Lamprodila (Ovalisia) wallacei, Levey, 2016

Levey, Brian, 2016, A new species of Lamprodila (Ovalisia Kerremans, 1900) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) from Sulawesi, Indonesia, Zootaxa 4085 (1), pp. 143-146 : 143-146

Lamprodila (Ovalisia) wallacei sp. n.

( Figs. 1 –6 )

Type specimen. Holotype ♀ ( BMNH) Sulawesi Tengah: nr. Morowali, Ranu River Area . 27.i. – 20.iv.1980 / Lowland rain forest/ Malaise trap / M.J.D. Brendell B.M. 1980-280/ Holotype ♀ Lamprodila (Ovalisia) wallacei sp. n. B. Levey 2015.

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 8.4 mm; head emerald green, upper half of vertex with approximately rectangular velvety black patch in the centre, laterally with violet reflections ( Fig. 4 ); pronotum emerald green in lateral half, central half bluish violet with complex pattern of black velvety patches ( Fig. 1 ); scutellum emerald green; elytra with basal margin broadly emerald green, this colour continued along interstices 1–3 in basal quarter, remainder of elytra deep violet, with violet blue reflections in basal lateral half ( Fig. 1 ); underside golden green to emerald green ( Fig. 2 ).

Head ( Fig. 4 ): vertex with well-defined very narrow median furrow in upper half, with approximately rectangular velvety black patch of dense strong micropunctures in centre, rest of upper half densely punctate with large shallow round and ovate punctures; lower half strongly microreticulate with large shallow round punctures mostly confined to central area; lower third of vertex and frons between the antennal insertions forming pentagonal shaped elevation, depressed at centre, lateral margins forming well marked suprantennal carinae, moderately strongly to strongly microreticulate and moderately densely punctate with large shallow round punctures; clypeus depressed relative to frons, separated by horizontal transverse ridge, moderately densely punctate with large shallow round punctures, strongly microreticulate between punctures, anterior margin shallowly emarginate between small well marked triangular projections; labrum transverse, approximately triangular with slightly curved sides, weakly microreticulate; inner margins of eyes moderately strongly convergent dorsally, margins straight, eyes moderately convex, not projecting laterally beyond anterior margin of pronotum

Antennae: incomplete, only segments 1–6 present, by extrapolation, short; scape about 2x as long as wide, dorsoventrally flattened, widening at apex; pedicel slightly longer than wide, nearly ovate, about half length of scape; antennomere 3 about 2.5x as long as wide slightly club shaped, nearly 1.5x as long as pedicel; antennomere 4 triangularly expanded about 2x as long as wide at apex, about same length as antennomere 3; antennomeres 5 and 6 more broadly triangularly expanded, slightly longer than wide at apex, shorter than antennomere 4.

Pronotum ( Figs. 1, 3 ): 1.8x as wide as long at widest point (mid length) in mid line; anterior margin almost straight at centre, not produced forward as median lobe, laterally strongly produced forward to anterior angles; area behind the margin slightly, narrowly grooved in lateral half; posterior margin strongly bisinuate, with well-developed median lobe, posterior angles right angled; lateral margins slightly divergent from basal angles to widest point, then weakly curvilinearly convergent to apical angles; lateral carina sharp, confined to basal 2/3; base with very small transversely triangular prescutellar pit; central half moderately densely punctate with small round shallow punctures on bluish violet areas, mostly impunctate or sparsely punctate on black velvety patches which have strongly reticulate microsculpture, laterally very densely to contiguously punctate with much larger shallow punctures, bottoms of which are slightly to strongly microreticulate and have very tiny pore near rim which does not bear a seta; surface completely glabrous.

Scutellum: slightly more than 2x as wide as long, pentagonal, with light median groove in posterior half, impunctate but with strong reticulate microsculpture.

