Oxycara (Symphoxycara) malgorzatae, Purchart, 2014

Purchart, Luboš, 2014, Two new species of the genera Zophosis and Oxycara, and a new record of the genus Freyula from the Island of Socotra (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) *, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 54, pp. 231-240 : 236-238

Oxycara (Symphoxycara) malgorzatae sp. nov.

( Figs 11–17 )

Type locality. Yemen, Socotra Archipelago, Socotra Island.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J ( MNHN): Ile de SOCOTRA, 15-XI-1993, Canu Jean-Guy rec. [blue, printed] // Muséum Paris, 2001, Coll. générale [blue, printed] . PARATYPES: 1 J 1 ♀ ( MNHN, LPCB): same data as holotype.

Description of male holotype. Body length 6.8 mm, body width 4.0 mm. Dorsally black, dull, glabrous. Ventrally, legs and mouth parts pale brown to reddish-brown. Broad, oval ( Fig. 11 ).

Head. Entire surface densely and roughly punctate with distances between punctures approximately as large as their diameter, shagreened ( Fig. 12 ). Eyes slightly projecting from head convexity, not curved with genae; slightly narrowed by genae up to four ommatidia in narrowest spot. Clypeal margin ventrally with row of small teeth along its entire length, clypeal tooth projecting horizontally. Frontoclypeal suture indicated laterally. Gular furrows relatively shallow, parallel. Antennae short, shorter than width of pronotum, sparsely covered with relatively long yellowish setae. Mandibles bifid. Maxillary palpus with apical palpomere slightly widened. Mentum large, transverse, somewhat rounded laterally, apical margin sinuate, punctate with punctures finer than those on head. Submentum transverse, triangular.

Pronotum strongly transverse, approximately twice broader than long, broadest at base. Punctate with punctures finer and shallower than those on head, distances between punctures at least 2–3 times their diameter, distinctly shagreened. Sides of pronotum strongly narrowing anteriad.Anterior margin deeply and broadly sinuate, anterior corners strongly projecting anteriad, acute. Posterior margin with oblique sides, posterior corners nearly rectangular. Lateral and posterior margins completely, anterior margin partly bordered, obliterated in middle.

Elytra broad, with broadly rounded sides, elytral disc flat, apical declivity steep (in lateral view). Scutellum very small, triangular. Base of elytra slightly broader than pronotal base. Elytral surface very finely and shallowly punctate, punctures very small, smaller than those on pronotum and much smaller than those on head, distances between punctures at least four times larger than their diameter, shagreened. Epipleura broad, smooth; separated from elytra by complete epipleural file-like edge of elytra, not visible in dorsal view.

Ventral part. Prosternum, hypomeron, metaventrite and abdominal ventrites glabrous, smooth, shiny, impunctate. Prosternal apophysis narrower than strongly transverse procoxae, slightly widened posteriad, sparsely and shallowly punctate with inconspicuous punctures, hardly projecting procoxae. Mesoventral plate shiny, glabrous, impunctate, parallel-sided, slightly broader than prosternal apophysis and with distinct midlongitudinal furrow along its entire length.

Legs normally developed, without any special characters.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus simple ( Figs 14–17 ), inverted, i.e. tegmen ventral, median lobe dorsal (cf. WATT 1974). Apical piece of tegmen gradually narrowing towards apex (in ventral view); base of apical piece sinuate laterally (visible in lateral view). Basal piece widened towards its base. Median lobe straight in basal two thirds and then moderately curved upwards (in lateral view) in apical third.

Female. Without sexual dimorphism.

Measurments and proportions. Body length 6.1–7.5 mm, body width 3.8–4.2 mm. HW/HL 1.2–1.3; PW/HW 1.7–1.8; PW/PL 2.0–2.1; EL/PL 2.8–3.2; EW/PW1.4–1.5; EL/EW 1.1–1.2. Differential diagnosis. Due to the file-like epipleural edge which serves as stridulatory organ, O. malgorzatae sp. nov. belongs to the subgenus Symphoxycara . On the contrary, in the subgenus Pleuroxycara a short file-like carina is present between epipleural and elytral edge, and in the subgenus Oxycara the epipleural edge is smooth, without any stridulatory organ ( KOCH 1959; LILLIG 2001, 2009).

Oxycara malgorzatae sp. nov. can generally be distinguished by laterally sinuate (visible in lateral view) basal part of apical piece of tegmen ( Fig. 16 ), which is not sinuate in any of the known species of the subgenus Symphoxycara (for figures of male genitalia of all species see LILLIG 2001). Besides, from its geographically closest congeners it differs also as follows: from O. grande Kaszab, 1981 and O. schawalleri Lillig, 2001 mainly in having only four ommatidia in the narrowest part of eyes, while in the two previous species the number of ommatidia ranges between 6–9. From O. gallagheri Lillig, 2001 it can be distinguished by punctation of elytra being distinctly finer than that on pronotum, while in the former species the punctation on pronotum and elytra is identical. Oxycara subcostatum Guérin-Méneville, 1962 differs from O. malgorzatae sp. nov. in apical piece of tegmen being almost parallel-sided, while in the new species the apical piece of tegmen is gradually narrowing towards the apex. In O. evae Lillig, 2001 and O. hansbremeri Lillig, 2001 the part where eye is in contact with tempora is angled, while in O. malgorzatae sp. nov. it is rounded. From O. grimmi Lillig, 2001 it differs in its larger size (body length more than 7.5 mm) and gradually narrowing apex of tegmen, while in the former species the apex is distinctly parallel and body length less than 7.5 mm.

Etymology. Named in memory and honour of the late colleague Małgorzata Banaszkiewicz (Warszawa, Poland).

Distribution. Yemen, Socotra Island.

Figures

Figs 11–17. Oxycara malgorzatae sp. nov. 11 – habitus in dorsal view, holotype; 12 – head, dorsal view, holotype; 13 – head, lateral view, paratype; 14 – tegmen in ventral view; 15 – median lobe in ventral view; 16 – tegmen in lateral view (arrow indicates laterally sinuate basal part of apical piece of tegmen); 17 – median lobe in lateral view. Scale bar = 3 mm (for habitus only).