Dicronychus zianii, Platia, 2015

Platia, Giuseppe, 2015, New species and records of Elateridae from North Pakistan, mostly collected by Guido Sabatinelli in 2011 - 2012 (Coleoptera)., Arquivos Entomolóxicos 13, pp. 3-52 : 23-24

Dicronychus zianii n. sp.

( Figs. 40, 40a , 93 , 169 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂ - Pakistan: Islamabad , Sect. 7 (33°43'N, 73°03'E), 600 m, 20.VI.- 20.VII.2011, G. Sabatinelli leg., at light ( CPG).

Diagnosis. Extremely similar in the general appearance, size and colour to D. unicus ( Vats & Chauhan, 1991) it can be separated by the denser punctures on the head but a sure identification is possible only comparing the totally different and very peculiar male genitalia in the new species.

Description.

Male. Shiny; entirely black-piceous with antennae and tarsi yellowish, femora and tibiae ferruginous; covered with dense, recumbent, yellowish pubescence.

Frons convex on vertex, flat at the anterior margin, the latter moderately arcuate, just protruding above the clypeus, punctures of variable diameters more or less regularly mixed with very short, shiny intervals.

Antennae not reaching for about two articles the apices of the posterior angles of pronotum, moderately serrated from the third article; the second article subcylindrical, twice longer than wide, third to tenth subtriangular, on average twice longer than wide, the last one as long as the penultimate, ellipsoidal and asymmetrically constricted at apex.

Pronotum as long as wide, widest at the middle, very convex, abruptly sloping at sides and base; sides regularly arcuate, just sinuate before the posterior angles, the latter short, acuminate, not divergent, with a short carina directed forwards; lateral suture-like complete, not visible in a dorsal view; punctuation uniformly distributed, punctures of variable diameters, simple, irregularly mixed with variable and shiny intervals on average smaller than their own diameters.

Scutellum heart-shaped, as long as wide, impressed at the middle, very finely punctured.

Elytra 2.37x longer than the pronotum and as wide as it, convex; sides ovaliform, striae well marked and punctured; interstriae subconvex, very finely punctured.

Claws deeply dentate on the first half.

Aedeagus as in Figs. 40, 40a (length 1.28 mm).

Female unknown.

Size. Length 7.80 mm; width 2.40 mm.

Etymology. Dedicated to my entomologist friend S. Ziani, specialist in coprophagous Scarabaeoidea, who collected interesting species in Pakistan.

Figures

Figs. 39-43.- Male genitalia in dorsal view. 39, 39a.- Cardiophorus doggeri Vats & Chauhan, 1991. 40, 40a.- Dicronychus zianii n. sp. 41, 41a.- Dicronychus eximius (Candèze, 1860). 42, 42a.- Dicronychus unicus (Vats & Chauhan, 1991). 43, 43a.- Craspedostethus ronkayi n. sp.

Figs. 89-95.- First or last articles of antennae. 89.- Melanotus hirticornis (Herbst, 1806). 90, 90a.- Melanotus villosus (Geoffroy, 1785), ♂♀. 91.- Priopus vafer (Erichson, 1841). 92.- Cardiophorus doggeri Vats & Chauhan, 1991. 93.- Dicronychus zianii n. sp. 94.- Dicronychus unicus (Vats & Chauhan, 1991). 95.- Craspedostethus ronkayi n. sp.

Figs. 164-172.- Habitus. 164.- Melanotus opicus Candèze, 1900 (14 mm). 165.- Melanotus riesei Platia & Schimmel, 2001 (12.5 mm). 166.- Melanotus punctosus (Walker, 1854) (14 mm). 167.- Melanotus punctosinus Cate, Platia & Schimmel, 2002 (11 mm). 168.- Priopus vafer (Erichson, 1841) (12.7 mm). 169.- Dicronychus zianii n. sp. (7.8 mm). 170.- Dicronychus eximius (Candèze, 1860) (6.1 mm). 171.- Dicronychus unicus (Vats & Chauhan, 1991) (8.0 mm). 172.- Craspedostethus ronkayi n. sp. (5.5 mm).