Agrilus (Agrilus) ljubomirovi, Curletti & Sakalian, 2009

Curletti, Gianfranco & Sakalian, Vladimir, 2009, Sixteen new species of Agrilus Curtis, 1825 from East Africa (Coleoptera, Buprestidae), ZooKeys 24 (24), pp. 1-29 : 7-9

Agrilus (Agrilus) ljubomirovi , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8AFF7317-3067-4E3F-8766-99EA18499971

Figs 7 , 8

Type specimens. Holotype ♁: “ Kenya, N Oltepesi (01°33´S – 36°37´E), 22.11.2005, G. Curletti & V. Sakalian leg.” . Paratypes 2 ♁♁: with the same locality and date as holotype. The holotype is deposited in IZBAS and the paratypes in GCCI and IZBAS.

Description of holotype. Body robust, subcylindrical, dark copper colored dorsally, underside with blackish tinge. Elytra with blackish lustre and uniform semierect pubescence.

Head with very narrow, indistinct medial sulcus and very fine longitudinal striae on vertex; width of vertex between eyes 0.52 mm; frons protruding at upper portion, hemispheric in dorsal view with sculpture of concentric wrinkles and deep punctation; lower portion of frons, clypeus and genae with short, dense, white pubescence; clypeus separated from frons by sharp carina; eyes convex; antennae short, extending anterior margin of pronotum; antennomeres 4–11 wider than long, triangular.

Pronotum widest at anterior third; anterior margin carinate; anterior pronotal lobe absent; lateral margins slightly curved before latero-posterior angles; lateroposterior angles subrectangular; pronotum with anterior medial and two lateral very shallow depressions; only postero-medial depression deeper, longitudinally longoval; prehumeral pronotal carinae more visible from lateral view, broadly arched, extending from posterior margin and reaching middle portion of pronotum just before lateral margin; marginal and submarginal carinae not conjoined; discal sculpture consisting of diagonal and transverse striae and sparse punctation; pubescence on disc sparse and white.

Scutellum well developed, anterior portion arched; transverse carina present; hind projection long and acutely pointed.

Elytra width across humeri, slightly wider than pronotal base, widest at posterior third; humeral depressions deep and wide, without pubescence; apices widely separately arcuate, serrated; elytra with uniform, semierect pubescence; discal elytral sculpture consisting of transverse wrinkles.

Underside. Prosternal lobe with anterior margin broadly arcuate. Prosternal process subparallel between procoxae than widened and triangular apically. Abdomen with suture between ventrites 1 and 2 not visible. Ventrites with uniform, short, sparse pubescence, denser on laterosternites; apex of last ventrite truncate, with long erect setae apically. Metatarsus shorter than metatibia; basal metatarsomere very distinctly shorter than following metatarsomeres together. Aedeagus ( Fig. 8 )

Description of paratypes. Paratypes without substantial differences.

Size. Length 3.35–3.70 mm (holotype 3.35 mm); width 0.95–1.10 mm (holotype 0.95 mm).

Differential diagnosis. The aedeagus of Agrilus (Agrilus) ljubomirovi , sp. n. is similar to that of A. (Agrilus) gueorguievi , sp. n. Th e main characters that distinguish these two species are as follow: vertex and frons black in A. gueorguievi , sp. n., dark copper in A. ljubomirovi , sp. n.; prehumeral carina present in A. ljubomirovi , sp. n. and lacking in A. gueorguievi , sp. n.; elytral pubescence sparser and longer in A. ljubomirovi , sp. n.; anterior margin of prosternal lobe truncate in A. gueorguievi , sp. n. and rounded in A. ljubomirovi , sp. n.

Etymology. The name is chosen to honor the friend of the second author, Toshko Ljubomirov, specialist on Sphecidae and Crabronidae (Hymenoptera) and a very good collector of buprestid beetles.

Remark. Collected from yellow sticky traps placed on branches of Acacia sp.

Figures

Figure 7. Agrilus (Agrilus) ljubomirovi, sp. n. (dorsal view).

Figure 8. Aedeagus of Agrilus (Agrilus) ljubomirovi, sp. n. (dorsal view). Scale: 1 mm.