Pseudosynarmostes perrieri ( Fairmaire, 1898 ) Ballerio, 2008

Ballerio, Alberto, 2008, Descriptions of two new endemic genera and four new species of Ceratocanthinae (Insecta, Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea, Hybosoridae) from Madagascar, Zoosystema 30 (3), pp. 605-628 : 625-627

Pseudosynarmostes perrieri ( Fairmaire, 1898) n. comb.

( Fig. 14 )

Synarmostes perrieri Fairmaire, 1898: 471 (description).— Marie & Lesne 1917: 117 (catalogue).

Philharmostes perrieri Fairmaire, 1900: 473 . — Alluaud 1900: 245 (catalogue). — Arrow 1911: 46 (catalogue). — Paulian 1937: 132 (key); 1979: 71 (key, description, distribution). — Boucomont 1937: 280 (listing). — Ocampo & Ballerio 2006: 189 (catalogue).

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype ♂ ( MNHN): “Madag. Perrier/ Synarmostes perrieri Fairm. Madag. /Museum Paris, Madagascar, Perrier de la Bâthie, Coll. Léon Fairmaire 1906/Type/ Pseudosynarmostes perrieri Fairmaire 1898 det. A. Ballerio 2006 ” [specimen in good condition, partly distended and glued on a card; the dissected aedeagus, genital segment, abdomen and left protibia are mounted in DMHF resin on separate cards on the same pin].

ETYMOLOGY. — Named after its collector, the French botanist Henri Perrier de la Bâthie (1873-1958).

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 2 ♀♀ (CASC) [all dissected]: “ Madagascar: Mahajanga Prov. Foret de Tsimembo, 11.0 km 346° NNW Sostana, elev. 50 m, 21-25 Nov. 2001, 18°59’43”S 44°26’37”E /coll: Fisher, Griswold et al., California Acad. of Sciences, sifted litter (leaf mold, rotten wood) in tropical dry forest, coll. code: BLF4508”.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT. — Probably restricted to the tropical dry forests of western Madagascar. The holotype bears only a generic locality label “ Madagascar ”, but Fairmaire, while describing it, quoted “Suberbieville” (Maevatanana, Mahajanga Province) as the type locality. Despite the fact that the holotype bears a label dated 1906, this should have been added later, since the description by Fairmaire is from 1898. Perrier de la Bâthie came to Madagascar in 1897 ( Lacroix 1998) and therefore Pseudosynarmostes perrieri n. comb. should have been one of the very first beetles collected by him. The other two specimens examined come from another locality in western Madagascar, belonging to the same ecological region, but some 400 km southwards from the forests around Maevatanana: theTsimembo forest,near Antsalova. There seems to be a big gap between the two localities, however the shortage of available material does not allow to find appreciable differences for separating these two females from the male holotype from Maevatanana.

DIAGNOSIS. — See under P. mitsinjo n. sp.

DESCRIPTION

HL = 0.60 mm; HW = 1.25 mm; PL = 1.05 mm; PW = 1.90 mm; EL = 1.80 mm; EW = 1.81 mm.

Dark brown to light brown; underside alutaceous, reddish-brown; head, pronotum and elytra with yellowish/whitish very short recumbent pubescence.

Head: Surface covered by relatively shallow dense (their distance being usually about as big as or slightly smaller than their width) punctures, transversely comma-shaped. A few large irregularly shaped lines at sides and near fore margin. Pubescence shorter and finer than on pronotum and elytra.

Pronotum:surface with dense (their distance being distinctly shorter than their width) puncturation made of shallow ocellate or rarely horseshoe-shaped punctures, each one bearing a short recumbent seta at middle, horseshoes opening inwards basally and outwards laterally.Scutellum:punctures as on pronotum, opened backwards. Elytra: surface completely covered by dense shallow longitudinally narrowed horseshoe-shaped punctures, relatively larger than on pronotum, each one bearing a short recumbent seta at middle, with openings and oriented backwards. Pseudoepipleuron indistinct, sides of elytra regularly rounded, lacking any carina or furrow.

