Meloe (Micromeloe) pintoi Bologna, 2018

Bologna, Marco A., B, Ladislav Černý & B, Ahmed Zubair, 2018, Meloidae (Coleoptera) of Pakistan and Kashmir with the description of three new species, new faunistic and taxonomic records, and a zoogeographic analysis, Turkish Journal of Zoology 42 (6), pp. 637-660 : 651-653

Meloe (Micromeloe) pintoi Bologna sp. nov. ( Figures 9 and 10 )

ZooBank taxon LSID: 55D102A0-C1CA-4A1C-9693- D2D2BB9B9C3C

Type material. Male holotype ( MSNM) and 1 male paratype ( CB), “V.lle Sind, Rezan , m 2250, 10.iv.1929 ” (the holotype with an additional label “CO17”) ; 1 male paratype

( MSNM), “hac. d. Sooroo, Dras, m 3100, 14.iv.1929 ”; 1 female paratype ( MSNM), “hac. d. Sooroo, Kargil, m 2700, 17.iv.1929 ” (with an additional label “CO 42”). Types are well preserved, but the paratype from Dras lacks part of both antennae, the right fore leg, and posterior right tarsomeres. Genitalia and sternite IX (spiculum gastrale) are dissected and glued on the paper label together with specimen .

Type locality. India, Jammu-Kashmir , Sind Valley, Rezan, 2250 m .

Description. Body length: 11.5–13.5 mm. Body black, shiny, but head and particularly pronotum with dull blueviolet metallic reflections, elytra black with blue metallic reflections, last five antennomeres subopaque and partially dark brown (especially in holotype and one paratype). Setae dark, but slightly silver at apex, present also on head and pronotum.

Head trapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, maximal width at temples; dorsal surface flat, frons wide, the entire fore half of frons widely and subcircularly depressed, with a distinct and deep longitudinal narrow furrow from the fronto-clypeal suture to the middle; temples obliquely widened, distinctly wider than eyes, which are small and almost flat, only slightly emerging from the lateral outline; punctures fine and sparse on the depressed frontal area, denser, wider, and deeper on temples and occiput, intermediate surface shagreened and more opaque in front, shinier posteriorly; fronto-clypeal suture well defined, incised in the middle; clypeus transverse, rounded anteriorly on sides, anterior third impunctate and less sclerotized; labrum distinctly transverse and ca. 1.5 as wide as clypeus but shorter; punctures on both clypeus and labrum sparse as on frons. Antennae short, reaching humerus, antennomeres slender, I ca. twice as long as II, slightly widened apically, II subglobose, III–X similar in shape, cylindrical with III ca. 1.3 as long as IV–X, XI ca. 1.5 as long as X, distinctly narrowed at apical third. Maxillary and labial palpomeres short, maxillary IV widened apically; mandibles robust, curved, slightly exceeding labrum.

Pronotum slightly narrower than head, distinctly transverse with sides deflexed, dorsal surface not at all convex, almost flat, medially with a deep triangular depression expanding from fore margin to the posterior half, a suboval depression also on each side; dorsal and lateral surface with punctures similar to those on temples andocciput; basalmarginbroadlyemarginateanddistinctly depressed. Mesonotum emerging from the pronotum base, broadly rounded apically. Elytra quite flat, particularly on the basal portion laterally distinctly deflexed, with surface uniformly rugulose. Legs short, femur robust; male protarsomeres I–IV and mesotarsomeres I–III with pad composed of dense and short golden setae, the remaining tarsomeres as well as all female tarsomeres with short and scattered dense black setae; tarsal claws narrow, curved in apical third, smooth ventrally. Tibial spurs slender and narrowed at apex, except outer metatibial spur, spatulate.

Abdominal ventrites densely subrugopunctate; posterior margin of ventrites straight except penultimate one widely emarginate; last male ventrite deeply and broadly incised, hemiventrites with dense and robust setae; last female ventrite with posterior margin rounded and with regular setation. Male genitalia in lateral view with gonoforceps widened in the middle and apical part robust and slightly curved, aedeagus very robust with both hooks elongate and pointed, but differently oriented, the distal one positioned at apex ( Figure 10a ); tegmen in ventral view with robust gonoforceps fused in the basal 2/3 and gonocoxal piece wide and short ( Figure 10b ).

Distribution. Kashmir.

Diagnosis. A small species, tentatively referred to the subgenus Micromeloe Reitter, 1911 , but with some features intermediate to the subgenera Meloenellus Reitter, 1911 and Chiromeloe Reitter, 1911 . Characterized by small size, head almost flat, finer punctures on the frontal depressed area, with a distinct furrow on the fore part of the head, antennomeres slender, especially the last one, pronotum slightly flattened, transverse and medially depressed, elytra laterally deflexed and dorsally quite flat, head and pronotum black with metallic violet reflections and elytra metallic dark blue.

Etymology. This species is named after John Darwin Pinto, Professor Emeritus of the University of California at Riverside, teacher of one of us (MAB) in the study of blister beetles, who greatly explored and resolved the diversity of North American Meloidae and at the beginning of his career revised the Nearctic species of the genus Meloe .

Remarks. As noted in the Diagnosis, the subgeneric assignment of this species is tentative, and the validity of the subgenera Micromeloe , Meloenellus , and Chiromeloe must be further tested, ideally also by molecular analysis.

The placement of the new species in the subgenus Micromeloe is therefore uncertain. The general shape of pintoi is similar to that of some Micromeloe , but it differs because of the presence of a distinct frontal longitudinal furrow and the presence of sparse setae on pronotum, which usually is almost glabrous in other Micromeloe species. Similar characters are present also in M. (Micromeloe) intermedius Escherich, 1904 from Central Asia ( Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan), which, as in pintoi , has similarly distinct body punctuation, differently than most other Micromeloe , in which the punctuation is very vague. The shape of head and pronotum, and the body coloration, are different in pintoi and intermedius .

M. (Chiromeloe) nigropilosellus Reitter, 1900 ( Uzbekistan), which is phenetically similar to pintoi , differs because of temples wider than pronotum and the lacking of a frontal furrow. From the species of the subgenus Meloenellus , which has the frons furrowed, pintoi differs by the black rather than clear setation. However, one species referred to this subgenus, sulciceps Reitter, 1890 ( Kazakhstan), is very similar to pintoi . It differs by its piceous body coloration, less depressed frons, the frontal furrow extending further posteriorly, shorter antennae, and elytral sides less distinctly deflexed.

Figures

Figure 9. Meloe pintoi Bologna sp. nov. (paratype): habitus.

Figure 10. Meloe pintoi Bologna sp. nov., male (paratype): male genitalia in lateral view (a) and tegmen in ventral view (b).