A revision and addition to Zopheridae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea) in Baltic amber: possible connections between modern Holarctic distributions and Eocene ‘ amber forests’
Author
Alekseev, Vitalii
Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Nevskogo 14, Kaliningrad 236016, Russia. & Royal Saskatchewan Museum, 2445 Albert St., Regina, SK, S 4 P 4 W 7, Canada. & Biology Department, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S 4 S 0 A 2, Canada; & Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045, USA;
Author
Bukejs, Andris
Institute of Life Sciences and Technologies, Daugavpils University, Vienības 13, Daugavpils LV- 5401, Latvia.
text
Zootaxa
2024
2024-11-04
5536
2
201
247
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5536.2.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5536.2.1
1175-5326
14033618
5F1FBB59-9C69-4E66-9B0D-69A015F30EAA
Genus
Usechus
Motschulsky, 1845
Type
species:
Usechus lacerta
Motschulsky, 1845
Taxonomic assignment.
The studied inclusion is placed in the subfamily
Zopherinae
within the family
Zopheridae
based on the combination of the following characters:(1) antennae 11-segmented with 3-segmented club; (2) antennal insertions concealed under lateral expansion of frons; (3) 5-5-4 tarsal formula; (4) abdominal ventrite 1 slightly longer than ventrite 2; and (5) intercoxal process of abdominal ventrite 1 arcuate apically. The fossil specimen is assigned to the tribe
Usechini
based on the unique character of the group, namely possessing deep anterolateral antennal cavities on the pronotum. Externally closed procoxal cavities and pronotal disc without transverse basal groove suggest placement in the genus
Usechus
. Despite several characters of ventral side not being discernible in the beetle under study, we place the new species in
Usechus
based on the presence of the above-listed set of external characters.