Lomechusoides folgaricus Jászay, Hlaváč & Baňař, 2023

Jászay, Tomáš, Hlaváč, Peter & Baňař, Petr, 2023, A taxonomic revision of the myrmecophilous genus Lomechusoides Tottenham, 1939 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). Part II. The revision of the strumosus species group, Zootaxa 5343 (6), pp. 539-593 : 565-567

Lomechusoides folgaricus Jászay, Hlaváč & Baňař sp. nov.

Figs 75–81

Etymology. Named after type locality Folgaria, Trentino in Italia.

Material studied. HOLOTYPE, ♁: ITALY: (p) Folgaria, Tirolis / (p) lg. Winkler / (h) strumosa / (p) Chicago NHMus M. Bernhauer Collection / (h) Lomechusoides bernhaueri Scheer. / red label (p) HOLOTYPE ♁ Lomechusoides folgaricus sp. nov., det. T. Jászay, P. Hlaváč & P. Baňař det., 2021. ( FMNH). PARATYPES, 1♁, 1♀: same data as for holotype ( NMPC). 2♀♀: Italy: (p) Canezza, Trentino, Heyrovsky ( NMPC, PCPB). All paratypes are bearing printed red label: PARATYPE ♁ or ♀ Lomechusoides folgaricus sp. nov., det. T. Jászay, P. Hlaváč & P. Baňař det., 2021.

Description. Body light reddish-brown ( Fig. 75 ) except anterior unbounded spot on frontalmedian impression, labrum, antennae, narrow anterior margin of visible tergites II–IV, anterior half of visible tergites V–VII, lateral parts of visible sternites III–V, narrow posterior margin of visible sternite V, larger part of anterior margin of visible sternite VI–VII, metaventrite, except its posterior margin, epimeral and episternal sclerites brown.

Head trapezoidal, longer than wide HW/HL: ♁ 0.85, ♀ 0.81 with deep U-shaped frontal median impression which is evenly microsculptured with slightly visible fine and shallow punctures, dull; disc of head evenly microsculptured and finely punctate; length of eyes ♁ 0.23x, ♀ 0.22x of length of head; eyes slightly protuberant, temples behind eyes narrowed in posterior half, nearly straight and slightly convergent posteriad. Antennae short, scape ♁ 1.57x, ♀ 1.43x as long as wide and ♁ 2.36x, ♀ 2.09x as long as pedicel, pedicel quadratic in both sexes, antennomere III: ♁ 1.25x, ♀ 1.20x, IV: ♁ 1.08x, ♀ 1.07x and V: ♁ 1.30x, ♀ 1.30x as long as wide, terminal antennomere slender and acute, ♁ 1.23x, ♀ 1.43x as long as scape, relative length of antennomeres from base to apex: ♁: 26: 11: 15: 13: 15: 15: 17: 15: 15: 15: 32, ♀: 23: 11: 15: 15: 16: 16: 15: 16: 15: 15: 33.

Pronotum rectangular ( Fig. 76 ), ratio PW/PL: ♁ 1.52, ♀ 1.63, with clearly concave anterior margin, anterior corners obtuse, lateral sides in anterior half broadly rounded, in posterior half straight or slightly concave, posteriorly subparallel, basal corners rectangular, with microsculptured and unevenly punctate lateral impressions, posterior half clearly and more sparsely punctate than anterior half, lateral impressions broad and shallow, pronotal disc unevenly microsculptured with dense, unevenly distributed punctures, tubercles very weakly defined; median line weakly defined; in lateral view lateral margins in anterior half thick, in posterior half gradually narrowed and broadly curved posteriad, lacking visible sharp edge; maximal width of pronotum in posterior corners, here as wide as elytra at humeri; pronotum with macrosetae, anterior margin with about four macrosetae, lateral margins with about five–six macrosetae.

Anterior margin of metaventral process ( Fig. 79 ) straight, lateral margins concave, metaventral process laterally in anterior part with well-defined convergent lines, posterior part in median line with lentil-like impression, metaventral process microsculptured and sparsely finely punctate; metaventral disc with slightly visible shallow longitudinal impressions on lateral sides of median line, metaventrite microsculptured and densely punctate, with long setae reaching margin of adjacent puncture.

