Microhoria alfierii ( Pic, 1923 )

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 : 201

Microhoria alfierii ( Pic, 1923) ( Fig. 2 ) Anthicus Alfierii Pic, 1923: 1 (description).

Anthicus Alfierii – Koch 1935b: 143 (supplementary description, record – Egypt).

Anthicus (Tenuicomus) alfierii – Alfieri 1976: 150 (checklist).

Tenuicollis alfierii – Chandler et al. 2008: 447 (new combination, checklist).

Tenuicomus alfierii – Telnov 2020a: 614 (checklist).

Microhoria alfierii – Kejval & Chandler 2020: 96, 124 (new combination, assigned to the M. ocreata species group).

Type material studied. Not studied.

Studied material. 8 males & females, NHMB: EGYPTE Al Waska 18­ 3­ 1934 A. RABINOVITCH (data already published by Koch 1935b) .

This taxon is likely conspecific with Microhoria lividipes ( Desbrochers, 1875) which is known to me only from the female syntype.

Supplementary description. Belongs to the M. ocreata species group. Male from Al Waska, Egypt. Total body length 2.5 mm. Head black, pronotum and elytra dark brown, latter with apical third yellowish to yellowish brown.Antennomeres 1–4 yellow, 5–7 yellowish brown, remaining antennomeres dark. Femora black­brown, trochanters, tibiae and tarsi pale yellowish­brown. Underside uniformly dark brown. Head elongate, 1.3× as long as wide, head base subtruncate. Tempora parallel­sided, posterior temporal angles rounded. Compound eye moderate, slightly longer than tempus, moderately protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum subopaque, punctures distinct, dense, separated by about their diameters. Intervening spaces in part microreticulate. Dorsal cranial setae whitish, moderately long, rather dense, appressed.Antenna slightly thickened in apical half. Terminal antennomere acutely pointed, about 2.2× as long as penultimate antennomere and as long as combined length of antennomeres 9–10. Pronotum 1.1–1.2× as long as wide, slightly narrower than head across eyes, subopaque, subtruncate at anterior margin. Lateral margins slightly constricted in posterior half. Latero­basal pronotal fovea narrow, with ordinary setation only. Pronotal disc flattened in dorsal aspect. Pronotal punctures, intervening spaces and setae similar to those on head. Elytra nearly twice as long as wide, laterally subparallel, dorsally flattened. Humerus broadly rounded. Elytral disc subopaque, punctures dense, shallow. Intervening spaces subopaque, generally narrower than to as wide as punctures.Apex of elytron with rather large opening of gland channel. Elytral setae whitish, generally appressed, moderately long and dense, directed posteriad except at base where setae are partially directed obliquely laterally. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired. Tergite VII truncate at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VII broadly rounded medially at posterior margin, with four longer setae near posterior margin. Aedeagus as in Fig. 2C–D . Tegmen shortly tubular, apex broadly emarginate, endophallic armature without distinct spines or spinules.

Sexual dimorphism. Female elytral apex without modifications.

Ecology. Unknown.

Distribution. Egypt.

Chorotype. NE­African­Sindian chorotype (5.11 NAS). Restricted to Egypt.

Figures

Fig. 2. Microhoria alfierii (Pic, 1923) male from Al Waska, Egypt. A – Habitus, dorsal view; B – Forebody, dorsal view; C – Aedeagus, ventral view; D – ditto, apical portion [not to scale].