Prometopia hirta, Jelínek & Hájek & Eos & Mp- & Bx & Ds, 2020

Jelínek, Josef, Hájek, Jiří, Eos, Canon, Mp-, Canon, Bx, Olympus & Ds, Canon, 2020, Review of the Afrotropical species of the genus Prometopia (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Prometopiinae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 60 (1), pp. 189-199 : 193-195

Prometopia hirta sp. nov.

(Figs 5, 8)

Type locality. Zambia, Northwestern Province, between Chisasa and Solwezi.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♀ (NMPC), labelled: ‘ Zambia NW, E of / Chisasa , W of Solwezi / lgt. Snížek, 24.x.2008 [p] // HOLOTYPE ♀ / PROMETOPIA / hirta sp. nov. / Jelínek & Hájek det. 2019 [p, red label]’. PARATYPES: 1 ♀, labelled: ‘ ZAMBIA / CENTRAL PROVINCE / 15 km S KAPIRI MPOSHI / 30.11.2002 / A.KUDRNA JR. LGT. [p]’ (ALBC); 3 ♀♀, labelled: ‘Zambia NW / 50 km E of Mwinilunga / lgt. Snížek, 28.x.2008 [p]’ (NMPC); 1 ♀, labelled: ‘Zambia NW / 15 km E

of Solwezi / 17.x.2008, lgt. Snížek [p]’ (NMPC); 1 ♀, labelled: ‘TAN- ZANIA-Kigoma pr./ 30 km NW Uvinza / S05°02′, E30°22′ / 29.12.2006, 1500 m / Halada J. leg. [p]’ (NMPC). All paratypes with the respective red printed paratype label.

Description. Female (holotype). Oblong oval, convex, moderately shining. Black, explanate sides of pronotum and elytra rusty, each elytron with two round orange spots, legs and antennae brown. Pubescence yellowish, long, semierect, sparse but conspicuous (Fig. 5).

Head narrower than anterior margin of pronotum (HEAW/WPR3 = 0.92), eyes subquadrangular (dorsal view) with short interfacetal setae, temples short, convergent. Anterior margin of clypeus truncate, not bordered; clypeus and frons separated by transverse impression between antennal insertion. Frons moderately convex with large reniform punctures, much larger than eye facets and bearing thick yellowish semierect setae on their anterior margin; interstriae smooth and shining with intermixed fine simple punctures bearing thin, shorter semidecumbent setae. Antennae shorter than width of head across eyes (ratio HEAW/ANLE = 1.18), thin; antennal club occupying less than one third of antenna length (ratio ANLE/ ANCL = 3.50), oval, ratio ANCL/ANCW = 1.66; scape subtriangular; antennomere III fairly as long as IV–VI combined; antennomere VIII as long as wide, not wider than preceding ones.

Pronotum transverse, widest posterior to midlength (ratio WPR2/LEPR = 2.09), more strongly narrowed anteriad than posteriad (ratio WPR1/WPR3 = 1.56). Anterior margin in middle truncate, not bordered; anterior angles sharp, prominent. Lateral margins arcuate, explanate (explanate sides twice as wide as antennal flagellum). Basal margin projecting into short subtruncate lobe in front of scutellum, besides it twice shallowly concave and bordered. Posterior angles obtuse, not prominent. Pronotal disc rather strongly transversely convex; median portion with punctures smaller than eye-facets and separated by more than one diameter; lateral thirds punctate like frons, with large reniform punctures intermixed with fine simple punctures. Long semierect yellowish setae intermixed with inconspicuous fine recumbent setae. Interspaces shining.

Scutellar shield transverse, rounded, mostly concealed by basal lobe of pronotum.

Elytra longer than their combined width (ratio LELY/ WELY = 1.04), 2.28× longer than pronotum, simultaneously rounded apically. Lateral margins narrowly explanate (nearly as wide as antennal flagellum), in basal half rectilinear and subparallel, in apical half arcuately converging towards apex; humeral angle obtusely angulate. Surface rather strongly transversely vaulted, humeral bulges indistinct. Punctures nearly equal in size to eye-facets, separated by about one diameter, intermixed with smaller ones; interspaces smooth and shining, becoming somewhat rugose at lateral margins. Pubescence apparently uniform, consisting of long semierect yellowish setae, shorter setae indistinct.

