New Zopheridae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea) from Baltic amber
Author
Alekseev, Vitalii I.
Author
Bukejs, Andris
text
Zootaxa
2016
4178
3
409
427
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4178.3.6
44b8171c-8531-4192-af43-fadab952741d
1175-5326
254783
3278A5A0-B5FE-4C05-8C09-BAA31E87B9B9
D. slipinskii
Alekseev & Bukejs
sp. nov.
(
Figs 7–9
, 24)
Type material.
Holotype: Nr. 731-1 [CCHH] “Holotype /
Diodesma slipinskii
sp. nov.
/ des. Alekseev V.I. & Bukejs A.” [red hand-written label]; sex unknown. Complete beetle is included in a small, transparent, yellow amber piece embedded in block of GTS-polyester resin with dimensions 18 × 6 ×
6 mm
. Syninclusions are seven stellate Fagacean hairs and one mite (length
0.35 mm
). Amber piece with inclusion possibly thermally treated in autoclave.
Type
strata.
Baltic
amber,
Upper Eocene
,
Prussian Formation
(Priabonian).
Estimated
age: 37.2–33.9 Ma.
Type
locality.
Yantarny
settlement (formerly Palmnicken),
Sambian
(Samland)
Peninsula
,
Kaliningrad
region,
Russia
.
Differential diagnosis.
Diodesma slipinskii
sp. nov.
differs from extant species of the genus in the following combination of characters: pronotum with protruding anterior angles; lateral sides of pronotum weakly explanate and flattened anteriad; elytra with small punctures; antennomere 10 subquadrate.
Description.
Body length about
2.25 mm
, maximum height and width (at middle of elytra) 0.68 and
0.95 mm
respectively; body elongate, strongly convex dorsally, flattened ventrally; body and appendages apparently uniformly black in colour.
Head
. 1.5× as wide as long; distinctly widest between antennae; vertex covered with dense, small, round, unisetose granules; frons and clypeus sparsely punctured and setose. Anterior clypeal margin widely rounded. Eyes large, prominent, conical, with coarse facets; interfacetal setae not apparent; distance between eye and antennal insertion slightly shorter than scape length. Maxillary palpus 4-segmented, short; palpomere 4 broad, oval-shaped. Labial palpus 3-segmented, palpomere 3 largest, ovate. Antennae short, extending to middle of pronotum; 11- segmented with 2-segmented club, densely covered with dark, straight semierect setae. Scape, pedicel and antennomere 3 elongate; antennomeres 4–9 transverse; antennomere 10 subquadrate; antennomere 11 rounded. Antennomere length ratios: 6-5-5-4-4-3-3-3-3-5-3.
Thorax
. Pronotum transverse, 1.2× as wide as long, widest at middle; pronotal disc convex, densely covered with unisetose granules (distinctly larger than granules on head). Lateral sides weakly explanate and flattened anteriad. Anterior margin arcuate; lateral and posterior margins rounded; anterior angles triangular, acute, prominent, reaching middle of eye; posterior angles obtuse. Pro-, meso- and metasternum weakly rugose. Procoxal cavities open posteriorly, meso- and metacoxal cavities closed. All coxae separated: procoxae by elongate (3:1 length to width ratio), parallel-sided prosternal process; mesocoxae by distance approximately 0.3 of coxal diameter; metacoxae by intercoxal process of ventrite 1 (slightly narrower than metacoxal diameter).
Scutellum small, indistinct. Elytra ovate, length
1.5 mm
, width
0.95 mm
; strongly convex dorsally, slightly wider than pronotum at humeri, jointly rounded apically; weakly rugose at disc and crenulated laterally in basal one-fourth of length. Humeral angles rounded. Each elytron with 10 rows of small, round punctures, distance between strial punctures equal to 1.5–2.0× diameter of one puncture; intervals flat, distance between striae approximately 3–4× diameter of single puncture. Strial punctures bearing long, curved setae. Scutellary striole not apparent. Epipleura well-developed, reaching apex of elytra, widest at humeral angle. Hind wings not apparent. Ratio of lengths of mesoventrite to metaventrite to abdomen:
3-3-14
.
Abdomen
. With five visible, similarly articulated ventrites. Ventrite length ratios:
22-14-11-9-10.
Setation of ventrites not apparent (possibly absent); ventrite 5 rounded apically. Intercoxal process of abdominal ventrite 1 rounded.
Legs
. Tarsi tetramerous. Length of apical tarsomere equal to combined length of tarsomeres 1–3; tarsomere 3 smallest. Tarsal claws simple, large, equal in size, with length about one-third of tarsomere 4.
Etymology.
Patronymic, this new species is named in honor of a renowned coleopterist and specialist on zopherid beetles, Dr. Adam Ślipiński (CSIRO, Canberra,
Australia
)