Microhoria walkeri, Telnov, 2022

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 : 296-298

Microhoria walkeri sp. nov. ( Fig. 53 ) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E6EA5C84­88D5­4144­B575­9589CC7235F1

Type material designated. Holotype male BMNH: Besika Bay [printed] // G.C. Champion Coll. B.M. 1927–409. [printed].

Paratypes 5 specimens. 4 males BMNH : same labels as holotype; 1 female BMNH : Besika Bay [printed] // ? patagiatus Kies [handwritten] // G.C. Champion Coll. B.M. 1927–409. [printed] .

Etymology. Patronymic. Named after † James John Walker, who collected the type series of this species likely during the Dardanelles Campaign and later passed his rich Mediterranean material to G.C. Champion at the BMNH.

Description. Holotype male, total body length 2.9 mm. Head 0.7 mm long, across compound eyes 0.6 mm wide, pronotum 0.6 mm long, maximum width 0.55 mm, elytra 1.7 mm long, maximum combined width 1.1 mm. Female paratype 2.6 mm long. Dorsum and venter uniformly dark brown, tibiae and tarsi somewhat paler. Head barely longer than wide, head base rounded in one broad arc with tempora, posterior temporal angles rounded. Compound eye moderate, about the length of tempus, strongly protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum moderately glossy, strongly, densely punctate with elongate punctures. Intervening spaces generally smooth, at least on frons slightly wrinkled, as wide as to twice as wide as punctures. Dorsal cranial setae inconspicuous, greyish, moderately long and dense, appressed.Antennae slightly enlarged in apical third. Penultimate antennomere barely longer than wide.Terminal antennomere elongate, bluntly pointed, twice as long as penultimate antennomere, as long as combined length of antennomeres 9–10. Pronotum about as long as wide, distinctly narrower than head across eyes, broadly rounded at anterior margin. Pronotal disc moderately glossy, flattened in dorsal aspect. Lateral margins moderately converging in posterior half. Latero­basal pronotal fovea moderately broad, not supplemented with dense setae. Pronotal punctures elongate, dense, intervening spaces narrower than to about as wide as punctures. Dorsal pronotal setation similar to that on head. Elytra about 1.5× as long as wide, laterally subparallel or broadly rounded, rounded at apex, dorsally flattened. Humerus broadly rounded. Apex of elytron modified, with an inconspicuous, elongate denticle at opening of gland channel. Elytral surface moderately glossy, punctures less dense and shallower than those on forebody. Intervening spaces variable, generally twice as wide as punctures. Elytral setae dirty yellowish, moderately long, rather sparse, generally appressed, slightly curved, directed posteriad. Metathoracic wings fully developed. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired. Tergite VII truncate at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin. Tergite VIII with a hair­like, membranous lamina. Spiculum gastrale as in Fig. 53C .Aedeagus ( Fig. 53D ) with rather short tegmen. Tegmen apex bifurcate, each arm apically hooked; fused baculi moderately long, extending towards about midlength of tegmen, opposing apex of tegmen hooked also; endophallic armature with paired, C­like curved, thickened spines; ring­like primary gonopore distinct, moderately large.

Sexual dimorphism. Female tergite VII with deep apical notch. Female elytral apex without modifications.

Differential diagnosis. Microhoria walkeri sp. nov. belongs to the M. terminata species group. It and can be distinguished from all congeners only by the characteristic shape and structure of the male aedeagus.

Ecology. Unknown.

Distribution. European Turkey (Gallipoli Peninsula).

Figures

Fig. 53. Microhoria walkeri sp. nov. A– Male holotype, habitus, dorsal view; B – ditto, forebody, dorsal view; C – Male paratype, spiculum gastrale; D – ditto, aedeagus, lateral view [not to scale].