Trichocateres, JIŘÍ KOLIBÁČ, 2010

JIŘÍ KOLIBÁČ, 2010, Trichocateres fasciculifer, a new genus and species of Trogossitidae: Lophocaterini (Coleoptera), Zootaxa 2353, pp. 34-42 : 35

Trichocateres n. gen.

Gender: masculine.

Type species: Trichocateres fasciculifer n. sp.

Diagnosis: The new monotypic genus belongs to the tribe Lophocaterini (body oval, frontoclypeal suture deeply arcuate, antennal club weakly asymmetrical, mandibular mola present, base of mandible with membranous appendage/penicillus, prostheca composed of tuft of setae, lacinia with spines). It is most closely related to the ancestral genera of the tribe (mandibular mola present, elytral carinae well-developed), i.e. Lophocateres Olliff, 1883 , Indopeltis Crowson, 1966 , and Grynocharis Thomson, 1859 , of which the last is probably the most primitive (wing medial field with cross-veins, tegmen conspicuously divided into three parts). Trichocateres n. gen. has certain similarities with Lophocateres and Indopeltis : the mandible with membranous penicillus and distinct prostheca, the wing venation with cross-veins MP3–4 and AA1+2–3+4 absent, and the metendosternite with robust stalk and widely separated anterior tendons. It resembles Indopeltis in aedeagus with projecting phallobasic apodeme, eyes similarly shaped, relatively large and situated dorsally, and lateral edge of pronotum undulating, whereas Lophocateres parallels include labrum with tormal processes branched at base and maxilla with mediostipes not fused with lacinia. Excluding the characters mentioned, Trichocateres n. gen. differs from all three genera chiefly in tibial spur pattern 1–1–1, two sharp grooves in prosternal process and tufts of long hairs on elytra and pronotum. All three of these characters may be considered apomorphies, with the latter two characters unique among Peltinae .