Goudotostes insularis, Ballerio, 2021

Ballerio, Alberto, 2021, The Ceratocanthinae of Madagascar and Comoro Islands: a revision of the genera Synarmostes and Goudotostes, and of the flightless Philharmostes, with description of 64 new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea, Hybosoridae), Fragmenta entomologica 53 (2), pp. 105-282 : 179-180

Goudotostes insularis sp. nov.

( Figs 58 a-m, 77) http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:58C8CE91-46FE-4416-B63D-F18D72078976

Type series. Holotype, ♂ deposited in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences , San Francisco, CA, USA, labelled as follows: / CASTYPE 20267 / CASENT 5503715 / Madagascar: Province d’Antisiranana , Nosy Be , Réserve naturelle intégrale de Lokobe 6.3 km 112° ESE Hellville 19-24 March 2001 / 13° 25’ 10” S 048° 19’ 52” E coll. Fisher, Griswold et al. California Acad. of Sciences sifted litter in rainforest elev. 30 m code: BLF3422 / Goudotostes insularis n. sp. det. A. Ballerio 2020 Holotypus ♂ / [distended, glued on card, dissected, male genitalia glued in DMHF resin on a separate card, same pin]. Paratypes: 2 ♀♀ (1 in CASC and 1 in ABCB), same collecting data as holotype .

Diagnosis. Goudotostes insularis sp. nov. can be differentiated from all other species of Goudotostes by the following combination of characters: a) large size, b) dorsal ocular area present, c) head without clypeal tubercle, d) head punctation dense and impressed, e) pronotal anterior carina monolobate, f) pronotal basal carina monolobate, g) elytra dorsally with two spaced out thin weakly raised rows of short carinae and small tubercles, f) aedeagus with short asymmetrical parameres. The species falls within the scabrosus group of species, the species more similar to it are Goudotostes electrimontis sp. nov. and Goudotostes andohahelae sp. nov., because of dorsal sculpturing of elytra and pronotum. It differs from G. andohahelae sp. nov. because of the monolobate anterior and posterior carinae, the smaller and denser head punctation (in G. andohahelae sp. nov. punctures are much larger, lesser in number and more spaced out whereas in G. insularis sp. nov. punctures are dense: interpunctural distance inferior than punctural diameter), much smaller and much more numerous. It differs from G. electrimontis sp. nov. because in the latter dorsal ocular are is vestigial, the monolobate pronotal anterior carina is less sharp in frontal view and the punctation of the elytral area between elytral suture and the first row of short carinae is made of smaller comma-shaped punctation. Goudotostes scabrosus shares with G. insularis sp. nov. the spaced out longitudinal rows of carinae, but in G. scabrosus carinae are longer, furthermore in G. scabrosus pronotal and elytral punctation is larger and much denser and deeper.

Description. Size: HL = 1.3 mm; HW = 2.1 mm; PL = 2.0 mm; PW = 3.3 mm; EL = 3.4 mm; EW = 3.2 mm. Overall morphology as in generic diagnosis. Large-sized Goudotostes . Body weakly convex compared to the other species. Dark-brown with slight bronze sheen, dorsum with sparse fine short setae (50×), underside, tarsi and antennae dark reddish-brown, setation yellowish-brown. Head: W/L ratio = 1.48; clypeal apex obtuse, apical projection present and sexually dimorphic but weakly developed, sides almost rectilinear apart from slightly unaligned genae; dorsal ocular area present and small, interocular distance about 20 times the maximum width of dorsal ocular area, genal canthus indistinct, ventral ocular area small-sized, genae rounded, distinctly protruding outwards, genal suture indistinct; head dorsal surface uniformly covered by large impressed simple punctures, clypeal fore margin with some large transversal irregular lines. Pronotum: subrectangular (dorsal view) (W/L ratio = 1.76), convex and unevenly sculptured, fore angles distinctly subtruncate; surface without tubercles and/or carinae, uniformly covered by dense deep large simple punctures, each one bearing a short fine seta in the middle, punctures becoming horseshoe-shaped at sides; anterior carina monolobate, slightly and narrowly raised, portion raised having the shape of an inverted V in frontal view, posterior carina weakly raised, dorsally marked by an inverted V- shaped tubercle. Pronotal bead visible only on pronotal sides. Scutellum : surface covered by dense large simple punctures. Elytra: longer than wide (W/L ratio = 0.92), subovoidal (dorsal view), moderately convex; humeral callus indistinct; elytral surface uniformly covered by dense large deep comma-shaped punctures, transverse on proximal third and longitudinally oriented on median and distal third, each one bearing a short fine seta; interpunctural distance inferior than or equal to punctural diameter; inferior sutural stria deep and complete, striated articular area hardly visible in lateral view, relatively narrow and short; marginal area medium-sized; elytral articular process developed, smooth and shiny. Elytral sculpturing as follows: base with one small tubercle next to scutellum (parasutural tubercle), then another small tubercle and finally an oblique short small carina on humeral area (humeral tubercle), dorsal area of elytra with three longitudinal irregular and asymmetrical rows (including elytral suture) of weakly raised carinae of variable length, sides with denser tubercles mixed to irregular carinae slightly more raised than on dorsal portion. Wings: flightless. Male genitalia: aedeagus (L = 1.8 mm) with parameres as in Figs 58 g-m, spiculum gastrale (L = 1.8 mm) as in Fig. 58 f .

Etymology. Latin adjective in the nominative singular meaning “islander”, because of its occurrence on Nosy Be island.

Distribution and habitat. Known only from the type locality. Collected by sifting litter in rainforest. For details on the collecting locality see under Goudotostes lokobensis sp. nov..

Figures

Fig. 58 – Goudotostes insularis sp. nov., paratype. a, ventral view of rolled up specimen; b, ventral view of rolled up specimen; c, dorsal view of rolled up specimen; d, Pronotum of rolled up specimen; e, lateral view of rolled up specimen; f, Spiculum gastrale; g–m, Seven views of aedeagus.