Rovnostena ponomarenkoi ( Odnosum & Perkovsky, 2009 ) Batelka & Rosová & Prokop, 2023

Batelka, Jan, Rosová, Kateřina & Prokop, Jakub, 2023, Diversity and morphology of Eocene and Oligocene Mordellidae (Coleoptera), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 63 (2), pp. 451-478 : 472

Rovnostena ponomarenkoi ( Odnosum & Perkovsky, 2009) comb. nov.

Glipostena ponomarenkoi Odnosum & Perkovsky,2009: 1095 . Holotype: ♀, Rovno amber.

Comments on identification. According to ERMISCH (1941b), the genus Glipostena belongs to the group of genera that are defined by ‘Der Halsschild weniger breit als lang’ [= the pronotum slightly wider than long], while in G. ponomarenkoi , according to its description, the pronotum is 1.7–1.8× wider than long, that is, much wider than cited by ERMISCH (1941b). In the comparison by ODNOSUM & PERKOVSKY (2009), this species shares with G. sergeli from Baltic amber ‘short lateral ridges taken not more than one third of the hind tibia width and parallel to its apical margin’, which according to the authors ‘sharply differentiate’ G. ponomarenkoi from recent species that have long ridges that reach the middle of the hind tibia and are not parallel with the apical margin (see, e.g., ERMISCH 1941b: fig. 13; ERMISCH 1952: fig. 21; FRANCISCOLO 2000:figs 1, 2). The comb formula for species of Glipostena is usually 4//2/1/1/0 or rarely 3–5//3/1/1/0 ( FRANCISCOLO 1999), while in G. ponomarenkoi it is 6//5/4/3/0. The shape of maxillary palpomeres, an important generic character of Glipostena , is not described for this fossil.

In summary, G. ponomarenkoi differs from all extant Glipostena in terms of three important generic characters.Therefore, its assignment to this extant genus is not accepted and this species is transferred to Rovnostena new collective group.