Microcenoscelis, Schawaller, Wolfgang, 2015

Schawaller, Wolfgang, 2015, Microcenoscelis n. gen. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Ulomini) from tropical Africa, with description of a blind species from Zimbabwe, Zootaxa 4027 (3), pp. 437-441 : 438

Microcenoscelis n. gen.

Diagnosis. Microcenoscelis n. gen. shares all characters of the tribe Ulomini Blanchard, 1845 , as defined by Matthews & Bouchard (2008), and seems to be mostly related to the genera Cenoscelis Wollaston, 1867 , and Cneocnemis Gebien, 1914 . The new genus can be recognised by the combination of the following characters: small body size (around 3.0 mm), clypeolabral membrane broadly exposed, labrum in same plane as clypeus, antennomere 3 not prolonged and as long as antennomere 4, antennomeres 6–10 about 2.0x as wide as long, and protibia flattened with row of small spines but not toothed. The generic differences between the concerned genera are also displayed in the Table 1.

Character Uloma Cneocnemis Cenoscelis Microcenoscelis Clypeolabral covered or exposed in covered or exposed in broadly exposed broadly exposed membrane middle only middle only

Labrum in lower plane than in lower plane than in same plane as clypeus in same plane as

clypeus clypeus clypeus The monotypic Australian genus Typhluloma Lea, 1912 (Ulomini) , unknown to the author and therefore not included in the Table 1, contains a blind species too, with a body length of 4.0– 4.5 mm, but with the anterior tibiae fossorial, flattened and with dentate outer edges as in Uloma Dejean, 1821 ( Lea 1912, Kaszab 1982). Species composition. Microcenoscelis caeca n. sp. (type species by present designation), Microcenoscelis minuscula ( Ardoin, 1969) n. comb.

Etymology. Combination of the genus Cenoscelis and epithet micro, pointing to the small body size.