Goudotostes lapidisilvae, Ballerio, 2021

Ballerio, Alberto, 2021, The Ceratocanthinae of Madagascar and Comoro Islands: a revision of the genera Synarmostes and Goudotostes, and of the flightless Philharmostes, with description of 64 new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea, Hybosoridae), Fragmenta entomologica 53 (2), pp. 105-282 : 181-182

Goudotostes lapidisilvae sp. nov.

( Figs 50 a-k, 77) http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:60BB9B82-EA98-4502-9630-A4D5DD7194BA

Type series. Holotype, ♂, deposited in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, labelled as follows: / CASTYPE 20269 / CASENT 8043960 / Madagascar: Antsiranana Province Réserve Spéciale de l’Ankarana 13.6 km 192° SSW Anivorano Nord elev. 210 m 16-20 Feb. 2001 / 12° 51 49” S 049° 13’ 33” E / coll. Fisher, Griswold et al. Calif. Academy of Sciences sifted litter tropical dry forest collecting code: BLF3012 / Goudotostes lapidisilvae n. sp. det. A. Ballerio 2020 Holotypus ♂ / [distended, glued on card, dissected, male genitalia glued in DMHF resin on a separate card, same pin]. Paratypes [1 ♂ dissected]: 1 ♂ and 2 ♀♀ (2 in CASC and 1 in ABCB), same collecting data as holotype .

Diagnosis. Goudotostes lapidisilvae sp. nov. can be differentiated from all other species of Goudotostes by the following combination of characters: a) medium size, b) dorsal ocular area present (vestigial), c) head with a weak tubercle on clypeal disc, d) pronotal anterior carina monolobate, e) pronotal anterior carina obtusely triangular in frontal view, f) pronotal anterior carina raised and with a longitudinal sharp carina visible in dorsal view, g) pronotal basal carina monolobate, h) pronotum saddle-shaped in lateral view, i) pronotal disc with gibbosities and lacking any distinct carinae and/or tubercles (apart from the monolobate anterior and posterior carinae), j) elytra with irregular rows of strongly raised tubercles and short longitudinal carinae (distinct interstriae can be seen between those carinae and tubercles), k) aedeagus with a distinctive right paramere bearing a strong pointed apophysis as in Fig. 50 H-I. The species falls within the scabrosus group of species and can be differentiated by the other species of the group by the combination of characters e), f) h), and k).

Description. Size: HL = 1.2 mm; HW = 1.6 mm; PL = 1.5 mm; PW = 2.8 mm; EL = 3.0 mm; EW = 2.9 mm. Overall morphology as in generic diagnosis. Large-sized Goudotostes . Body strongly convex. Brown with slight metallic green sheen, especially on tubercles and carinae, dorsal setation fine and extremely short (50×), underside, tarsi and antennae dark reddish-brown, setation yellowish-brown. Head: W/L ratio = 1.48; clypeal apex obtuse, apical projection present and sexually dimorphic but weakly developed, sides almost rectilinear apart from slightly unaligned genae; dorsal ocular area present and small, genal canthus fused with occipital area of head, ventral ocular area small-sized, genae acute, distinctly protruding outwards, genal suture indistinct; head dorsal surface uniformly covered by large impressed simple punctures becoming transverse comma-shaped or tranverse lines on clypeal fore margin, clypeus with a weakly raised irregular large tubercle with surface covered by large deep simple punctures. Interpunctural distance inferior than punctural diameter (punctures almost adjacent to each other), interpunctural surface raised, giving an uneven appearance to head surface. Pronotum: subrectangular (dorsal view) (W/L ratio = 1.87), strongly convex and unevenly sculptured, base and sides broadly rounded, fore angles distinctly truncate; surface uniformly covered by dense deep large comma-shaped punctures becoming horseshoe-shaped at sides, each one bearing a short fine seta in the middle, punctation very deep, with interpunctural intervals raised and narrow (interpunctural distance inferior than punctural diameter, punctures almost adjacent to each other) giving a granulose appearance to surface; monolobate anterior carina strongly and narrowly raised, portion raised having the shape of an inverted wide V-shaped tubercle in frontal view and of a longitudinal sharp carina in dorsal view, disc with a depression in the middle, sides of disc with one weakly raised rounded tubercle, next to the tubercle a weakly raised transverse short carina reaching outer margin, posterior monolobate carina distinctly raised, dorsally marked by an inverted short T- shaped short tubercle. Pronotal bead complete and visible from above apart from base. Scutellum : base smooth, remaining surface covered by dense large transverse deep comma-shaped punctures, each one bearing a setigerous puncture internally. Elytra: longer than wide (W/L ratio = 0.94), subovoidal (dorsal view), strongly convex; humeral callus indistinct; elytral surface uniformly covered by a mixture of large deep comma-shaped punctures and small horseshoe-shaped punctures with opening directed inwards or outwards, each one bearing a fine setigerous puncture internally; interpunctural distance inferior than punctural diameter; inferior sutural stria complete and deep; striated articular area hardly visible in lateral view, relatively narrow and short; marginal area medium-sized; elytral articular process developed, smooth and shiny, partly isolated from remaining elytral surface by a deep furrow. Elytral sculpturing as follows: elytral suture marked by a longitudinal row of raised tubercles and short carinae (parasutural tubercles), base with one longitudinal carina near apex of scutellum, next to it two longitudinal shorter carinae, then another oblique carina which marks the humeral area (humeral carina), remaining elytral dorsal surface with two irregular asymmetrical rows of raised tubercles and short carinae (distinct interstriae can be seen between those carinae and tubercles), sides and apical portion of elytra with several irregular short rows of denser tubercles and short carinae. Wings: flightless. Male genitalia: aedeagus with parameres as in Figs 50 h-k, spiculum gastrale as in Fig. 50 f .

Etymology. Noun in the genitive case. From Latin lapis (= stone) and silva (= forest). Named after the “forest” of stones formed by the limestone erosions, locally called Tsingy, occurring in several Madagascan localities, including Ankarana.

Distribution and habitat. Known only from the type locality in northern Madagascar. The type series was collected by sifting litter in tropical dry forest. The vegetation cover of the area is classified as “Dry deciduous forest” ( Goodman et al. 2018), also known as “Western dry forest” ( Moat & Smith 2007). The area falls within the protected area “Réserve Spéciale de l’Ankarana”.

Figures

Fig. 50 – Goudotostes lapidisilvae sp. nov., holotype. a, pronotum of rolled up specimen; b, ventral view of rolled up specimen; c, dorsal view of rolled up specimen; d, ventral view of rolled up specimen; e, lateral view of rolled up specimen; f, holotype, spiculum gastrale; h–k, holotype, four views of aedeagus.