Melanophilharmostes tuber Grebennikov, 2022

Grebennikov, Vasily V., 2022, Phylogenetic placement of a new Melanophilharmostes Paulian, 1968 pill scarab (Coleoptera: Hybosoridae: Ceratocanthinae) from Cameroon: molecular results decipher misleading morphology, Zootaxa 5087 (3), pp. 441-450 : 446

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5087.3.3
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:95583A37-2CD1-4C16-8902-512215B6CF9E
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5826882
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/D71C072C-FFCC-FFB3-E0C4-29EEFE40030C
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Melanophilharmostes tuber Grebennikov
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Melanophilharmostes tuber Grebennikov View in CoL , new species

Figs 1–5 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 View FIGURE 4 View FIGURE 5 .

Type locality. Cameroon, Mt. Cameroon, 4.0681ºN, 9.0717ºE, 233m. GoogleMaps

Type material. Holotype (deposited in the Canadian National Collection of Insects , Arachnids , and Nematodes, Ottawa, Canada), female, “ CAMEROON, Mt. Cameroon, 4.0681, 9.0717, 233m, 28.xii.2015, sift. CM09 , V. Grebennikov.”, “CNCCOLVG00009477” GoogleMaps . Paratype (deposited in the Canadian National Collection of Insects , Arachnids, and Nematodes), not sexed, “ CAMEROON, Mt. Kupe, 4.8193, 9.7075, 1525m, 29.xii.2015, sift. CM13 , V. Grebennikov.”, “CNCCOLVG00009488” GoogleMaps .

Description. Holotype maximal body length (in rolled position, Fig. 1A View FIGURE 1 ): 2.5 mm (paratype: 2.5 mm), maximal body width ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ): 2.2 mm (paratype: 2.3 mm). Head distinctly convex, clypeal disc gibbose. Interocular bridge completely subdividing each eye into smaller dorsal and larger ventral parts ( Fig. 2E View FIGURE 2 ); antenna with seemingly 10 antennomeres ( Fig. 2F View FIGURE 2 , not dissected to make exact count); head, pronotum, and elytra with deep and dense microsculpture (horseshoe-shaped and comma-shaped), as well as with sparse, short, and distinct pilosity; surface of pronotum uneven, with bumps and depressions ( Fig. 2A View FIGURE 2 ); each elytron with notable lateral longitudinal sharp carina interrupted in posterior part ( Figs 2B, D View FIGURE 2 ); hind wings fully developed; distal fork of vein CuA present; distal expansion of vein MP 1+2 cannot be verified using single available wing ( Fig. 2D View FIGURE 2 ). Male genitalia unknown. DNA data of holotype: MW899169 View Materials (COI) and MW845067 View Materials (28S); DNA data of paratype: MW899176 View Materials (COI), MW845087 View Materials (ITS2), and MW845074 View Materials (28S).

Diagnosis. Within the Synarmostes group of four Afrotropical genera (including Madagascar and Comoros), this species can be immediately recognised by any of its four diagnostic characters: (1) head distinctly convex with clypeal disc gibbose ( Fig. 2F View FIGURE 2 ), (2) bumpy pronotum, (3) notably developed longitudinal carina on each elytron, and (4) deep and dense microsculpture on the head, pronotum, and elytra.

Distribution. This species is known from two Cameroonian localities about 100 km apart: Mt. Cameroon (233 m) and Mt. Kupe (1523 m).

Natural History. Both specimens were collected by sifting forest leaf litter in rainforest.

Derivation of name. The species epithet is the Latin noun meaning “a hump, bump, swelling, protuberance”, with reference to the peculiarly bumpy pronotum of the new species distinguishing it from all its congeners; it is used as a noun in apposition.