Tonyattalus, Tshernyshev, 2022

Tshernyshev, Sergei E., 2022, Soft-winged flower beetles (Coleoptera: Malachiidae) of the United Arab Emirates, European Journal of Taxonomy 817, pp. 58-77 : 61-63

Tonyattalus gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DF2416DD-2780-4C55-805F-C4000309D01E

Type species

Tonyattalus vanharteni gen. et sp. nov., designated in the present paper.

Diagnosis

Moderately small-sized (ca 2.0– 2.3 mm) malachiid beetles with the body subparallel and oval with abdomen not completely covered by elytra ( Figs 1–10 ). Colouration from yellow with brown bases and apices of elytra, to black with yellow spots on pronotum and elytra; lacking metallic lustre. Antennae dentate in females and flabellate in males, not long, reaching the base of the elytra; in males 1 st antennomere enlarged, sub-conic, 2 nd antennomere oval, half as long as the 3 rd antennomere, the 3 rd antennomere triangular, not wider than the 4 th, 4 th antennomere wide triangular, with somewhat dilated outer edge, 5 th with more strongly dilated outer edge, 6 th –10 th segments flabellate, cylindrical with long dilated outer edges, terminal antennomere distinctly the longest, curved at basal third, evenly rounded at apex ( Fig. 3 ).

Head narrower than pronotum, slightly elongate, eyes small, weakly protruding over the contour of head; frons and inter-ocular area flat and slightly impressed, glabrous, lacking depression or protuberances; clypeus slightly elongate, transverse, straight; labrum short and transverse; maxillary palpi short, ultimate palpomere thin, cylindrical, slightly narrowed and flattened apically. Pronotum ( Figs 2, 4, 10 ) transverse, with rounded lateral sides, not sinuate or depressed at base; scutellum small, rectangular, narrow, slightly transverse, with slightly subparallel apex.

Elytra subparallel, weakly expanded posteriorly and not covering last segments of abdomen in both sexes; humeri indistinct and small; surface densely punctured, covered with light dense adpressed short hairs. Anterior tarsi ( Fig. 5 ) five-segmented, compressed, with a comb above the 2 nd segment, 2 nd –3 rd tarsomeres equal in length, 1 st is 1.2 × as long as 2 nd, the terminal tarsomere slightly narrower and depressed, the longest, as long as 1 st –4 th tarsomeres in anterior legs, 1 st –3 rd in intermediate legs and 1 st – 2 nd in posterior legs; claws thin, weakly curved and sharp, with dentate small lamellae at base; femora and tibiae simple, not swollen or strongly curved, lacking indentation. Metathorax weakly swollen, narrow, transverse, lacking appendages or tuft of hairs, but with specific straight and edged distal side, which is slightly lamellate. Pygidium ( Fig. 6 ) undivided, evenly rounded and narrowed distally, with oval emargination in middle; 8 th ultimate abdominal ventrite ( Fig. 7 ) strongly narrowed, bilaciniate, but both lobes narrowly adjoined, evenly rounded distally, with round-triangular emargination in middle and sharp lateral processes; aedeagus ( Fig. 8 ) elongate and strongly curved dorsally, typical of Attalini , with a long sharpened bristle in the inner sac in middle of distal part, tegmen wide, transverse, with thin short appendages.

Etymology

The new genus ‘ Tonyattalus ’, is composed of two words, ‘ Tony ’ – nickname of Antonius van Harten, enthusiastic organiser and participant of the UAE Insect Project, and ‘ Attalus ’ – name of the genus, nominative to the tribe Attalini .

Comparison

The species of the new genus should be compared with species of Attalus Erichson, 1840 , Malachiomimus Champion, 1921 , and Nepachys Thomson, 1859 from which they can be distinguished by a combination of the following characters: size small, ca 2 mm in length; the elytra abbreviated in both sexes and not covering abdomen completely; apices of elytra simple, lacking impressions; 2 nd tarsomere in anterior legs of male with simple small transverse comb above; metathorax weakly swollen, with specific straight, edged and slightly lamellate outer side; aedeagus thin and strongly curved, ultimate ventrite with round emargination and thin sharp processes, the structures necessary to hold curved aedeagus during copulation, is typical of the tribe Attalini .

Notes

The genus Tonyattalus gen. nov. includes two species known only from the Arabian Peninsula. Besides the nominal species, the other closely related species is T. buettikeri ( Wittmer, 1980) , originally described as Attalus (Nepachys) buettikeri Wittmer, 1980 due to external characters of male, flabellate antennae and anterior tarsi possessing a comb above the 2 nd tarsomere. Simple elytra lacking impressions and appendages in apices questions the generic attribution. Later, Evers (1989) transferred this species to the genus Malachiomimus Champion, 1921 based on the flabellate antennae of the male. This new combination is doubtful and confuses the systematics of the Apalochrini because of strong differences of a type species of the genus Malachiomimus , occurring in Himalaya Mountains when compared with the Arabian ‘ Attalus ’. The genus Malachiomimus is characterized by its considerably large size (ca 5-6 mm), wide, enlarged and transverse tarsal comb in anterior legs of male and simple pygidium; the body is elongated and subparallel, and the abdomen is completely covered by elytra, typical of Malachiinae-type species.

After the revision of Himalayan and SE Asian species of the genera Sceloattalus Wittmer, 1966 and Dromanthomorphus Pic, 1921 ( Tshernyshev 2015a, 2015b, 2016), Malachiomimus is considered as a Himalayan endemic, so the presence of some species in the Arabian Peninsula looks very strange. The specific appearance with abbreviated elytra, of the so-called ‘Carphurinae-type’, is similar to species of Carphuroides , but the tarsal comb above the 2 nd tarsomere allows this species to be attributed to the subfamily Malachiinae and compared only with representatives of the tribe Attalini . Formerly, there was no genus with characters compatible with the Arabian ‘ Attalus ’; therefore, a new genus, Tonyattalus gen. nov. is proposed and described above.

List of species in the genus Tonyattalus gen. nov.

1. Tonyattalus buettikeri ( Wittmer, 1980) gen. et comb nov. ( Saudi Arabia)

2. Tonyattalus vanharteni gen. et sp. nov. ( UAE)

Figures

Figs 1–10. Tonyattalus vanharteni gen. et sp. nov., holotype (SCH_ISEA_000133), ♂ (1–8), ♀ (9– 10). 1, 9. External appearance, dorsal view. 2, 10. External appearance, lateral view. 3. Left antenna. 4. Head and pronotum, dorsal view. 5. Left anterior tarsus. 6. Pygidium. 7. Ultimate abdominal ventrite. 8. Aedeagus, and tegmen, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.