Platiana cechovskyi, Kundrata & Sormova, 2018

Kundrata, Robin & Sormova, Eliska, 2018, Platiana cechovskyi sp. nov. from Malaysia, a remarkable new member of Dimini (Elateridae: Dendrometrinae) with strongly serrate antennae, Zootaxa 4524 (1), pp. 132-138 : 133-135

Platiana cechovskyi sp. nov.

(Figs 1–15)

Type material. Holotype, male, „ Malaysia - W, Perak, 40 km SE of Ipoh , 900 m, Banjaran Titi Wangsa, Ringlet, 25.iii.–3.iv.2002, P. Čechovský leg.“ ( PCRK) . Paratype, male, „ Malaysia - W, Perak, 30 km SE of Ipoh , 900 m, Cameron Highland, Ringlet, 26–31.iii.2000, P. Čechovský leg.“ ( PCPC) .

Diagnosis. Platiana cechovskyi sp. nov. differs from its congeners by the following unique combination of characters: body relatively small, sub-oval, dark brown, with unicolored pronotum which is widest at both mid-length and posterior angles, antennae strongly serrate, pedicel about half as long as the antennomere III, antennomeres III–X about twice as long as wide, and elytra sub-oval, about 1.70 times as long as wide (Figs 1–3, 5). Platiana brevicornis Schimmel & Platia, 1992 from Sumatra which has similarly serrate antennae differs from P. cechovskyi sp. nov. in the larger and more elongate body (9.0 mm; 5.8–6.7 mm in P. cechovskyi sp. nov.), much lighter body coloration, relatively short antennae which barely reach half length of elytra, relatively longer pedicel and shorter antennomere III (short pedicel with elongate antennomere III in P. cechovskyi sp. nov.), the pronotum clearly widest at posterior angles (of the same width at mid-length and at posterior angles in P. cechovskyi sp. nov.), and paramere apex distinctly more rounded.

Description. Holotype, male. Body (Figs 1–2) robust, moderately convex, sub-oval, reddish brown to reddish dark brown; antennomeres I and II, mouthparts and legs except tibiae lighter; pubescence yellowish to light brown.

Head (Figs 4–5) slightly wider than long, including eyes about 0.60 times as wide as pronotum; frons flattened, medially slightly depressed, apically slightly overhanging base of labrum, frontal carina incomplete. Head surface almost smooth, sparsely and finely punctate, covered with moderately dense, long, decumbent to semi-erect pubescence. Eyes moderately large, their minimal frontal distance twice as maximum eye diameter. Labrum transverse, convex, roughly and shallowly punctate, mainly apically and at margins, frontally rounded, with long semi-erect pubescence. Mandibles robust, bidentate, shiny, basally with long pubescence. Maxillary palpus moderately long, apical palpomere elongate, apically widened, securiform, slightly flattened. Labial palpi short, with apical palpomere securiform. Antenna (Figs 1, 3) with 11 antennomeres, long, strongly serrate, reaching about half elytral length. Length ratio of antennomeres II–IV = 1.0: 1.9: 2.1. Scape long, robust, notably thicker than remaining antennomeres; pedicel small, relatively short, slightly longer than wide, slightly widened apically; remaining antennomeres elongate, strongly serrate, towards apex gradually slightly more elongate, about 1.5–2.0 times as long as wide; ultimate antennomere elongate, fusiform, slightly longer than penultimate antennomere, about three times as