Elytra: ( Figs.1, 3 ): 2.1x as long in midline as wide at base; basal margin strongly biangulate; strongly widening from basal angles over humeral callosities, thence parallel-sided in basal quarter, before narrowing to mid-length, thence slightly widening, before regularly narrowing to the slightly separately, rounded apices; lateral margins in apical half strongly, acutely serrate, serrations smaller and weaker at extreme apices; basal transverse depression weakly indicated; humeral callosities well developed; regularly punctate striate, interstices with large strongly transverse punctures, which form transverse rugae on interstices 1–3 in basal third, but are much smaller and less transverse on more apical parts of interstices 1–3 which are shiny, other interstices with strong reticulate microsculpture; surface completely glabrous; epipleura relatively wide from base to opposite the basal margin of hind coxal plate, thence gradually narrowing, before disappearing at level of ventrite 3.

Proepisternum: ( Fig. 3 ) impunctate, except for two lines of large shallow punctures close to suture between the proepisternum and prosternum, and irregular very shallow depression parallel and close to lateral carina of the pronotum formed from fusion of large shallow punctures; impunctate surface with fine reticulate microsculpture.

Prosternum: ( Fig. 5 ) with moderately long sparse adpressed silvery setae; anterior margin weakly bisinuate, with complete well defined raised margin, area adjacent to margin slightly depressed relative to area immediately behind, surface densely to very densely punctate with large shallow transversely ovate and round punctures and with strong reticulate microsculpture between punctures; prosternal process flat, densely punctate with shallow round punctures, and with line of coalescent punctures close to lateral margin; latero-apical angles of prosternal process rounded, median lobe very broad, truncate.

Mesoepisternum: ( Fig. 3 ) with strong reticulate microsculpture, densely punctate with large very shallow punctures in internal half.

Mesoepimeron: ( Fig. 3 ) with strong reticulate microsculpture, and line of large shallow punctures along posterior margin.

Metasternum: ( Figs. 2–3 ) with moderately long sparse adpressed silvery setae; very densely punctate with large shallow round punctures centrally, laterally contiguously punctate with larger shallow punctures, the bottoms of which have strong reticulate microsculpture.

Metepisternum: ( Fig. 3 ) punctation and sculpture like that of lateral parts of metasternum.

Metacoxae: ( Figs. 2–3 ) with moderately long sparse adpressed silvery setae; internal 1/3 sparsely punctate with small transversely ovate punctures, external 2/3 densely to contiguously punctate with large shallow round punctures, with bottoms with strong reticulate microsculpture.

Abdominal ventrites: ( Figs. 2, 6 ) with long moderately dense adpressed silvery setae and fairly weak reticulate microsculpture; ventrites 1 and 2 densely punctate in central half with small lunate punctures, more sparsely punctate in lateral half with much larger lunate punctures; 3 and 4 densely punctate with small lunate punctures; 5 moderately densely punctate with shallow elongate ellipsoidal punctures at centre, and lunate punctures laterally, apical margin deeply U shaped excavate, with broad flange filling most of excavation, lateral spines only slightly developed.

Legs: ( Fig. 2 ) relatively short, the tibiae almost straight, slightly widening distally; tarsi broader than tibia, about half the length of the tibia, segments 1–4 with well developed ventral adhesive pads, onychium as long as segments 3 and 4 together, claws long, strongly curved, widened in basal half.

Etymology. I name this species after the great Alfred Russel Wallace, who pioneered the biogeography of S.E. Asia, and was co-discoverer of the theory of natural selection.

Differential diagnosis. No males of the new and most of the previously described species of Lamprodila (Ovalisia) are known, and all the species have been described from single specimens, so the differentiation of species is based on colour patterns and external morphology. The following key is based on the keys, descriptions and illustrations in Bílý (1993, 1997) and ( Bílý et al. 2009) and examination of the holotype of L. (O.) nigroviolacea (Thery, 1934) in BMNH, and will enable the differentiation of my new species from the five previously described species.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. L. (O.) wallacei sp. n.: 1) dorsal view; 2) ventral view; 3) lateral view; 4) head; 5) prosternum; 6) apical ventrite.