Atranus dariushi, Muilwijk & Seiedy & Wrase, 2021

Muilwijk, Jan, Seiedy, Marjan & Wrase, David W., 2021, Contribution to the knowledge of Carabidae in Iran with the descriptions of five new taxa, proposing of four synonyms and providing of nine new records (Insecta: Coleoptera), Zootaxa 5067 (1), pp. 55-81 : 61-62

Atranus dariushi sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D65213E8-E48D-4639-A60E-1BA6A5E3FC7A

( Figs. 3.1, 3.2 )

Type material. Holotype, ♂, labelled: “ Iran, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad / Suq cave, 812 m / 30°49ˊ25.9´´ N, 50° 25ˊ37.9´´ E / 16.vi.2018 / S. Rahideh & J. Muilwijk leg.” // Atranus dariushi sp. nov. / Muilwijk, Seiedy & Wrase des. 2021“ (black print on red label) . Holotype deposited in HMIM .

Comparing material: Atranus ruficollis (Gautier des Cottes, 1858) : 1 ♂, Iran, Alborz, Mazandaran, near Siah Bisheh , ca 2000 m, 14.vi.2017; Muilwijk leg.; CJM .

Description. Elytra and appendices yellow, head and pronotum slightly shiny yellowish red; dorsum pubescent; eyes flat; pronotum slender; elytra elongate elliptical; micropterous. ( Fig. 3.1 ). Body length 6.4 mm.

Head temples long; eyes flat; frons lateral flat impressed, wrinkled in the middle; finely pubescent on basal part of vertex; with anterior margin weakly emarginate, clypeus with two setae; mandibles long and pointed; palpi long and slender; 2 pairs of supraorbital setae, the posterior setae far behind the eye; antennae from antennomere 2 onwards pubescent; reaching to one third of the elytra length.

Pronotum slender, cordate (PW/PL 1.02), lateral sides slightly sinuated and constricted to the base; greatest width at about the anterior fourth; anterior angles protruding, posterior angles subrounded, apically slightly upwards pointed; basal fovea moderately deep and round extending along the lateral side; lateral margin with 2 pairs of setae, one pair basolateral, the other pair at the widest point; middle line from apex to base. Pubescence less dense and finer on the disc.

Elytra elongate-elliptical (EL/EW: 1.55); shoulders strongly rounded, without teeth; striae at the disc coarsely punctated, finer towards the apex, striae 1–4 at the base impressed, superficially near the apex; intervals slightly convex, with 2–3 rows of hairs; scutellar striole at base with a scutellar setiferous pore; three setiferous punctures in intervals 3; series umbilicata with 14 setiferous punctures.

Microsculpture head with isodiametric meshes, pronotum and elytra with dense transverse meshes.

Legs rather short and stout; tarsi with dorsal dense pubescence, ventral with hairbrush; protarsomeres 1–3 dilated (male), protarsomere 4 slightly bilobed.

Ventral side colour underside yellow except the yellowish-red head; mentum with median tooth, slightly emarginate in the middle; sterna with pubescence; ratio length/width at anterior margin metepisterna: 1.67.

Median lobe ( Fig. 3.2 ) in lateral view comma-shaped, 1.44 mm long; the large erected hook at apex spatulashaped, directed at the apical lamella at an acute angle (seen laterally, in A. ruficollis the hook is located at an approximate right angle on the apical lamella, Fig.3.4 ).

Comparative notes. Atranus dariushi sp. n. is compared with numerous specimens of A. ruficollis (Gautier des Cottes, 1858) from almost the entire range ( Fig. 3.3 ). The new species differs from A. ruficollis by colour, the slenderer habitus, the pronotum less sinuate before hind angles, slightly weaker shoulders, reduced hind wings, metepisterna: ratio length/width at anterior margin (1.67) shorter as in A. ruficollis (2.11), and by the apex of the median lobe which is curved (as in P. ruficollis , Fig. 3.4 ) but the apex is spatula-shaped and the hook is located at an acute angle on the apical lamella (seen laterally). A. ruficollis is lighter or darker red-brown, often pronotum somewhat lighter, the pronotum and elytra a little shorter (PW/PL about 1.03-1.10, EL/EW 1.47-1.50, but measuring of more specimens of A. dariushi sp. n. in future should show the variability of these characters), pronotum as a rule somewhat more strongly sinuate before hind angles, shoulders less rounded, hind wings fully developed (distinctly longer than elytra, at the end folded twice, hence the species is capable of flight (some specimens from Greece were collected by car-catcher).

Distribution. Iran (Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad). Only known from the same small cave where Trechus kouroshi sp. n. was found.

Habitat. This species was collected about 50 m from the entrance.

Remarks: Atranus dariushi sp. n. is likely a cave-adapted beetle, lacking of functional hind wings and without pigmentation, and differs considerably in its ecology from the other species of this genus. Both A. ruficollis and the North American species A. pubescens Dejean, 1828 are epigean species from river banks, vegetal debris and floodplain forests ( Larochelle & Larivière 2003, own observations) and are capable of flight.

Etymology. The species epithet refers to Dariush, king of Persia, of the house of the Achaemenids.

Identification reference. Arndt et al. (2011).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Atranus dariushi sp. n.