Microhoria delagrangei (Pic, 1892)

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 : 227-230

Microhoria delagrangei (Pic, 1892) ( Fig. 16 , 54B )

Anthicus Delagrangei Pic, 1892a: 43 (description).

Anthicus delagrangei – Pic 1897a: 390 (checklist).

Anthicus (Immicrohoria) delagrangei – Pic 1911a: 43 (checklist); Winkler 1927: 849 (checklist); Hariri 1968: 206 (checklist).

Microhoria delagrangei – Chandler et al. 2008: 439 (new combination, checklist); Kejval & Chandler 2020: 131 (assigned to the M. terminata species group); Telnov 2020a: 609 (checklist). Type material studied. Lectotype male [here designated] MNHN: Type [printed, label red] // SYRIEAKBES C.D. 1891 [printed, black frame] // Anthicus Delagrangei n. sp. Pic Syrie [handwritten; additional small circular green label glued on the right upper corner of this label] // delagrangei Pic [handwritten]; Paralectotype 1 female MNHN: Syria Akbés [handwritten] // [printed] // T Y P E [printed, label red] // Delagrangei Pic [handwritten] // Krekich vid. [handwritten]; Paralectotype 1 female NHMB:Akbes Syria [handwritten] // Anthicus delagrangei Pic [handwritten] // Para­typus [printed, label red, black frame]; Paralectotype 1 female BMNH: Co­type [printed, label circular, yellow frame] // SYRIE AKBES CD. 1891 [handwritten] // Brit.Mus. 1939­[printed] 381. [handwritten] // Anthicus Delagrangei, Pic [handwritten] // Cotype [printed, label red] [there are two specimens at BMNH mounted on the same card with the same labels; the specimen on the right is the female paralectotype of M. delagrangei , while the specimen on the left is not conspecific with it, represents misidentified specimen of Anthicus niger (Olivier, 1811) and is therefore not considered part of the type series of M. delagrangei ].

New material. 1 male DTC: TURKEY, Prov. Agri, Karasau­Aras Mts., 7 km E // Aydintepe , 2100 m 2000.VII.4. leg.: Székely K. ; 1 male ADC: TURKEY – Prov. Mersin, env., Arslanköy , 37°01N 34°15E, m 1625, 25.V.2010 , Leg. M. Uliana ; 1 male IUIT: Turkey, Adiyaman, Komur N 37 55 900; E 38 28 352, 2011­ 07­ 12 Pinaryayla & Karaman mezrasi, 30 km N Hollow Quercus , trap no: 12 P T. Kayis / M. Coskun / N. Jansson ; 1 male IUIT: Turkey, Adiyaman, Komur N 37 55 900; E 38 28 352, 2011­ 07­ 12 Pinaryayla & Karaman mezrasi, 30 km N Hollow Quercus , trap no: 13 W T. Kayis / M. Coskun /N. Jansson ; 2 males ADC: TURKEY – Erzurum Prov., 1 km road to Nisantasi , 40°40’ N 42°22’ E, m1450­1500, 8.VI.2013 , Leg. M. Uliana .

Supplementary description. Belongs to the M. terminata species group. Male lectotype. Total body length 3.3 mm. Uniformly black­brown to black.Antenna yellowish, five terminal antennomeres somewhat darkened. Palps and legs yellowish brown, tibiae distinctly paler than femora. Head barely longer than wide, basal margin rounded in one arc with posterior temporal angles. Compound eye large, moderately protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum moderately glossy, moderately dense punctate with circular, moderately deep punctures. Intervening spaces narrower than to about twice as wide as punctures, smooth. Dorsal cranial setae whitish to yellowish, moderately dense, appressed to subdecumbent. Antenna moderately thickened in apical half. Terminal antennomere elongate, apically bluntly pointed, about 2.3–2.4× as long as penultimate antennomere. Pronotum about as long as wide, narrower than head across eyes, moderately glossy, rounded at anterior margin. Lateral margins strongly impressed in posterior half. Latero­basal pronotal fovea broad and deep, with curved, whitish setation. Pronotal disc slightly convex in dorsal aspect, punctures similar to those on head. Elytra about 1.5× as long as wide, subparallel laterally, slightly widened posteriad, dorsally flattened to barely convex. Humerus broadly rounded, not protruding.Apex of elytron modified, channel of gland forming small, oval opening at posterior margin supplemented with a bunch of very short setae. Elytral disc glossy, punctures generally smaller than those on head. Intervening spaces about as wide as to twice as wide as punctures, smooth, glossy. Elytral setae whitish, moderately long, sparse, subdecumbent to appressed. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired. Tergite VII subtruncate at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VII rounded, somewhat protruding mesally at posterior margin. Aedeagus as in Fig. 16C–F . Tegmen apex short, strongly hooked; endophallic armature with a pair of large, curved spines, three long, narrow, sword­shaped spines, three to four shorter spines with bifurcate base and, finally, a few smaller “copies” of the latter.

Sexual dimorphism. Female with more robust body and non­modified elytral apex.

Interspecific variability. Pronotum is reddish in the specimen from Komur, Turkey. Density of dorsal punctures, in particular those on forebody, varies considerably, intervening spaces are narrower than puncture diameters in some Turkish specimens.

Ecology. One specimen sampled at 2100 m elevation. Other specimens sampled using pitfall traps installed in a cavity of a hollow veteran Quercus sp. ( Fig. 54B ).

Distribution. Originally described from “Akbés”, a Syrian region at the time of the description, nowadays (as Akbez) a part of Hatay Province of Turkey. The first reliable Turkish record is provided herein.

Chorotype. SW­Asiatic (1.13 SWA). Possible S­Anatolian (= Taurian) endemic (9000.08 ANAS).

Figures

Fig. 16. Microhoria delagrangei (Pic, 1892). A – Male lectotype, habitus, dorsal view; B – ditto, head, dorsal view; C – ditto, aedeagus, lateral view; D – ditto, apical portion of aedeagus; E – Male from Komur env., Turkey, aedeagus, lateral view [not to scale].

Fig. 54. Veteran tree­connected habitats of Microhoria in Turkey. A – Sampling plot near Yukangökdere, Kasnak oak reserve, Turkey; B – Sampling plot near Adiyaman, Turkey [images courtesy Nicklas Jansson, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden].