Europoeurypus, Alekseev & Bukejs & Pollock, 2020

Alekseev, Vitalii Igorevich, Bukejs, Andris & Pollock, Darren Andrew, 2020, A new fossil Eurypinae genus and sexual dimorphism in the representatives of Omineus (Coleoptera: Mycteridae) from Tertiary amber of Europe, Zootaxa 4820 (3), pp. 551-562 : 552

Genus Europoeurypus gen. nov.

Type species: Europoeurypus inglaeso sp. nov., by present designation

Diagnosis. Europoeurypus gen. nov. ( Figs. 1–5 ) can be distinguished from all other described Eurypinae genera by the following characters: (1) ocular (suborbital) groove not distinct; (2) head with straight, subparallel frontal furrows; (3) eyes protuberant, very slightly emarginated, without intrafacetal setae; (4) lateral carina of pronotum present in basal two-thirds; (5) frontoclypeal suture discernible; (6) dorsal body surface evenly punctate and setose; (7) pronotal disc with pair of small basal triangular impressions; (8) mandibles bidentate apically; (9) tarsal claws thickened basally, without tooth; and (10) total body length larger than 10 mm.

Among extant Eurypinae , the new genus has a similar form to species of both Thisiomorphus Pic, 1931 and Eurypus Kirby, 1819 . Species of both genera have a relatively wide pronotum and an elongate-oval body ( Pollock 2016). Europoeurypus gen. nov. can be distinguished from Eurypus by the eyes without setation, not especially widened penultimate tarsomere and shorter antennae, and from Thisiomorphus by the considerably larger body size, the shorter antennae, the smaller eyes, tarsal claws without sharp tooth, and distinct frontoclypeal suture. This new genus from Baltic amber differs from known Eocene Eurypinae (see also key below) as follows: from Bertinotus gallicus Kirejtshuk & Nel, 2009 (Lowermost Eocene amber of Oise, France) in punctate head, bidentate mandibles, non-toothed claws, markedly larger body size; from Glesoconomorphus nachzehrer Alekseev, Pollock & Bukejs, 2019 and Omineus febribilis Alekseev, Pollock & Bukejs, 2019 (both Eocene Baltic amber, Russia) in ocular groove absent and frontal furrows present, lateral carina of pronotum present, distinctly larger body size, and comparatively shorter antennae.

Etymology. The name of the new genus is a compound word and combines “ Europa ” (Europe, western part of the continent Eurasia from where the Baltic amber originates) and “ Eurypus ” (name of the type genus in the subfamily). Gender masculine.

Remarks. The new genus is monotypic, represented by the type species only. Therefore the generic description considerably overlaps that of the species.

Figures

FIGURES 1–2. Europoeurypus inglaeso gen. et sp. nov., holotype, No MAIG 6081: 1—habitus, dorsal view; 2—habitus, ven- tral view. Scale bars represent 4.0 mm.

FIGURE 3–4. Europoeurypus inglaeso gen. et sp. nov., holotype, No MAIG 6081: 3—abdomen, showing ventrites without discernible sex patches; 4—details of forebody, dorsal view. Abbreviations: v1–v5—abdominal ventrites 1–5 respectively; icp—intercoxal process of ventrite 1. Scale bars represent 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 5. Reconstruction of Europoeurypus inglaeso gen. et sp. nov. from Baltic amber: habitus, dorsal view. Body length = 10.2 mm.