Lemodes (Lagriomorpha) gressitti, Young, Daniel K., 2012

Young, Daniel K., 2012, Five new species of Lemodes (Lagriomorpha) (Coleoptera: Anthicidae: Lemodinae) from Indonesian and Papuan New Guinea with a revised key to the species, Zootaxa 3316, pp. 15-27 : 19

Lemodes (Lagriomorpha) gressitti , new species

( Figs. 7–9 )

Description. Length 5.3 mm (n=1). Dorsal and ventral surfaces, legs, and antennae moderately densely covered with short, mostly decumbent setae, dorsum and elytra also with a few longer, semierect to erect setae.

Adult female (Dorsal habitus: Fig. 7 ). Head and mouthparts coppery-orange; mandibles rufopiceous, at least in part. Dorsal surface of head ( Fig. 8 ) confusedly, conspicuously, densely punctate, lateral and ventral aspects with punctures less coarse. Compound eyes small, coarsely-faceted, slightly protruding. Tempora (measured from cranial neck constriction anteriorly to posterior rim of compound eye) 0.77X dorso-longitudinal length of compound eye. Antennae with antennomere 1 amber, antennomeres 2–3 amber suffused with rufopiceous pigmentation, antennomeres 4–9 rufopiceous, antennomeres 10–11 creamy yellowish-orange; antennae densely covered with stout, semierect and erect setae; antennomeres 4–10 stout, submoniliform; 11th antennomere nearly 1/2 again as long as antennomere 10, bluntly acuminate distally. Terminal segment of maxillary palpus short, slightly expanded and bluntly rounded distally. Visible dorsal and ventral surfaces of thorax coppery-orange; pronotum ( Fig. 9 ) hourglass-shaped, widest anterad the middle, densely covered with coppery-orange setae, coarsely punctate with surface finely punctulate between larger punctures; prothoracic coxal cavities widely open externally; scutellum flat, quadrate, punctate, clothed in retrorsely decumbent, orange to coppery-orange setae; mesosternum, metasternum and mesothoracic episterna with scattered, large, shallow punctures; mesothoracic episterna meeting anteromesad the mesosternum. Legs amber; paired, dorsal tibial carinae virtually absent; tibial spurs short, stout; penultimate tarsomere slightly dilated, bilobed; tarsal claws simple. Elytra ( Fig. 7 ) coppery-orange in basal third and distal 1/7, remainder metallic blue-violet, with anterior margin of dark pigmentation conspicuously advancing along elytral sutures; posterior margin of dark pigmentation narrowly advancing posteriorly along sutures; each elytron bearing a swirling patch of decumbent, white setae in the distal 1/2, juxtaposed between the coppery-orange and blue-violet line (possibly associated with a glandular or sensory pore); elytra elongate, 2.25X longer than width across subbasal humeral area, covering abdomen, margins subparallel along much of length, very slightly wider in apical 3/4; elytral surface rather coarsely, somewhat deeply, confusedly punctate, surface between punctures finely punctulate. Metathoracic wings fully developed. Ventral surface of abdomen amber.

Type. Holotype (♀, point-mounted): [First label]: NEW GUINEA (NE)// Wum, Upper Jimmi V.// 840m. VII- 18 -[19]’55; [Second label]: J. L. Gressitt// Collector; [Third label]: Auto-Montaged// digital image(s)// per D. K. Young; [Fourth label]: HOLOTYPE:// Lemodes // (Lagriomorpha)// gressitti // Young. ( BPBM)

Distribution. As detailed above, L. gressitti is presently known only from the type locality, the village of Wum, in the Western Highlands District of Papua New Guinea; near - 5.566366° S, 144.583785° E.

Diagnosis. Within the subgenus Lagriomorpha, the strongly hourglass-shaped pronotum together with distinctly bicolored elytra having the anterior advancement of the blue-violet pigmentation along the sutures is shared between L. gressitti ( Fig. 7 ) and L. angulata ( Fig. 1 ). Among other differences, L. angulata lacks the apical orangish pigmented region of the elytra exhibited by L. gressitti .

Etymology. The specific epithet, gressitti , is a patronym based on the family name, “Gressitt.” I am pleased to name this species in honor of its collector, a renowned coleopterist, the late Dr. J. Linsley (Lin) Gressitt (1914– 1982). His contributions to entomology in the Pacific region were vast; I had the pleasure of meeting him once in Hawaii, six years before his – and his wife’s – untimely deaths in a plane crash in China.

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 9. Lemodes (Lagriomorpha) gressitti, sp. nov.,: Fig. 7, dorsal habitus; Fig. 8, dorsal cranium; Fig. 9, dorsal pronotum.

FIGURES 1 – 3. Lemodes (Lagriomorpha) angulata, sp. nov.,: Fig. 1, dorsal habitus; Fig. 2, dorsal cranium; Fig. 3, dorsal pronotum.