Catops perkovskyi, Perreau, Michel, 2012

Perreau, Michel, 2012, Description of a new genus and two new species of Leiodidae (Coleoptera) from Baltic amber using phase contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography, Zootaxa 3455, pp. 81-88 : 82-84

Catops perkovskyi sp. n.

Type material. Holotype: 3, RUSSIA: amber deposit of Jantarnij, near Kaliningrad (collection of M. Perreau, Paris, n°MP002).

Description. Body length: 3.0 mm. Habitus as in Figs. 1–2 . Head with fine punctation. Antenna long (onethird of body length) and slender, all antennomeres longer than wide except for disk-like eighth ( Fig. 3 ). Maxillary palps with last palpomere as long as penultimate. Eyes well developed.

Pronotum 1.6 times wider than long, with lateral sides widely arcuate, not sinuate near basal angles. Anterior margin 1.4 times wider than straight basal margin. Basal angles distinct and obtuse. Punctation simple, randomly distributed, punctures small with distance between them much larger than their diameter.

Elytra 1.6 times longer than wide, with punctation similar to that of pronotum, randomly distributed, punctures small and widely spaced, with distance between them much larger than their diameter, as in extant species of Catops . Single longitudinal stria visible: parasutural stria. Tiny short setae that accompany punctures in extant species indistinct, probably due to lack of preservation or visualization.

Profemur without ventral tooth ( Fig. 4 ). Protibia sinuate in middle of ventral side ( Fig. 4 ). All tarsi 5 segmented. Protarsi dilated, 0.75 times as wide as apex of protibia. First two mesotarsomeres dilated. Metatarsi without any dilation.

Aedeagus very long and slender, regularly and strongly arcuate, nearly semi-circular in lateral view ( Fig. 5 ), broken inside body at level of first third of its length by undetermined process ( Fig. 6 ). Apex of median lobe roughly triangular. Tegmen (both basal lamella and parameres) has not been found.

Female unknown.

Distribution. The new species is known only by the holotype from Baltic amber, from the deposit of Jantarnij, near Kaliningrad.

Etymology. The species is dedicated to Evgeny Perkovsky, who was the first to study fossils in Leiodidae and described the first fossil species in this family.

Discussion. This species is placed in the genus Catops because of the absence of epistomal suture, the two first mesotarsomeres dilated, and the shape of the aedeagus: median lobe narrow and arcuate, and parameres thin. Moreover, the extremely long and arcuate median lobe of the aedeagus is characteristic of the “ Catops longulus ” species group. The elongated antennae with all antennomeres (except the eighth) longer than wide, and the absence of tubercles on the ventral side of profemora, are also consistent with a placement in this species group. Catops perkovskyi differs from C. longulus by a triangular apex of the aedeagus that is shorter (compared to the total length of the aedeagus), by the sinuate internal side of the protibia (straight in C. longulus ) and by its smaller size. It is clear that the sinuate protibia is not an artifact due to bad preservation in amber, given that it is exactly symmetrical in the right and left protibiae.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. External and internal morphology of Catops perkovskyi sp. n. (holotype) by PPC-SRμCT. 1, habitus dorsal view. 2, habitus lateral view. 3, antenna. 4, front leg. 5, aedeagus, lateral view. 6, aedeagus, dorsal view. 7, apex of aedeagus, dorsal view.