Procleomenes gouverneuri, Vitali, 2018

Vitali, Francesco, 2018, Procleomenes gouverneuri sp. n. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from Baltic amber: the first fossil member of the tribe Sestyrini Lacordaire, 1869, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 18 (1), pp. 33-38 : 34-37

Procleomenes gouverneuri sp. n.

( Figs. 1-4 )

Holotype. Baltic amber, ex coll. J. Damzen, author’s coll. FS71BS40. The death position with opened wings suggests that the specimen was attracted by the flowing resin and drowned, swimming inside for a certain time.

Differential diagnosis

Procleomenes gouverneuri sp. n. differs from all known extant species in the elytra long and with a peculiar pattern. Concerning the pattern, a scutellar spot can be found only in the Bornean P. tenuiformis Niisato, 1986 and P. longicollis Niisato, 1986 , but none of these species show a yellow elytral apex (Niisato, 1986). Moreover, all species with three elytral bands (basal, premedian and postmedian) always show a premedian yellow band and a black apex (both absent in Procleomenes gouverneuri sp. n.). The elytra cover the whole abdomen, whereas they leave uncovered one or two urites in modern species. However, the variability of such characters suggests to not introduce new names.

Description

Female (for general habitus and relatively short antennae), body length ~ 8 mm. Body elongated, black; antennae yellow with scape and apex of each segment black; legs black with femoral and tibial base more or less yellow; elytra black with a yellow pattern disposed as follows: a cordiform large scutellar spot, a pre-apical spot not reaching both marginal and sutural margin, and a transverse apical band.

Head large; forehead oblique, short; antennal tubercles close and not elevated; inter-antennal furrow reaching the base of the neck; eyes large, finely facetted, strongly reniform, very prominent laterally (as large as pronotum including lateral teeth), separated above by about one-third of the greatest width of head; neck with some raised setae. Palpi small; last maxillar and labial palpomere securiform, obliquely truncate at apex. Antennae elevensegmented, barely shorter than body; antennomeres IV-X toothed externally, with some apical setae; antennomeres II-IV with median setae as well; scape weekly clavate, straight; pedicle elongate, one-fourth as long as

Vitali F.

scape; antennomere III less than two-thirds as long as scape; antennomere IV, VI and VII equal, about one-third as long as III; antennomere VIII-X progressively shortened; antennomere XI as long as IX (antennomere proportions according to the formula: 1.6: 0.4: 1.0: 1.3: 1.4: 1.3: 1.3: 1.2: 1.1: 0.9: 1.1).

Prothorax cylindrical, elongate, 2.3 times as long as wide, slightly larger at apex than at base; apex with a large apical collar, then slightly enlarged; sides armed with a large blunt conical tubercle at the middle and covered by some raised setae on the apical half; base one-half as wide as elytral base, biarcuate and acutely produced posteriorly in the middle, flattened along the posterior margin; disc covered with extremely fine dense punctures. Scutellum minute, subrectangular.

Elytra elongate, slightly dehiscent posteriorly, 3.4 times as long as wide at humeri; base anteriorly concave; humeri squared; sides constricted in the middle; apex concavely truncated; disc flat, covered with extremely fine dense punctures.

Ventral side covered with pubescence long and raised on head and prosternum, long and recumbent on the metasterum and fine and recumbent on the abdomen; procoxae globose, procoxal cavities rounded, posteriorly closed; urosternite visible I-V progressively shortened; urosternite VIII (genital segment) posteriorly rounded.

Legs relatively long, femora pedunculate, covered with long setae; tibiae evidently shorter than femora, feebly curved, covered with some sub-erect short setae; tarsi short; metatarsi one-half as long as metatibiae; metotarsomere I as long as metatarsomeres II and III together.

Etymology

This new species is dedicated to Xavier Gouverneur, enthusiastic explorer and excellent entomologist of the South-eastern Asian Cerambycofauna.

Figures

Fig. 1. Procleomenes gouverneuri sp. n., dorsal view

Fig. 2. Procleomenes gouverneuri sp. n., ventral view

Fig. 3. Procleomenes gouverneuri sp. n., reconstruction

Fig. 4. Procleomenes gouverneuri sp. n., colour reconstruction