KEY TO MALAGASY CERATOCANTHINAE GENERA AND TO THE SPECIES OF CRYPTOSPHAEROIDES N. GEN. AND PSEUDOSYNARMOSTES N. GEN.

1. Dorsal ocular area always present and normally developed ( Fig. 9A ), antennal pedicellus straight or slightly curved ........................................................................................... 2

— Dorsal ocular area very reduced ( Fig. 4D ) or absent, antennal pedicellus strongly curved backwards ( Fig. 3G ) ................................................................................................... 5

2. Fore tibiae regularly broadly curved inwards ............................................ Philharmostes

— Fore tibiae straight or S-shaped .................................................................................. 3

3. Apical portion of elytra with several carinae ................................................ Synarmostes

— Apical portion of elytra with the same sculpturing of the remaining elytral surface, lacking any carinae ( Fig. 9 A-D) ..................................................... Pseudosynarmostes n. gen., 4

4. Puncturation of head, pronotum and elytra deeply impressed with erect semi-curled setation ............................................................................................... P. mitsinjo n. sp. — Puncturation of head, pronotum and elytra shallow with recumbent setation ................ ........................................................................................................ P. perrieri n. comb.

5. Surface sculpturing made only of sparse horseshoe-shaped or comma-shaped punctures, setate (45 ×), posterior margin of pronotum not raised......... Cryptosphaeroides n. gen., 6

— Surface sculpturing made of tubercles and carinae and strong fine punctures, glabrous (45 ×), posterior margin of pronotum raised .............................................. Goudotostes

6. Elytra with distinct pseudoepipleura ................................................ C. hystrix n. comb.

— Elytra lacking any distinct pseudoepipleura, at most with some longitudinal carinae near sides ........................................................................................................................... 7

7. Pronotal lateral margins with a row of dense short clavate setation ........ C. tenrec n. sp.

— Pronotal lateral margins without any distinct setation or with very sparse long clavate setae ........................................................................................................................... 8

8. Puncturation of elytra made of shallow large horseshoe-shaped punctures ................... ...................................................................................................... C. hippocrepis n. sp.

— Puncturation of elytra made of deep small comma-shaped punctures ........................... .................................................................................................... C. ankaranensis n. sp.

Dedication

This work is dedicated to the memory of Renaud Paulian (1913-2003)

Figures

FIG. 14. — Pseudosynarmostes perrieri (Fairmaire,1898) n. comb., dorsal view of female (Tsimembo forest). Scale bar: 1 mm

FIG. 9. — Pseudosynarmostes mitsinjo n. sp., Réserve spéciale d’Analamazaotra:A, dorsal view of male;B-D, rolled up female specimen; B, ventral view; C, dorsal view; D, lateral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIG. 4. — A-D, Cryptosphaeroides hystrix (Paulian, 1991); A, B, aedeagus; C, outline of genital segment; D, outline of female head, arrows indicate small dorsal ocular area and starting point of gena; E-I, Cryptosphaeroides hippocrepis n. sp.; E, outline of genital segment; F-I, aedeagus. Scale bar: A-C, 0.4 mm; D, 0.25 mm; E-I, 0.4 mm.

FIG. 3. — Cryptosphaeroides hystrix (Paulian,1991):A, wing;B, male protibia (chaetotaxy and puncturation omitted); C, male mesotibia (chaetotaxy and puncturation omitted); D, metatibia (chaetotaxy and puncturation omitted);E, apical portion of female protibia showing apical tooth directed downwards (chaetotaxy and puncturation omitted); F, female protibia (chaetotaxy and puncturation omitted); G, antenna, arrow indicates the pedicellus. Scale bar: A, 0.25 mm; B-F, 0.4 mm; G, 2 mm.