Synaptus iranicus, Jarzabek-Müller, Andrea, Morinière, Jérôme, Varandi, Hassan Barimani & Müller, Jörg, 2017

Jarzabek-Müller, Andrea, Morinière, Jérôme, Varandi, Hassan Barimani & Müller, Jörg, 2017, Synaptus iranicus sp. nov., a second species of the genus Synaptus Eschscholtz, 1829 from Iran (Coleoptera: Elateridae) discovered by an integrative approach, Zootaxa 4232 (4), pp. 568-574 : 569-571

Synaptus iranicus sp. nov.

Figures 1 –4, 6, 8

Description: Male. ( Fig. 1 ). Length: 10.3–11.4 mm ( holotype 10.3 mm); width: 2.5–2.8 mm ( holotype 2.5 mm). Body flattened, slender (Fig. 4). General colour of body brown, faintly shining; head and pronotum slightly darker, anterior margin and hind angles of pronotum slightly lighter. Body covered with fine and regular, moderately dense yellow pubescence.

Head. Moderately convex; with long pale yellow pubescence; punctures coarse and slightly larger and denser than on pronotum. Antennae exceeding by 1.5 articles the apices of prosterior angles of pronotum; second and third segment subcylindrical and of equal length, taken together 1.3x longer than fourth; fourth-tenth segments slightly subtriangular, on average 2.2x longer than wide.

Thorax. Pronotum minimally wider than long (length: 2.2–2.3 mm; width: 2.3–2.5 mm), widest at prosterior angles; disc flattened, along midline with a distinct smooth line; sides of pronotum subparallel from base to anterior third, posterior angles sharp, weakly divergent with carina subparallel to lateral margins; punctures dense, intervals between punctures equal to diameter of puncture or slightly smaller; punctuation on disc sparser, intervals between punctures noticeably larger than diameter of punctures. Propleuron as well as pronotum punctate; punctation of prosternum sparse, interstices longer than their diameter.

Elytra 3.4–3.5x longer than pronotum; disc distinctly flattened, sides parallel from base to middle, then gradually tapering to apex; elytral striae with fine punctures, intervals flat, with fine and sparse punctures, with large and deep punctures apically; slightly shining.

Abdomen. Puncture less dense than on metasternum, interstices longer than their diameter.

Legs. Third tarsal joint with long and broad lamella beneath; fourth tarsal joint small, extending past inferior lobe of third; lamella extends up to half of the fifth joint. Claws pectinate.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus as in Fig. 6 (length: 1.4–1.5 mm). Median lobe slender (0.82x) and longer (1.1x) than parameres; apex of parameres arcuate.

Female. ( Fig. 3 ). Length: 10.2 mm; width: 2.5 mm. Body light brown. Pronotum slightly wider than long (length: 2.2 mm; width: 2.3 mm). Elytra 3.3x longer than pronotum. Antennae exceeding by 1 articles the apices of prosterior angles of pronotum. Similar to male in all other features.

Female genitalia. Bursa copulatrix as in Fig. 8 a, b. Sclerotized plates asymmetric: first plate (a) elongated with subparallel sides, narrowed at anterior third (length: 1.7 mm; width: 0.4 mm) and second plate (b) drop-shaped (length: 1.4 mm; width: 0.6 mm); plates covered with small teeth.

Type material: Holotype ♂ — Iran: Mazandaran, Dasht e Naz Wildlife Refuge ( N 36°42'5.31" E 53°12'10.05"), V.2015, leg. Hassan Varandi Barimani, coll. AJMR . Paratypes ( 1♂, 1 ♀) same data as holotype.

Etymology: The name is derived from Iran, the country where the species was collected. Distribution: Mazandaran, Iran.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Habitus of Synaptus species. 1. Synaptus iranicus sp. nov., male, dorsal view, holotype (10.3 mm). 2. Synaptus iranicus sp. nov., male, dorsal view, paratype (11.4 mm). 3. Synaptus iranicus sp. nov., female, dorsal view, paratype (10.2 mm). 4. Synaptus iranicus sp. nov., male, lateral view, holotype. 5. Synaptus filiformis Fabricius, male, lateral view.

FIGURES 6 – 9. Genitalia of Synaptus species. 6. Aedeagus, Synaptus iranicus sp. nov., ventral view, holotype (scale bar 1 mm). 7. Aedeagus, Synaptus filiformis F. (scale bar 1 mm). 8 a, b. Sclerites of bursa copulatrix, Synaptus iranicus sp. nov., paratype (scale bar 0.5 mm). 9. Sclerites of bursa copulatrix, Synaptus filiformis F. (scale bar 0.5 mm).