Synarmostes fortis, 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 : 156

Synarmostes fortis sp. nov.

( Figs 22 e-h, 30 j-l, 35) http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5C0B54B8-92E7-4CAA-B199-D5B2D46D83C2

Type series. Holotype, ♂, deposited in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, labelled as follows: / CASTYPE 20252 / CASENT8135204 / Madagascar: Antsiranana forêt de Bekaraoka 6.8 km 60° ENE Daraina el. 150 m 7 December 2003 / 13° 10 00” S 049° 42’ 36” E California Acad. of Sciences collector: B. L. Fisher, sifted litter (leaf mold, rotten wood) tropical dry forest BLF9872 / Synarmostes fortis 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 [1 ♂ dissected]: 3 ♂♂ (2 in CASC and 1 in ABCB), same collecting data as holotype . Further material examined (excluded from the type series): 1 ♀ ( CASC): / CASENT 8135284 / Madagascar: Antsiranana forêt de Binara 9.1 km 233° SW Daraina elev. 650-800m 3 December 2003 / 13° 15 48” S 049° 36’ 12” E California Acad. of Sciences collector: B. L. Fisher, sifted litter (leaf mold, rotten wood) rainforest BLF9656 /.

Diagnosis. Synarmostes fortis sp. nov. can be differentiated from all other species of Synarmostes by the following combination of characters: a) medium size, b) ventral ocular area small-sized, c) dorsal ocular area vestigial, d) dorsal setation absent (20×), e) flightlessness, f) pronotum without callosities on disc, g) pronotum weakly saddle-shaped in lateral view, h) elytral punctation consisting of irregular rows of large transverse comma-shaped punctures, i) carinae of elytral apical third irregular (with some weak tubercles or other irregularities). Synarmostes fortis sp. nov. belongs to the tibialis group of species and can be differentiated from the other species of the group by the combination of characters b), c) and h).

Description. Size: HL = 0.6 mm; HW = 1.2 mm; PL = 1.1 mm; PW = 1.9 mm; EL = 1, 9 mm; EW = 1.9 mm. Overall morphology as in generic diagnosis. Small-sized flightless Synarmostes . Body strongly convex. Black, shiny, dorsum glabrous (20×), underside, tarsi and antennae reddish-brown, setation yellowish. Head: W/L ratio = 1.37; clypeal apex obtuse, apical projection hardly appreciable, dorsal ocular area vestigial (hardly visible in transparence only), ventral ocular area small; head dorsal surface uniformly covered by dense strongly impressed large simple punctation. Fore margin with some irregular transverse lines. Interpunctural distance of simple impressed punctures irregular: from less than to once or twice larger than the punctural diameter. Vertex smooth with one transverse impressed irregular line shortly interrupted multiple times. Pronotum: subrectangular (W/L ratio = 1.91), irregularly convex, slightly depressed anteromedially with fore margin slightly raised, base and sides with sparse punctation, disc covered by dense short transverse impressed comma-shaped punctures, sides of disc covered by dense longitudinal comma-shaped punctures smaller than on disc. Interpunctural distance shorter than punctural diameter. Scutellum : base smooth, distal third covered by a few small comma-shaped punctures. Elytra: longer than wide (W/L ratio = 0.88); subovoidal (dorsal view); inferior sutural stria reaching humeral area; humeral callus absent; elytral surface regularly strongly convex, covered by small relatively sparse comma-shaped punctures with opening directed backward. Interpunctural distance irregular: once or twice the length of punctural diameter. Elytral distal third with at least eight raised longitudinal irregular carinae. Wings: flightless. Male genitalia: aedeagus (L = 0.9 mm) with parameres as in Figs 30 j-k, spiculum gastrale (L = 0.8 mm) as in Fig. 30 l .

Distribution and habitat. See under S. bekaraokae sp. nov. A female tentatively attributed to this species has been found in the Binara forest (see under Goudotostes rasoamananae sp. nov. for more details on the collecting locality).

Etymology. Latin adjective in the nominative singular, meaning “strong”, due to the hard bodied appearance of this new species.

Figures

Fig. 22 – Synarmostes compactus sp. nov., a, dorsal view of distended paratype; b, ventral view of rolled up paratype; c, dorsal view of rolled up paratype; d, lateral view of rolled up paratype; Synarmostes fortis sp. nov., e, dorsal view of distended holotype; f, ventral view of rolled up paratype; g, dorsal view of rolled up paratype; h, lateral view of rolled up paratype.

Fig. 30 – Aedeagi and spicula gastrales, a–c, Synarmostes aes sp. nov., holotype; d–f, Synarmostes separatus sp. nov., holotype; g–i, Synarmostes compactus sp. nov., holotype; j–l, Synarmostes fortis sp. nov., holotype; m–o, Synarmostes makirovanae sp. nov., holotype; p–r, Synarmostes lavasoae sp. nov., holotype.