Taurohelops Keskin and Nabozhenko

Keskin, Bekir & Nabozhenko, Maxim, 2015, The New Genus Taurohelops Keskin and Nabozhenko (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from Anatolia, Turkey, The Coleopterists Bulletin (mo 14) 69, pp. 83-92 : 84

Taurohelops Keskin and Nabozhenko , new genus

Type Species. Stenomax incultus Allard, 1877

Gender. Masculine.

Etymology. The name Taurohelops derives from Taurus Mountains ( Turkey) and the generic name Helops .

Description. Body length 13.5–16.2 mm. Body brown, with dull shine, slender, strongly elongate in male and more robust in female. Outer margin of head between frontoclypeus and gena with deep rectangular sinuation. Antennae strongly elongate in male (with 5 apical antennomeres extending beyond base of pronotum and reaching middle of elytra), moderately elongate in female (with 3 apical antennomeres extending beyond base of pronotum, reaching basal quarter of elytra). Pronotum subquadrate in male, weakly transverse in female, disc weakly convex. Surface of pronotum with rare coeloconic sensilla ( Figs. 3, 5 ). Prothoracic hypomera with microwrinkles and distinct, sparse punctation. Hind wings absent. Elytra strongly elongate and subparallel in male, wider and not parallel-sided in female.Interstriae with large granules with coeloconic sensillae ( Fig 2 ), striae with trichoid sensillae ( Fig. 4 ). Interstria 8 keel-shaped and reaching apex of epipleuron ( Fig. 1 ). Abdominal ventrites 3 and 4 with strongly elevated posterior margin. Membranes between ventrites 3–5 strongly widened. Abdominal ventrite 5 strongly convex, inwardly curved, with bisinuate margin, apex protruding. Male tibiae bent, without teeth on inner side. Pro- and metatibiae flattened and strongly pubescent on inner side. Tarsi not widened. Male genitalia: Aedeagus with long basal piece; ventral margins of basal piece merged, piece without membrane along entire length. Extensions of apical piece (alae) very short, merged. Apical piece movable, very short, flattened dorso-ventrally and curved upward, depressed dorsally. Median lobe with acute apex and baculi connected basally. Gastral spicula with thick rods and pseudotrunk, moderately bent (lateral view), with sclerotized basal lobes. Inner sternite VIII modified, thickened (lateral view), with or without additional teeth. Female genital tubes: Spermatheca simple, without processes, long (to 12 mm), with very short basal duct, gland somewhat longer than spermatheca ( Fig. 14 ).

Diagnosis. T a u ro h e l o p s b e l o n g s t o t h e Cylindrinotus genus-group ( Nabozhenko 2005) of the subtribe Cylindrinotina with Cylindrinotus , Stenomax , Odocnemis, Microdocnemis Nabozhenko and Keskin , Reitterohelops Skopin , Armenohelops Nabozhenko , and Idahelops Keskin and Nabozhenko. Representatives of these genera have a strongly sclerotized aedeagus with a dorsoventrally flattened or tube-shaped ( Stenomax ) apical piece and often spermatheca with small processes. Known larvae of this genus-group have a labrum with 10 marginal and 2 discal setae on the dorsal side (Nabozhenko and Gurgenidze 2006; Purchart and Nabozhenko 2012). Taurohelops differs from these genera by the following characters:

1. Male tibiae without teeth on inner side (also as in Stenomax , Reitterohelops , Armenohelops , and Idahelops ), but strongly bent, flattened, and densely pubescent on inner side of pro- and metatibiae; protibiae in Taurohelops strongly depressed on their inner side.

2. Abdominal ventrites 3 and 4 with strongly elevated posterior margin; membranes between ventrites 3–5 strongly widened; ventrite 5 strongly convex, inwardly curved, with bisinuate margin protruding at apex. These characters differentiate Taurohelops from all known genera of the tribe Helopini .

3. Aaedeagus similar to that of Armenohelops and Idahelops . Species of these two genera also have a long basal piece and short, upwardly curved apical piece, but in contrast to Taurohelops , males of these genera have long alae on the apical piece, not merged with the ventral margins of the basal piece and accordingly a complete membrane runs along the entire length of the piece;

4. Presence of coeloconic sensillae on pronotum, while other genera with only elytral coeloconic sensillae.

The combination of epipleural and elytral characters (keel-shaped interstria 8 reaching apex of epipleuron) in Taurohelops is similar to that seen in the Odocnemis recticollis species-group.

Figures

Figs. 1–5. Taurohelops incultus. 1) Apex of right elytron with convex interstriae 8; 2) Celoconic elytral sensillum;

Fig. 14. Taurohelops incultus, female genital tubes. bds = basal duct of spermatheca; g = spermathecal gland; ov = oviduct; s = spermatheca.