Pygidium broadly rounded, rugosely punctate.

Legs. Protibia 4.00× longer than wide, becoming gradually wider distad; outer edge finely crenulate, outer sub- apical angle with short acute spine. Metatibia 4.88× longer than wide, its inner margin broadly arcuate. Tarsomeres I–III of all tarsi simple, subcylindrical; tarsomere V as long as all preceding ones combined. Tarsal claws simple.

Ventral surface. Mentum 3.33× wider than long, punctures at sides as large as eye-facets, becoming smaller mesad. Postmentum shallowly concave, punctures equal in size to eye-facets, separated by one diameter or less, interspaces smooth and shining. Antennal furrows deep, partly concealed by extended S-shaped outer edges of postmentum. Genae posterior to eyes impunctate. Prosternum broadly transversely vaulted, sparsely punctate, punctures smaller than eye-facets and separated by ca. two diameters; interspaces smooth and shining. Prosternal process broad, horizontal, bordered at sides, apical margin shallowly concave in middle, surface sparsely punctate like prosternum. Hypomera markedly transversely wrinkled. Mesoventrite transversely vaulted, anterior margin completely bordered, anterior half impunctate in middle, microscopically transversely strigose laterally, posterior half with punctures smaller than eye-facets and separated by more than one diameter; interspaces smooth and shining. Suture between meso- and metaventrite obsolete. Metaventrite flattened in middle, moderately convex laterally. Punctures somewhat smaller than those on mesoventrite, separated by several diameters, interspaces smooth and shining. Discrimen absent. Mesocoxal lines fluently shallowly S-shaped, reaching sternopleural suture posterior to midlength (Fig. 8). Metepisterna with obliquely transverse raised ridge reaching sternopleural suture before mesocoxal lines, punctation before and posterior to ridge equal. Abdominal ventrite I almost as long as mesoventrite (ratio LMEV/LVE1 = 1.10), sparsely punctate like mesoventrite. Metacoxal lines consisting (as in all Prometopiinae ) of two parts: inner one rectilinear, running from inner corner of metacoxal cavity posterolaterad to posterior margin of ventrite I, and outer transverse, twice broken line, median portion of which is almost indistinct, running immediately at margin of coxal cavity; axillary space triangular, finely densely punctulate. Abdominal ventrites II–IV equally long, more densely punctate than ventrite I, punctures mostly separated by less than one diameter, interspaces with obsolete traces of reticulation. Hypopygium broadly rounded apically.

Male. Unknown.

Variation. The type series available does not display much variation.

Measurements. Body length 3.5–4.0 mm, width 1.9–2.1 mm. Ratios HEAW/ANLE = 1.18–1.20, HEAW/WPR3 = 0.89–0.95 (mean 0.91), WPR1/WPR2 = 0.94–0.96 (0.95), WPR1/WPR3 = 1.52–1.57 (1.54), WPR2/WPR3 = 1.58– 1.67 (1.62), WPR2/LEPR = 2.03–2.18 (2.12), LELY/LEPR = 2.25–2.40 (2.30), LELY/WELY = 1.03–1.07 (1.05).

Differential diagnosis. Prometopia hirta sp. nov. differs from its Afrotropical congeners especially in its oblong body, the elytra being longer than their combined width with lateral margins rectilinear and subparallel in their basal half, and the dorsum being strongly transversely convex with conspicuous semierect yellowish pubescence (see also the above key).

With its habitus being oblong with a subparallel-sided convex body, and four orange spots on the elytra in addition to conspicuous semierect light pubescence, the new species most resembles Prometopia gracilis Grouvelle, 1908 from India, Nepal, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Both species can be distinguished by characters summarized in Table 1.

Etymology. Latin adjective hirtus, -a, -um (= hairy, hirsute) refers to conspicuous pubescence distinguishing the new species from its African congeners.

Distribution. The new species is known so far from several localities in northwestern Zambia and western Tanzania; both areas are ca. 900 km apart (Fig. 15).