Elytra finely punctate, ♁ 0.95x, ♀ 1.00x as long as pronotum, ratio EW/EL: ♁ 1.88, ♀ 1.91, with about seven– eight setae in anterior part and about two macrosetae in humeral part, distance between punctures on disc 2.0–2.5x longer than diameter of puncture.

Abdomen with visible tergite II densely punctate and setaceous, tergites III–IV densely punctate and setaceous on posterior margin, basal parts with very fine and sparse puncturation, visible tergite V densely punctate on posterior margin, basal part very fine and sparsely punctate, visible tergites VI–VII sparsely punctate and with dense puncturation with slightly larger punctures on lateral parts, visible tergites II and V–VII evenly and visible tergites III–IV unevenly microsculptured.

Aedeagus ( Figs 77–78 ) with robust median lobe, apical lobe tube-like, apical part shorter than apex of basal bulb, acute with scattered pseudopores, from lateral view ventral side of apical part straight, apex sharp, lateral sides of apical lobe in ventral view convex. Ventral protuberance on basal bulb subparallel, about 2.85x as long as wide, transversal crest with distinct tubercle. Apical lobe of parameres narrowed apically ( Fig. 80 ), hook-shaped and bent backwards, apex with about four setae, few scattered pseudopores, with about six minute microsetae.

Spermatheca ( Fig. 81 ) with apical part slightly longer, 1.08x as long as basal part and 1.30x (on widest part) wider than basal extended part and about 2.56x as long as wide, apical part subparallel or slightly curved apically, apex pointed.

Measurements. (♁, Holotype): TL 6.40 mm; FL 3.15 mm; HL 1.00 mm; HW 0.85 mm; antennal length 3.15 mm; PL 1.15 mm; PW 1.75 mm; EL 1.10 mm; EW 2.07 mm; FTL 1.20 mm; MTL 1.50 mm; HTL 1.90 mm. (♀, Paratype): TL 6.25 mm; FL 2.90 mm; HL 1.10 mm; HW 0.90 mm; antennal length 3.05 mm; PL 1.10 mm; PW 1.80 mm; EL 1.10 mm; EW 2.10 mm; FTL 1.30 mm; MTL 1.55 mm; HTL 1.95 mm.

Differential diagnosis. L. folgaricus is separated from L. dlabolai and L. reitteri by larger size and the bicoloured body and the rectangular pronotum. From L. dudkorum , L. fallax , L. richteri , L. rossii , L. sibiricus , L. siculus , L. teres , L. zerchei and L. zeyai it differs by 90 degree posterior angles of the pronotum. From L. primoricus and L. wellenii it differs by the unicoloured pronotum. From L. primoricus by lacking of a visible sharp edge on the lateral margins of the pronotum in lateral view. From L. strumosus it differs by having temples diverging posteriad, by weakly defined tubercles on the disc of the pronotum, by pointed apical part of the spermatheca and by the transversal crest with the distinct tubercle on the aedeagus. From L. penicillatus it differs by shorter antennomeres. From L. zeyai and L. sibiricus it differs by the presence of humeral mascrosetae on elytra and by lacking sharp visible edge on the lateral margins of the pronotum in the lateral view and prolonged and slender tibiae. From L. rossii and L. terres it differs by wide and shallow lateral impressions on the pronotum. From similar L. siculus it differs by fine and slightly visible puncturation with coarse and short setae not reaching margin of adjacent puncture on the frontal impression of the head.

Host ant. Unknown.

Distribution. Italy (Trentino-Alto Adige).

Figures

FIGURES 75–81. Lomechusoides folgaricus sp. nov. 75, male paratype, dorsal habitus; 76–80, male holotype; (locality: Italy, Folgaria, Tirolis). 76, pronotum in dorsal view (L: 1.15 mm, W: 1.75 mm); 77, aedeagus, lateral view; 78, aedeagus, ventral view; 79, metaventral process; 80, apex of paramere; 81, female paratype, spermatheca, (locality: Italy, Folgaria, Tirolis). Scale bars in mm.