Laena flectotibia, Zhao, Xiao-Lin & Ren, Guo-Dong, 2012

Zhao, Xiao-Lin & Ren, Guo-Dong, 2012, Three new species of the genus Laena Dejean from China (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Lagriinae), Zootaxa 3346, pp. 43-50 : 46-49

Laena flectotibia sp. nov.

(Figs. 16–23, 30–32, 33)

Male (Fig. 16). Body black, maxillary palpi, antennae, tibiae and tarsi brown.

Head wide, subhexagonal; clypeus feebly excavated; genae strongly raised; frons convex in middle; a groove presenting between gena and frons; frons covered with punctures, the punctures less dense medially. Eyes round, prominent. Antennae (Fig. 17) extending to the base of elytra, relative ratio of the length (width) of antennomeres II–XI as follows: 8.3 (5.0): 13.2 (6.5): 12.8 (7.0): 12.7 (7.1): 11.4 (7.6): 11.0 (7.9): 9.4 (8.2): 10.8 (8.4): 11.4 (9.4): 17.5 (11.0).

Pronotum nearly round, 1.3 times as wide as long, widest at just posterior to the middle; lateral margins simple, posterior margin feebly bordered and not bent downwards; disc scattered with very small punctures, the distance between punctures approximately 2–6 times as puncture diameter, most punctures with setae slightly varying in length, surface between punctures even and somewhat shagreened, posterior angles rounded. Propleura with fine punctures, without seta.

FIGURES. 17–23. Laena flectotibia sp. nov.; 22. 3. 23. Ƥ. 17. antenna in outer view; 18. profemur in lateral view; 19–21. pro-, meso- and metafemora and tibiae in lateral view; 22. ventrite in ventral view; 23. Ƥ, ventrite in ventral view.

Elytra oblong, width across the humeri wider than posterior margin of pronotum, 1.5 times as long as wide, widest at just posterior to the middle; dorsum flattened, elytra with rows of punctures in striae, the punctures larger than those on pronotum, without any seta, intervals without any puncture but some long erect setae, all the intervals flat and shagreened, interval IX with 3 setiferous umbilicate pores, interval VII with 2 setiferous pores.

Profemur (Fig. 19) extended like a knife and forming a spine at the end, and with dense setae under the spine, profemur (Fig. 18) with elevation at base in ventral view; mesofemur (Fig. 20) cavated in middle, with strong setae in the cavatus; metafemur (Fig. 21) with a strong spine and a small sharp one. Protibia (Fig. 19) handle of the comb flexure, convex in the middle and with comb-like teeth with inner face to apex, bearing caespitose setae in apical part; mesotibia (Fig. 20) produced at apex, with a larger spine and a smaller one, and bearing caespitose setae in apical part; metatibia (Fig. 21) somewhat S-shaped.

Ventrite (Fig. 22) truncated at apical margin. Aedeagus see Figs. 30–32.

Female. Pro- and metafemure each with a spine; all the tibiae simple. Ventrite (Fig. 23) with rounded posterior margin. Other characters same as in male.

Measurements. Body length: 7.5–7.6 mm, elytra maximum width: 3.0– 3.1 mm.

FIGURES. 24–32. Aedeagi of Laena , 24– 26 L. bidentata sp. nov.; 27– 29 L. exjuncta sp. nov.; 30– 32 L.flectotibia sp. nov. 24, 27, 30. dorsal view; 25, 28, 31. lateral view; 26, 29, 32. ventral view.

Type material. Holotype: 3, deposited in HBUM. Jiujiaqianjiazhai, Zhenyuan, Yunnan Province, China. N24°16′ 43.6″, E101°15′ 55.9″, 1–3 August 2009, leg XU. Paratype: 1 Ƥ, deposited in SMNS, Same data as the holotype.

Diagnosis. Laena flectotibia sp. nov. is similar to L. schusteri (Heller, 1923) from Sichuan in the pronotum and body shape, but differs from the latter by the following characters: Profemora on the upper face extended like knife forming a spine at the end, and with dense setae under the spine, profemora with elevation at base in ventral view; mesofemora cavated in middle, with strong setae in cavatus; metafemora with a strong spine and a small sharp one. Protibia handle of the comb flexure, convex in the middle and with comb-like teeth with inner face to apex, bearing caespitose setae in apical part; mesotibia produced at apex, with a larger spine and a smaller one, and bearing caespitose setae in apical part; aedeagus triangular at apex.

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the flexion of the protibia in this species.