Hedyphanes mesopotamicus, Nabozhenko, 2005

Nabozhenko, M., 2005, New Synonymies And New Species Of The Genus Hedyphanes Fischer Von Waldheim, 1822 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae: Helopini), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 51 (4), pp. 349-355 : 351

Hedyphanes mesopotamicus sp. n.

( Figs 1–4 )

Type material – Holotype (m) with labels: “ Mesopotamia, Mosul ”, “ Hedyphanes sp. det.

Kaszab” (HNHM).

Description – Male ( Fig 1 ). Body black, moderately shining. Elytra with bronze sheen. Meso- and metaventrites, meso- and metanotum, epipleura and abdominal ventrites dark fuscous. Tibiae and antennae reddish fuscous. Length 6.9 mm, width 2 mm.

Head widest at the level of eyes. Eyes large, convex. Genae widely rounded. Temples straight in dorsal view. Lateral margin of head at the junction of gena and clypeus widely emarginate. Frons weakly convex. Head with shallow transverse depression along frontoclypeal suture. Anterior margin of clypeus straight. Punctation of head coarse, moderately dense (intervals between punctures on frons subequal to puncture diameter). Antennae long, with 3 apical segments extending beyond base of pronotum.

Pronotum 1.06 as long as wide, widest slightly anterior from middle. Pronotum weakly convex, slightly rounded at sides; anterior and posterior angles slightly obtuse, widely rounded. All sides of pronotum not margined (slightly margined only near anterior and posterior angles). Punctation on centre of pronotal disc coarse and moderately dense (spaces between punctures subequal to puncture diameter); punctation on margins finer and sparser. Propleura smooth, with sparse round punctures.

Elytra very convex, smooth; strial punctures very small, round, barely visible; interstriae flat, with fine and sparse punctation; punctures on interstriae larger than in striae. Humeral angles absent. Epipleura smooth, without microsculpture, not reaching to elytral apex. Meso- and metasterna with fine and sparse punctation.

Abdominal ventrites very finely and sparsely punctate, and with short sparse recumbent hairs. Aedeagus: Figs 2–3 . Spiculum gastrale: Fig. 4 .

Tibiae straight. Dorsal side of hind tibia gently chopped. Anterior tarsi strongly widened (segments 1–4 transverse), with dense hairbrush on ventral surface.

Diagnosis – This species is similar to Hedyphanes tagenioides FALDERMANN in MÉNÉTRIÉS, 1832 from which it can be separated by the metallic lustre of elytra, the reddish brown legs and antennae, the emargination of pronotum, the pronotal and elytral puncturation, the form of the parameres and penis.

Figures

Figs 1–4. Hedyphanes mesopotamicus sp. n.: 1 = habitus of male, 2 = aedeagus, ventral view, 3 = aedeagus, lateral view, 4 = spiculum gastrale, ventral view. Scale bars = 1 mm