Hydrochus farsicus, Hidalgo-Galiana, Amparo, Jäch, Manfred A. & Ribera, Ignacio, 2010

Hidalgo-Galiana, Amparo, Jäch, Manfred A. & Ribera, Ignacio, 2010, Hydrochus farsicus sp. n. from Iran and notes on other Palearctic species of the genus (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea: Hydrochidae), Zootaxa 2344, pp. 61-64 : 61-63

Hydrochus farsicus , new species

Figs 1–2

Type locality. Sepidan, Province of Fars, Iran.

Type material. Holotype ( NMW): “2 - IRAN Fars, 13.8.1998 / 6km W Sepidan / rd. Sepidan-Yasuj / brook (Cheshmeh Saran) / leg. Elmi & Fery (# 2098)” and holotype label. Aedeagus glued on the same card. Base of aedeagus slightly damaged. Paratypes ( NMW): Two females with the same data as holotype, plus paratype labels.

Diagnosis. The only reliable characters to identify this new species are those of the male genitalia ( Fig. 2 ). Other putative morphological characters may be shared with still undescribed, closely related species and are thus not reliable for an unambiguous identification.

Description. Habitus as in Fig. 1. Elytra and body appendages brown, except apex of maxillary palpi and base of mandibles darker; head black; pronotum brown with central area darker; surface with light bluish or greenish metallic reflections. Ventral side evenly dark brown, except for head black. Head with deep, coarse evenly distributed punctures, intermixed with smaller punctures with short whitish setae; four small tubercles between eyes. Pronotum elongate, subcylindrical, wider anteriorly; with seven depressions, three anterior, rounder and four posterior, more elongate; lateral posterior depressions smaller, reaching posterior margin of pronotum. Punctation and pubescence as on head. Elytra subparallel-sided, slightly wider posteriorly; with 10 longitudinal striae formed by deep, regularly aligned punctures. Humeral region of elytra prominent. Tibiae with a regular dense row of setae in upper apical part; femora with evenly distributed small setae. Ventral surface covered with short, thick and dense pubescence, surface strongly microrecticulate, cells small and with a shagreen-like aspect. Medial line of ventrites, medial area of metaventrite, and two lateral areas in the metaventrite glabrous or with less dense pubescence. Ventrites with a strong transverse medial ridge, almost forming a carina.

Aedeagus as in Fig. 2 , 0.98 mm long, 0.3 mm wide; robust, parameres and median lobe asymmetrical: apex of left paramere with an asymmetrical triangular expansion; apex of right paramere sinuated, not expanded. Apex of median lobe expanded, poorly sclerotized, with a small flagellum.

Variation. Length 3.2–3.4 mm; maximum width 1.0– 1.3 mm. Without apparent secondary sexual dimorphism.

Distribution. Only known from the type locality.

Remarks. The morphology of the aedeagus of H. farsicus resembles that of some Iberian species ( Hydrochus ibericus Valladares, Díaz & Delgado and H. angusi Valladares ), although it may also be related to the group of H. elongatus (Schaller) , with a more eastern distribution (Hidalgo-Galiana et al., in preparation). Mart et al. (2009) recorded H. ibericus from Turkey, but unfortunately they did not figure the aedeagus and did not give details of the material used for comparison.

Etymology. Named after the Iranian province of Fars, from where this species was collected.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Hydrochus farsicus, aedeagus, dorsal view (scale bar 0.3 mm)