Anthelephila pateva, Kejval & Cz, 2010

Kejval, Zbyněk & Cz, Domažlice, 2010, Studies on the genus Anthelephila (Coleoptera: Anthicidae) 11. New species and records from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Oman, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 50 (1), pp. 189-234 : 216-218

Anthelephila pateva sp. nov.

( Figs. 59–65 , 103 )

Type locality. India, Maharashtra state, Mulshi vicinity, 18°29′N 73°30′E, ca. 700 m a.s.l.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‘ INDIA, Maharashtra, ca 30 km W of Pune , MULSHI env., 18°29′N 73°30′E, ca 700 m, 13.–16.vi.2006, Z. Kejval leg.’ ( NMPC) . PARATYPES: 2 JJ 3 ♀♀, same data as holotype ( ZKDC) ; 1 J 1 ♀, ‘ INDIA, Maharashtra Pune Distr., Mulshi at Mulshi Lake , 11 X 2005 catch., leg. L. Borowiec // INDIA Expedition 2005 Dept. of Biodiversity and Evol. Taxonomy Wrocław University’ ( DBET) .

Description (male, holotype). Body length 5.0 mm. Head largely black, reddish brown anteriorly near antennal sockets, including mouth-parts; pronotum reddish brown; elytra black; antennae brown black, only basal 3–4 antennomeres paler, reddish brown; legs brown black, basal narrowed portion of femora reddish brown, tibiae and tarsi slightly paler.

Head 1.3 times as long as wide, unevenly rounded posteriorly, its base moderately produced medially, well differentiated from short neck; tempora rather strongly narrowing posteriad, posterior angles absent. Eyes medium-sized, rather convex and protruding. Surface smooth and glossy, rather finely but distinctly punctate; dorsal punctures rather widely spaced, especially posteriorly. Setation rather long, subdecumbent, with several moderately longer, erect setae. Antennae slightly enlarged in terminal third; antennomere X twice and antennomere XI 2.5 times as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.5 times as long as wide, slightly narrower than head across eyes, evenly rounded anteriorly, rather moderately impressed and constricted shortly before base postero-laterally; pronotal disc nearly evenly shaped, without impressions and bulges, its outline more or less convex in lateral view. Surface very distinctly punctate dorsally, but nearly impunctate, smooth and glossy laterally near procoxal cavities and longitudinally corrugated dorso-laterally in posterior third/half; dorsal punctures rather coarse and densely spaced, becoming finer and sparser in anterior third; postero-lateral impressions shortly wrinkled; base with a few vaque transverse wrinkles interconnecting dorso-lateral corrugation. Setation similar to that on head, distinctly denser dorsally; erect setae long and conspicuous.

Mesosternum and metasternum simple.

Elytra 1.8 times as long as wide, conjointly rounded apically; humeri somewhat less prominent and protruding but distinct; postscutellar impression slightly indicated. Surface smooth and glossy, distinctly punctate; punctures simple, widely and rather evenly spaced, about as coarse as but much sparser than those on head. Setation pale, moderately longer and more raised than that on head, decumbent, with numerous erect setae.

Metathoracic wings developed.

Fore legs modified ( Fig. 59 ); profemora with peculiar, at base narrowed process, its apex rather rounded and dorsal side densely setose subapicaly (including some thicker and stiff setae); protibiae distinctly flattened in apical half, and with distinct short process at midlength; penultimate tarsomere flattened and widened, with terminal tarsomere articulated dorsally at its midlength in all tarsi; mesotibiae with terminal spurs of unequal length, the longer one rather conspicuous, metatibiae with only one, rather long terminal spur.

Abdominal characters as in Figs. 60–65 ; median process of sternum VII projecting dorsally, shortly before margin and moderately long (thus less conspicuous in ventral view), narrow, simple, bearing a pair of long stiff setae apically; apical portion of tegmen 0.4 times as long as basal piece, apex finely membranous, simple.

Female. Externally differing from male by simple fore legs, sternum and tergum VII (the latter subtriangular, slightly angulately produced apically).

Variation. Body length (J ♀) 4.4–5.2 mm.

Differential diagnosis. Anthelephila pateva sp. nov. is a rather conspicuous species. It may resemble A. limaria by its colouration (black head and elytra, reddish pronotum), but differs by a smaller size, less robust body, densely punctate dorsal surface of pronotum and less distinctly setose lateral sides of pronotum in posterior third and by terminal spurs on the meso- and metatibiae (paired and rather equally long in A. limaria ). Moreover, males of A. pateva sp. nov. possess a conspicuous and quite dissimilar modification of the fore legs, much smaller median process of sternum VII, triangular and apically notched tergum VII and substantially different morphology of sternite VIII.

Etymology. Dedicated to my sister Eva and her husband Patrice Laurent (Jouy, France); composed of their first names. Noun in apposition.

Biology. All specimens were caught by sweeping riverside vegetation and mainly in a heap of rotting strips of tree bark near an altered stream.

Distribution. India (Maharashtra).

Figures

Figs. 59–65. Anthelephila pateva sp. nov., holotype (male). 59 – profemur and tibia; 60 – sternum VII; 61 – tergum VII; 62 – sternite VIII in dorsal view (one half); 63 – prong of sternite VIII in lateral view; 64 – tergite VIII; 65 – apical portion of tegmen of aedeagus. Scale = 0.2 mm: A – Fig. 65; B – Fig. 63; C – Fig. 62; 0.5 mm: A – Figs. 59, 64; D – 60; E – Fig. 61.

Figs. 101–108. Anthelephila spp., body in dorsal view (males; holotypes in new species). 101 – A. lubopetra sp. nov.; 102 – A. maharani sp. nov.; 103 – A. pateva sp. nov.; 104 – A. sevciki sp. nov.; 105 – A. triungula sp. nov.; 106 – A. tryznai sp. nov.; 107 – A. umbratilis (Krekich–Strassoldo, 1928), Uttarakhand, Juido env. (ZKDC); 108 – A. vishnumati sp. nov.