Sanaungulus dominikiweissbachi, Fanti & Müller, 2022

Fanti, Fabrizio & Müller, Patrick, 2022, Fossil Cantharidae from the Cretaceous Burmese (Kachin) amber of the Patrick Müller collection, and taxonomic information, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 22 (2), pp. 331-380 : 343-345

Sanaungulus dominikiweissbachi sp. nov.

( Fig. 7 )

Holotype and Paratype. Male and female, adult specimens in a single Burmese (Kachin) amber piece: Catalog number SNSB­BSPG 2021 XII 75 in the Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie (ex Müller’s collection number: BUB4059 ) .

Type locality. Myanmar: Kachin state, Myitkyina District, Hukawng Valley.

Type horizon. Lowermost Cenomanian (98.79 ± 0.62 Ma), mid­Cretaceous.

Fanti F., Müller P.

Differential diagnosis. The specimen of Sanaungulus dominikiweissbachi sp. nov. features a male and female, the first Burmese fossil soldier beetles documented preserved during mating. The species is characterized by long (usually only one abdominal segment remains uncovered) and smooth elytra.

Description. Male and female in mating.

MALE (Holotype – A1): adult, winged, slender. Male, defined on the basis of the slender abdomen and visible aedeagus. Body length 2.7 mm. Entirely reddish­brown .

Head slightly transverse, constricted (triangular­shaped) behind the eyes, surface with shallow punctation. Eyes prominent, very large, roundish, inserted in the upper and lateral part of the head. Mandibles elongated, falciform. Maxillary palps 4­ segmented with the last palpomere strongly elongated and securiform. Labial palps 3­ segmented, with the last palpomere securiform.Antennae 11­ segmented, pectinate, relatively long, reaching the half of elytra, antennal insertion very far from the eyes; scape strongly elongated, strongly restricted in the middle and globular at apex; antennomeres II–III short, subequal in length, globular­elongated, antennomere III at apex with a long and robust antennal process; antennomeres IV–VII very long, rather robust, each with an antennal process at apex which is very long and emarginated at apex; antennomeres VIII–IX shorter than previous ones, each with the same antennal process at apex; antennomere X as long as the previous ones, without the antennal process; antennomere XI robust, with rounded apex; all the antennomeres slightly pubescent. Pronotum elongated, almost spherical, slightly wider than head, anterior margin rounded, posterior margin almost straight, sides curved with a small and rounded tooth near the middle, corners obtuse, pronotum disc irregular. Scutellum triangular­shaped. Elytra elongated that do not cover the last abdominal segment, wider than pronotum, parallel­sided, rounded apexes, surface completely smooth with pubescence. Metathoracic wings transparent, very slightly longer than elytra. Last tergite elongated. Aedeagus trilobated with the lobes irregular, long and not plate­like. Legs thin, not particularly long, slightly pubescent; coxae massive; trochanters elongated, robust, rounded apex; femora almost straight, cylindrical, very sturdier than tibiae; tibiae, thin, sub­cylindrical, long, with a thin and long spur near the apex, pro­ and mesotibiae longer than pro­ and mesofemora, metatibiae very longer than metafemora. Tarsal formula 5­ 5­ 5; first tarsomere long, about 1.5 times longer than second; third tarsomere short, about 1.5 times shorter than second; fourth strongly bilobed with lobes very long and pointed apically; fifth tarsomere extremely elongated, thin, slightly flat, curved; claws simple, long, pointed, without denticle at the base.

FEMALE (Paratype – B2): adult, winged, slen­ der. Body length 2.9 mm.Entirely reddish­brown. Morphologically very similar to the Holotype.

Head transverse, constricted behind the eyes. Eyes prominent and large. Mandibles falciform. Last maxillary palpomere securiform. Antennae 11­ segmented, filiform, rather long, reaching the half of abdomen, antennal insertion very far from the eyes; scape strongly elongated, restricted in the middle and globular at apex; antennomeres II–III short, subequal in length, globular­elongated; antennomeres IV–V long, rather robust; antennomeres VI–X slightly shorter and less sturdier than previous ones; antennomere XI filiform, elongated, with rounded apex; all the antennomeres slightly pubescent and without antennal process. Pronotum almost spherical. Elytra elongated that do not cover the last abdominal segment and partially the penultimate, completely smooth. Metathoracic wings transparent, very slightly longer than elytra. Sternum elongated with rounded apex. Sternites transverse and pubescent, last sternite wide.

Etymology. Named in honor of Dominik Weissbach, dear friend of the second author (Patrick).

Syninclusions. Air bubbles, detritus.

Remarks. Piece of clear, golden amber that measures 18x13x 3 mm. The inclusion is complete, but the male (A1) has the left antenna detached approximately from the end of the antennomere VI and the mesothoracic legs detached from the tibia or femur but with all these parts still present and preserved in the amber piece near the body. While, the female (B2) is complete with only the elytra detached and move upwards. It is not possible to take a proper picture of the other side of specimens as there is a resin layer covering most of this part.

Figures

Fig. 7. Sanaungulus dominikiweissbachi sp. nov. in Burmese amber. Holotype and Paratype (a1: dorsal view; b2: ventral view).