Microhoria akbesiana (Pic, 1896)

Telnov, Dmitry, 2022, Revisional notes on the genus Microhoria Chevrolat, 1877 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Anthicidae) from the Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey, with new descriptions, an annotated catalogue, and a key, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 22 (2), pp. 195-312 : 199-201

Microhoria akbesiana (Pic, 1896) ( Fig. 1 ) Anthicus Akbesianus Pic, 1896a: 5 (description).

Anthicus akbesianus – Pic 1897a: 390 (checklist); 1897b: 217 (checklist).

Anthicus (Immicrohoria) akbesianus – Pic 1911a: 31 (checklist); Winkler 1927: 849 (checklist). Anthicus (Immicrohoria) akbesiana – Hariri 1968: 206 (checklist).

Microhoria akbesiana – Chandler et al. 2008: 438 (new combination, checklist); Kejval & Chandler 2020: 130 (assigned to the M. terminata species group); Telnov 2020a: 607 (checklist).

Type material studied. Lectotype [here designated] male MNHN: [small, square, pink label with no text] // Akbés (Bouille) [handwritten] // sp. prés delagrangei [handwritten] // type [handwritten] // TYPE [printed, label red] // akbesianus Pic [handwritten].

New material. 1 ADC: Crimea Eupatoria 12.VI.2001 .

Supplementary description. Belongs to the M. terminata species group. Male (lectotype). Total body length about 2.5 mm. Forebody black­brown, elytra except blackish scutellar area and yellowish latero­basal fovea of pronotum brown. Legs yellowish­brown, tibiae distinctly paler. Antennomeres 1–4 yellow, remaining antennomeres brown to dark brown. Head 1.1–1.2× as long as wide, basal margin subtruncate, posterior temporal angles rounded. Compound eye moderate, protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum subopaque, densely punctate with circular punctures. Intervening spaces about 2– 3× wider than punctures, smooth. Dorsal cranial setae whitish, rather dense, appressed. Antenna moderately thickened in apical third. Terminal antennomere elongate, apically pointed, about 2–2.2× as long as penultimate antennomere. Pronotum nearly as long as wide, narrower than head across eyes, evenly rounded at anterior margin. Lateral margins strongly impressed in posterior half. Pronotal disc slightly convex in dorsal aspect, subopaque, punctures elongate oval, somewhat larger and distinctly denser than those on head. On median part of pronotal disc intervening spaces generally narrower than punctures, on lateral sides and along anterior margin intervening surfaces significantly wider. Dorsal pronotal setae as those on head. Elytra about 1.6–1.7× as long as wide, broadly rounded at lateral margins, dorsally flattened. Humerus broadly rounded, not protruding.Apex of elytron modified, channel of gland forming oval opening and short process at posterior margin. Elytral disc slightly glossy (nearly subopaque in basal part), rather densely, minutely punctate, punctures generally coarser than those on head. Elytral setae subdecumbent, somewhat longer than those on pronotum. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired. Tergite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VII subtruncate at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VIII deeply excavated at posterior margin ( Fig. 1D ). Aedeagus as in Fig. 1E–I . Tegmen apex rounded (not projected and not hooked), fused baculi conspicuous, extending apically through the length of endophallus; endophallic armature of three to four rather short apical spines; endophallus lacking distinct, sclerotized, ring­like primary gonopore. Sexual dimorphism. Female is unknown.

Ecology. Unknown.

Distribution. Originally described from “Akbés”, a Syrian region at the time of the description, nowadays (as Akbez) a part of Hatay Province of Turkey. Also occurs in Ukraine (new country record), Crimean Peninsula. Discovery of this species in Crimea suggests wider distribution of it in Turkey.

Chorotype. SW­Asiatic (1.13 SWA) but includes Crimean Peninsula.

Note. Degiovanni (personal communication) pointed on that this species is likely to be conspecific with Microhoria fasciata helvetica ( Krekich­Strassoldo, 1929) (N Italy, Switzerland) since the male aedeagus appears identical in both. I here abstain for introducing a new synonym until the type material of M. fasciata helvetica is studied.

Figures

Fig. 1. Microhoria akbesiana (Pic, 1896). A – Lectotype male, habitus, dorsal view; B – ditto, head, dorsal view; C – Male from Yevpatoria, Ukraine, forebody, dorsal view; D – ditto, tergite and morphological sternite VIII; E – Lectotype, aedeagus, lateral view; F–G – ditto, apical portion of endophallic armature, inverted; H – Male from Yevpatorya, Ukraine, aedeagus, lateral view; I – ditto, ventral view [not to scale; images C–D & H–I courtesyAugusto Degiovanni, Bubano, Italy].