Foranotum, Nabozhenko & Sadeghi, 2017

Nabozhenko, Maxim & Sadeghi, Saber, 2017, Foranotum perforatum gen. et sp. nov. - a new troglobitic darkling beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Kuhitangiinae: Foranotini trib. nov.) from a cave in Southern Zagros, Iran, Zootaxa 4338 (1), pp. 163-172 : 165

Genus: Foranotum gen. n.

Type species. Foranotum perforatum sp. n.

Etymology. from Latin “foramen” (hole) and notum (the back); gender: neuter.

Diagnosis. The same as for the tribe Foranotini.

Taxonomic position. Foranotum belongs to the family Tenebrionidae based on the following combination of characters: tarsal formula 5-5-4, antennal insertions concealed from above, antennae 11-segmented, mesocoxal cavities laterally closed by meso- and metaventrite. Complex of characters that differentiate Foranotum from other darkling beetles enabled the authors to include it in the tenebrionid subfamily Kuhitangiinae Medvedev, 1962: the third antennomere not elongate; procoxal cavities open externally and internally; 10 elytral striae. Some characters seems to be associated with adaptations to the cave life (as in some cavernicolous Tenebrionidae : Eschatoporiini ( Aalbu et al. 2017)): absence of wings and eyes, coarse sculpture and setation to retain a dense soil layer on the body, deep hollows between abdominal ventrites for spiracles (unique character).