagnosis. Inclusive species vary moderately in size (2.8–4.0 mm length), and share the following combination of characters.

Body color and pubescence: pubescence silvery-whitish, usually short, recumbent, never obscuring the blackish dorsal body surface; pronotal and elytral sides narrowly flattened, typically the same color as disc. Lateral margin of pronotum and elytra with a series of faintly distinct, small and short setae, each seta usually 0.3–0.5× as long as those on elytral disc; posterior margin of pronotum with long, usually distally bifid or trifid microsetae, microsetae uniformly distributed on middle region anterior to scutellum ( Fig. 11d ).

Dorsal habitus: body moderately convex, variably shaped ( Fig. 11a ); dorsal punctures on discal portion of pronotum larger than eye facets, usually deeply impressed and densely distributed; anterior margin of clypeus usually moderately arcuately emarginate, distinctly but narrowly bordered ( Fig. 11b ), simple, i.e., without a small, faintly distinct, medial bulge; circum-ocular furrows (occipital sulci) on dorsal side of head absent ( Fig. 11b ); eyes large and usually moderately projecting laterally ( Figs. 11a, b ); pronotum with obtusely rounded posterior angles, never directed posteriorly ( Fig. 11a ); scutellum regularly punctured on most of exposed portion; elytra with variable punctation, with simple punctures, never transversely strigose; elytral humeral angle moderately distinct, not protruding laterally ( Fig. 11a ); elytral humeral striae not distinct; elytral pre-sutural striae visible, originating slightly posterior to the scutellar vertex, terminating close to elytral apex, and delimiting on each elytron a usually distinct, flat, slightly raised sutural border, widest at posterior third, here nearly as wide as proximal portion of 3 rd antennomere; elytral apices truncately rounded in both sexes ( Fig. 11a ); pygidium partially exposed, moderately convex, apically rounded in both sexes ( Fig. 11a ).

Ventral habitus: antennal furrows markedly delimited, nearly parallel-sided, slightly divergent posteriorly; mentum peculiarly shaped, subelliptical ( Fig. 11e ); antennal furrows on anterior margin of prosternum faintly distinct or indistinctly raised ( Fig. 11e ); prosternal process wide, subapical dilated portion 2.8–3.6× as wide as maximum width of 1 st antennomere, apex usually blunt ( Fig. 11c ); lateral borders of prosternal process delimiting moderately shallowly impressed but distinct furrows, distally terminating over predistal lateral expansions, nearly reaching the microscopically denticulate posterior margin ( Fig. 11c ); posterior margin of mesoventrite simple, not medially incised ( Fig. 11c ); male impressions on metaventrite moderately developed; first two visible abdominal ventrites simple in both sexes, without tufts of setae; caudal marginal lines of metacoxal cavities simple, parallel and contiguous to posterior margin of metacoxal cavities, comprising moderately deep arched impression of outer ‘axillary’ line ( Fig. 11g ); ‘axillary’ space on first abdominal ventrite reduced, ‘axillary’ angle approximately right angled ( Fig. 11g ); large, long, and peculiarly deeply impressed arched impressions on basal portion of last visible abdominal ventrite, frequently partially covered by distal portion of penultimate visible abdominal ventrite ( Fig. 11f ).

Appendages: male 1 st antennomere 0.8–0.9× as long as width of protibiae excluding distal teeth ( Figs. 11a, e ); 3 rd antennomere in both sexes usually 2.0–2.1× as long as wide, 0.9–1.0× as long but distinctly thinner than 2 nd antennomere ( Fig. 11a ); 4 th and 5 th antennomeres in both sexes subequal, short, slightly longer than wide; antennal club compact, small, simple, comprising last 3 antennomeres in both sexes (8 th antennomere scarcely widened, 0.5–0.6× as wide as 9 th antennomere) ( Fig. 11a ), club markedly narrower than width of protibiae, sexual dimorphism absent; labial palpi relatively short in both sexes ( Fig. 11e ), terminal segment nearly 1.8× as long as wide; maxillary palpi peculiarly short in both sexes ( Fig. 11e ), terminal segment only 1.5–1.8× as long as wide; mandible mid-sized ( Fig. 11e ), apex acuminate, no sexual dimorphism present; tarsal claws moderately to strongly toothed at base; tarsi of normal size and shape, 0.5–0.7× as long as corresponding tibiae ( Fig. 11a ); protibiae with a series of usually large, uneven, long and variably shaped (blunt to sharply acuminate) teeth on lateral margin ( Figs. 11a, c ); meso- and metatibiae on lateral margin bearing a single and usually moderately even row of small robust spurs, without U-shaped sinuosity at distal third; meso- and metatibiae of variable width, usually slender and narrow ( Fig. 11a ), never subtrapezoidal or axe-shaped; male metatibiae moderately to strongly sinuate ( Fig. 11a ); tarsal plates of prolegs distinctly wider in males; anterior margin of profemora usually with projections in males; posterior margin of metafemora in both sexes with gibbosities.

Male genitalia: processes along inner side of parameres absent ( Figs. 11h–k ), with more or less deeply incised distal margin, and without deep median longitudinal desclerotization from proximal portion of tegmen extending to medial distal V-shaped excision; median lobe of aedeagus variable, without lateral emargination, narrowed and variably shaped distally.

Female genitalia (ovipositor): variably shaped, large; styli usually short, simple, cylindrical, unpigmented, inserted close to apex of usually contiguous gonostyloids; each gonostyloid lightly sclerotized and moderately to darkly pigmented distally, with a simple, never indentate outer portion of basicoxites ( Fig. 11m ), and a single, narrow, scarcely pigmented and unsclerotized arcuate area along outer subdistal portion of gonostyloids. ‘Central point’ of ovipositor usually nearly centrally located, without proximad directed spicule.

Etymology. The generic name is derived from the Latin ‘ indicus ’ (= Indian), to emphasize the Indian distribution of all known species, and from ‘- gethes ’, to emphasize its phylogenetic relationship with Meligethes . Gender masculine.

Biology. The biology of all inclusive species remains unknown.

Phylogenetic position. Morphological data provide weak evidence of a clade including Indogethes gen. nov. near to Afrogethes gen. nov. However, no molecular data are available for Indogethes gen. nov.

Taxonomy and geographic distribution. Indogethes gen. nov. includes five described species, which are all distributed on the Indian Subcontinent.

Indogethes arrowi (Grouvelle, 1908) comb. nov. India

Indogethes cardoni (Grouvelle, 1894) comb. nov. India

Indogethes crassus (Grouvelle, 1908) comb. nov. India

Indogethes curvipes (Grouvelle, 1908) comb. nov. India

Indogethes foedus (Grouvelle, 1908) comb. nov. India

Figures

Fig. 11. Indogethes Audisio & Cline, gen. nov.: a–m – I. curvipes (Grouvelle, 1908). a – male habitus (pubescence and mandibles not illustrated; length 3.5 mm); b – dorsal view of head; c – prosternal process and mesoventrite; d – microsetae on middle of posterior margin of pronotum; e – ventral view of head and anterior portion of prosternum; f – exposed portion of last visible abdominal ventrite; g – caudal marginal line of metacoxal cavity; h–k – male genitalia (h – length 0.5 mm; k – 0.4 mm); m – ovipositor (length 0.7 mm). Scale bars: Figs. b, c, e, f, g = 200 μm; Fig. d = 10 μm.