Pronotum (Fig. 5) transverse, widest at both half and posterior angles, 1.60 times as wide as long, very slightly convex. Anterior margin concave; anterior angles narrowly rounded, slightly produced forwards, distinctly transversely excavated dorsally; lateral sides evenly rounded; posterior angles short, sharp, slightly produced posterolaterally, each with additional short carina; posterior margin with short notch near each angle, medially shallowly emarginate; emargination angulate, about as long as width of scutellar shield. Lateral carina distinct, complete, clearly visible from dorsal view. Sublateral carina distinct, complete. Disc almost smooth, sparsely and finely punctate, covered with moderately dense, long, semi-erect pubescence; setae longer and erect at posterior angles. Hypomeron rather flat, smooth, sparsely punctate, without any distinct carina or groove. Prosternal sutures almost straight, excavated anteriorly. Prosternum (Fig. 6) elongate, including prosternal process about 1.75 times as long as wide, punctation similar to hypomeron; prosternal lobe well developed, oriented antero-ventrally, with anterior margin rounded; prosternal process (Figs 6–7) stout, moderately long, oriented posteriorly, straight from lateral view, more or less straight, with sides subparallel-sided, narrowed apically, apex excavated from lateral view to form subapical tooth (Fig. 7); ventral surface longitudinally shallowly but distinctly excavate. Scutellar shield (Fig. 5) slightly convex, elongate, 1.3 times as long as wide; anterior margin only slightly rounded, with distinct sharp edge; sides slightly rounded and narrowed apically; posterior margin narrowly rounded; surface smooth, shiny, covered with sparse long pubescence. Mesoventrite (Fig. 6) slightly longer than wide, steeply declivitous, with anterior portion on different plane than posterior process, which is on the same plane as prosternum and metaventrite; surface almost smooth, shiny, laterally moderately deeply excavated; frontal margin medially with short protrusion; sides sinuate, posterior process medially projected between mesocoxae; procoxal rests at anterior half strongly developed, moderately deep; mesoventral cavity deep, with distinct borders. Mesocoxae open to both mesanepisternum and mesepimeron. Mesanepisternum with very deep transverse lateral extensions of procoxal rests. Metaventrite (Fig. 8) large, sparsely and finely punctate, almost smooth, longitudinal medial suture furrowed basally. Metacoxal plate (Fig. 8) transverse, with small emargination posteriorly near inner margin, gradually strongly reduced from about 1/3 to 2/3, from about 2/3 forming only narrow strip. Elytra (Figs 1–2) sub-oval, combined about 1.70 times as long as wide, about 3.25 times as long as pronotum, widest before half, sides slightly rounded, from about half gradually narrowed towards apex; each elytron anteriorly transversely excavated for reception of pronotal hind angles; with moderately deep striae, deeper basally, shallower apically; interstriae convex, almost smooth, covered with sparse fine punctures; pubescence semi-erect, moderately dense and long, longer at base; elytral apices narrowly rounded, almost adjacent to each other. Epipleura complete, smooth, broad until posterior part of metaventrite, then reduced to narrow but distinct strip. Hind wings fully developed. Leg (Figs 1, 9) elongate, slender, moderately long; femur with groove for reception of tibia; tibia slender, with distinct paired spurs; tarsomere I elongate, longer than combined lengths of tarsomeres I and II but shorter than combined lengths of tarsomeres I– III, tarsomere II slightly longer than tarsomere III, ventrally with short lobe, tarsomere III slightly longer than tarsomere IV, tarsomere IV shortest, both tarsomeres III and IV ventrally with elongate lobe, apical tarsomere elongate, shorter than tarsomere I; pubescence semi-erect, moderately dense and long; pretarsal claw simple, moderately long and curved.

Abdomen with ventrites moderately densely covered with fine punctures; ventrite 1 with intercoxal process slender, short, apically cuspidate; apical ventrite subtriangular, narrowly rounded apically; surface of all ventrites covered with semi-erect pubescence, slightly denser at margins. Tergite VIII wider than long, posteriorly slightly narrowed, finely punctate, covered with moderately dense pubescence, mainly at margins. Tergite IX (Fig. 12) about as long as wide, at second half abruptly narrowed towards apex, finely punctate and covered by sparse short setae, mainly laterally. Tergite X (Fig. 12) small, elongate, about twice as long as wide, with slightly rounded sides, apically partly membranous and covered by sparse short pubescence. Sternite IX (Fig. 10) elongate, about 2.3 times as long as wide, narrowly rounded apically, covered with short pubescence, mainly at apex. Sternite X (Fig. 11) elongate, wsubparallel-sided, partly membranous. Aedeagus (Figs 13–15) elongate, 3.5 times as long as wide. Median lobe elongate, narrow, subparallel-sided, about as long as parameres, with relatively long and curved basal struts, apex curved form lateral view, oriented dorsally, cuspidate, narrowly rounded. Paramere elongate, narrow, subparallel-sided, inner side straight, outer side slightly sinuate, with short and sharp subapical hook, apex narrowly rounded. Phallobase relatively small, short, transverse, slightly oriented ventrally.

Measurements. Holotype. BL 6.70 mm, BW 2.55 mm, EL 4.40 mm, WHe 1.30 mm, PL 1.35 mm, PW 2.20 mm. Paratype. BL 5.80 mm, BW 2.30 mm, EL 3.90 mm, WHe 1.10 mm, PL 1.20 mm, PW 1.85 mm.

Distribution. Malaysia: Cameron Highlands ( Fig. 16 ).

Etymology. The species name is a patronym of Petr Čechovský (Brno, Czech Republic) who kindly allowed us to study the type material.

Figures

FIGURE 16. Distribution of the genus Platiana Schimmel, 1993. Platiana brevisoides Schimmel & Platia, 1992 is not included as the type locality is too vague, i.e., „Holland. Indien“ [=Indonesia].