Prothyma (Parasymplecthyma) johnsoni, Wiesner & Anichtchenko, 2023

Wiesner, Jürgen & Anichtchenko, Alexander, 2023, The Philippines species of the genus Prothyma Hope, 1838 (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) Part 1: Subgenera Prothyma Hope, 1838, Genoprothyma Rivalier, 1964 and Parasymplecthyma subgen. nov., Zootaxa 5315 (1), pp. 1-36 : 33

Prothyma (Parasymplecthyma) johnsoni sp. nov. ( Fig. 18 )

Type material. Holotype male: “ March 2021 / Mt Talomo / Davao del Sur / Mindanao , Philippines // “HOLOTYPUS Prothyma / ( Parasymplecthyma ) / johnsoni / design.Wiesner & /Anichtchenko 2022 [printed, red]” ( JWc) . Paratypes: 2 females: “ June 2019 / Gumitan , Davao / Mindanao / Philippines ” and “ April 2021 / Mt Talomo / Davao del Sur / Mindanao , Philippines ” ( WJc) ; 1 male: “ Filippine Mindanao / Aguson [Agusan] del Norte / V.2012 ” ( RSc) ; 1 female: “ Filippine Mindanao / South Cotobato / Arakan IV. 2014 ” ( RSc) ; 1 female: “ Philippines Mindanao / Davao del Sur / Mt. Apo VI.2014 ” ( RSc). All labelled with “PARATYPUS Prothyma / ( Parasymplecthyma ) / johnsoni design. Wiesner & / Anichtchenko 2022 [printed, red]” .

Etymology. This new species is cordially dedicated to Walter N. Johnson, Minneapolis, Minnesota, a specialist of Nearctic tiger beetles, who made three specimens available to us.

Diagnosis. Prothyma (Parasymplecthyma) johnsoni sp. nov. is unique because: 1, the inner sac (aedeagus) with a long, filiform flagellum forming a helical spiral with six coils; 2, the yellow labrum; 3, yellow legs and 4, basal four antennal segments yellow.

Description. Size: TL (without labrum) 11.2–13.9 mm (mean = 12.8 mm, n = 3).

Head: Color shining black; with greenish-blue or violet reflections; surface glabrous, with two setigerous punctures next to eye, one along frontal margin and one dorsally at center; strong longitudinal striae on orbital plates and vertex; strong transversal striae behind the eyes and on neck; striae becoming obsolete on genae, frons, and clypeus. Head a little smaller than the elytra (mean EW/HW = 1.1). Labrum yellow brownish. Labrum of male ( Fig. 18f ) wider than long (mean LW/LL = 1.4); with four setae located near the margin, two lateral and two apical; with two blunt anterolateral teeth and two outward directed anterior teeth at the anteromedian lobe, intermediate space slightly bulged twice. Labrum of female ( Fig. 18g ) as wide as long (mean LW/LL = 1.0), with four setae located near the margin, two lateral and two apical; with two blunt anterolateral teeth and two outward directed thorn-like anterior teeth at the anteromedian lobe, intermediate space with a large triangular tooth. Mandibles brownish, with four teeth, margins darker. Labial and maxillary palpi yellow brownish. Antennae slender, reaching posteriorly to just behind the shoulders; scape and antennomeres two to four yellow brownish; scape with one apical seta, the following three antennomeres almost glabrous; antennomeres five to eleven black, dull, finely, and evenly pubescent.

Thorax: Pronotum slightly longer than wide (mean PW/PL = 0.9); sides not rounded between the transversal constrictions, nearly parallel sided; glabrous, with transverse striae above; shiny black with blue greenish or violet reflections; sternae and episternae glabrous, shiny black with bluish reflections; Mesepisternum of female with a long, shallow depression in the center.

Elytra: ( Figs 18a–c ) slightly more than twice as long as wide (mean EL/EW = 2.1), Elytra with a basal hump, laterally from the end of the humeral spot to the beginning of the apical lunule gently and arcuately indented, enclosing the latero-marginal spot; color shining black, with violet or greenish-blue reflections; elytral testaceous maculation consists of humeral and lateromedial dots and apical lunule; the humeral spot is broad and extends from the lateral margin to the middle suture in the male; the latero-marginal spot is large and trapezoidal, oriented obliquely downwards; the apical lunule is broad and encompasses the entire elytral apex to the middle suture; surface with dense and evenly spaced punctures, becoming confluent and forming grooves near the suture; these grooves extends from the basal hump along the middle suture to the apex and is bounded toward the lateral margin by the edge of the arcuate indentation; apical margin distinctly rounded and slightly restricted towards middle suture, with a tiny sutural spine. Epipleurae yellow-brownish.

Ventral aspect: Venter glabrous, yellow-brownish; legs yellow-brownish with apex of segments slightly brownish; coxa and trochanter glabrous, femur, tibia, and tarsi sparsely setose, mesotibiae more densely bristled in apical half.

Aedeagus: ( Figs 18d–e ) in lateral view with a short slender base, from there strongly and cylindrically inflated, tapering in apical quarter to a point at upper lateral margin, taper not rectilinear but bulging. The tip is short, curved upwards, thickened and knob-like. The inner sac is half-filled by a flagellum in six helical coils; the flagellum encloses a sustaining membrane, with an apical chitinous plate, shield and piece are crowded together (total length 3.5 mm).

Distribution. MINDANAO - few localities near Mt. Apo.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Prothyma (Parasymplethyma) johnsoni sp. nov. (a) Holotype, male. Dorsal habitus. (b–c) Left elytron, female. Scale = 5 mm. (d–e) Aedeagus, left and right lateral view. (f) Labrum of male; (g) Labrum of female. Scale = 1 mm. Scale = 1 mm.