Laricobius incognatus Háva, 2009a

Leschen, Richard A. B., 2011, World review of Laricobius (Coleoptera: Derodontidae), Zootaxa 2908, pp. 1-44 : 11-13

6. Laricobius incognatus Háva, 2009a

(figs 7, 37)

Diagnosis. Body bicolored. Head dark; ocelli present. Prothorax transverse without well developed lateral carina, sides not strongly explanate. Pronotum light; posterior tooth absent. Scutellum dark. Surface of elytra incurvate; elytral punctures posteriorly confluent. Epipleura dark. Ventrites dark. Femora light. Tibiae light. Aedeagus with medium lobe subacute.

Description. Length 2.64 mm. Body bicolored, mostly dark tan dorsally and the hypomera, head, venter, scutellum, and epipleura chocolate brown; antenna with AI dark tan, funicle light tan, club dark tan; palpi light tan, femora, tibiae and tarsi tan, with the metafemora brown to apical 1/3. Head with ocelli; u-shaped furrow absent; interocular distance about 2x the width of the eye; macropunctures ovate and deeply impressed and present at the center of the frons; micropunctures coarse; setation short, length shorter than 1/3 the width of the eye. Antenna with length of A3 about equal to A4, ratios 2.0:1.7:1.3:1.4:1.5:1.3:1.2:1.0:1.6:1.5:2.2; A11 strongly asymmetrical. Prothorax slightly transverse and moderately convex, widest at middle, sides sinuate, but not constricted greatly; about 0.79 x as long as wide (pronotal length/greatest pronotal width = 0.79); depth = 0.32; pronotum not laterally explanate, lateral carina without a distinct sharp edge; anterior angle acute, deflected, and forming a short laterally directed tooth (the angle formed between the anterior margin and lateral carina, excluding the tooth is about 90°); posterior angle indistinct and broadly rounded and without a short tooth; anterior foveae visible only in lateral view, posterior foveae visible in dorsal view; macropunctures ovate, deep, and well-separated, micropunctures present but sparse; setae short, and about 1/2 the width of eye. Elytra about 2.76 x as long as wide (elytral length/ greatest elytral width = 2.76) and 3.40 x as long as pronotum (elytral length/pronotal length = 3.40); surface incurvate at basal third; macropunctures, especially of striae 1–4, coalescing posteriorly to form grooves, separated by an average of ½ of a puncture diameter; micropunctures fine; microsculpture not visible; setae suberect and short, about 1/3 length of the eye. Aedeagus with phallobase slightly transverse and rectangular, about 2/3 the length of the median lobe; median lobe projecting significantly beyond apices of parameres, relatively narrow, apex subacute; parameres broad and apically blunt, apices curving towards midline and ending in a sharp point, asetose. Spiculum gastrale apically broad.

Comments. Laricobius incognatus can be distinguished from other species having posteriorly confluent elytral punctures by its bicolored body and uniformly colored elytra; the relatively more transverse prothorax and black scutellum will also separate this species from the similar-looking L. mirabilis .

This species was described from two male specimens from the Shennongjia Mountains and I examined the holotype which was covered with a residue making the cuticular and setal characters difficult to assess (the setae were stuck flat against the cuticle). The genitalia was not cleared and was drawn from the card mount, so some of the characters were not examined (the width of the median lobe, presence of median carina, and the placement of ostium and presence of internal subapical ridge).

Distribution. China: Hubei.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE ( JHPC). 1, male (card mounted and dissected, right metatarsus missing), China, W Hubei, 10.–14.VI. DASHENNONGJIA mts. 31.5N 110.3E, 2100–2900m Jaroslav Turna leg., 2002/ HOLOTYPE Laricobius incognatus sp. n. Jiři Háva 2009 (name hw, red label).