Microhoria orbitalis, Telnov, 2022

Telnov, Dmitry, 2022, Revisional notes on the genus Microhoria Chevrolat, 1877 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Anthicidae) from the Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey, with new descriptions, an annotated catalogue, and a key, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 22 (2), pp. 195-312 : 265-266

Microhoria orbitalis sp. nov. ( Fig. 37 ) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EE8093E7­A266­4C79­96B7­F64974286436

Type material designated. Holotype male NME: Iran / Khorasan, Kuh­e­Joghatay , 13 km N Mehr 29.5.2008 1700­ 1800 m leg. Mühle 997 [printed].

Etymology. The species epithet “orbitalis ” (orbital) should point on the peculiar shape of the endophallic armature of the new species, which resembles schematic orbital rocket.

Description. Holotype male, total body length 2.25 mm. Head 0.6. 5 mm long, across compound eyes 0.5 mm wide, pronotum 0.5 mm long, maximum width 0.35 mm, elytra 1.1 mm long, maximum combined width 0.8 mm. Dorsum and venter uniformly black­brown. Antennomeres 2–6, tibiae and tarsi yellow. Head elongate, about 1.3–1.4× as long as wide, tempora long and slightly constricted towards base, head base broadly rounded, posterior temporal angles rounded. Compound eye rather small, about as long as tempus, slightly protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum glossy, punctures small. Intervening spaces generally smooth and glossy, as wide as to twice as wide as punctures. Dorsal cranial setae yellowish, moderately long, sparse, subdecumbent.Antennae slightly enlarged in apical third. Penultimate antennomere cylindrical, distinctly longer than wide. Terminal antennomere elongate, acutely pointed, about 2.2× as long as penultimate antennomere, slightly longer than combined length of antennomeres 9–10. Pronotum elongate and narrow, about 1.4× as long as wide, distinctly narrower than head across eyes, subtruncate at anterior margin. Pronotal disc glossy, slightly convex in dorsal aspect. Lateral margins slightly converging in posterior half. Latero­basal pronotal fovea rather narrow, not supplemented with dense setae. Pronotal punctures in part elongate, significantly denser along median part of pronotal disc than on lateral and anterior sides, intervening spaces smooth, about as wide as punctures. Dorsal pronotal setation similar to that on head. Elytra rather short, about 1.4–1.5× as long as wide, laterally broadly rounded, subtruncate at apex, convex. Humerus obsolete. Apex of elytron modified, with elongate, narrow, acutely pointed denticle at opening of gland channel. Elytral surface glossy, punctures shallow. Intervening spaces generally twice as wide as punctures. Elytral setae yellowish, moderately long and dense, slightly subdecumbent, slightly curved, directed posteriad. Apterous. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired. Tergite VII truncate at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin, shallowly emarginate medially ( Fig. 37B ). Tergite VIII with not prominent, thin, hair­like, membranous lamina. Aedeagus ( Fig. 37C–D ) cylindrical, tegmen apex short, apically hooked; fused baculi inconspicuous; endophallic armature of a bunch of long, narrow, nearly parallel spines all attached to a same, basally bilobate­appearing base.

Sexual dimorphism. Female is unknown.

Differential diagnosis. Microhoria orbitalis sp. nov. belongs to the M. terminata species group and is distinguishable from other apterous species of this group due to the peculiar, “rocket”­ like shape of the aedeagus. The aedeagus resembles that of M. truncatipennis (Pic, 1897) ( Iran, Tajikistan), but the endophallic armature is longer, attached to a common, bilobate­appearing base in the new species.

Ecology. Collected at elevation of 17­ 1800 m.

Distribution. Iran (Khorasan Province).

Figures

Fig. 37. Microhoria orbitalis sp. nov. male holotype.A– Habitus, dorsal view; B – Morphological sternite VII, ventral view; C – Aedeagus, lateral view; D – ditto, apical portion [not to scale].