Dendarus (Pandarinus) nabozhenkoi, Mofrad, 2024

Mofrad, Farhad Eshraghi, 2024, A new species of the genus Dendarus Dejean, 1821 from Southwest Iran (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Dendarini), Zootaxa 5399 (2), pp. 195-200 : 196-199

Dendarus (Pandarinus) nabozhenkoi sp. n.

( Fig. 1 )

Type material. Holotype (♂) and Paratypes (3♀) (HMIM): Iran, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Prov. , Zagros Mts. , Bazoft env. (Chari pass), H= 2700–2800m, 32°09ʹ54.9ʹʹN, 50°10ʹ37.8ʹʹE, 17.VIII.2023 (leg. F. Eshraghi Mofrad) .

Description. Male. Body slender, black, pronotum and elytra dorsally shiny, head lesser shiny ( Fig. 1A ). Measurements: body length 12 mm, body width 4.5 mm; PHw= 1.65; PwPl= 1.26; ElEw= 1.57; EHw= 1.95; EPw= 1.18; EPl= 2.36.

Head ( Figs 1A, D ). Widest at genal level. Lateral margin of temples (dorsal view) weakly rounded; genae sharply narrowed from eyes to base. Head ventrally with strongly impressed transverse rasp-like furrow. Head dorsally with moderately coarse and dense puncturation. Punctures along outer margin of head dense and smaller than on front ( Fig. 1D ). Antennae short, comparatively robust, antennomeres 8–11 transverse ( Fig. 1A ).

Prothorax ( Figs. 1B, D ) moderately transverse, widest at middle; lateral margins weakly rounded in anterior ¾ and shortly and weakly emarginated in basal quarter; anterior margin widely emarginated, base bisinuate. Anterior angles very weakly protruding, posterior ones right-angled, also weakly protruding but not extending to the level of the middle of pronotal base; all margins beaded, except middle of anterior margin; disc weakly convex, uniformly, coarsely and densely punctured by round punctures (puncture diameter 2–3 times longer than interpuncture distance); puncturation sparser and finer than on head ( Fig. 1D ). Prothoracic hypomera sparsely and coarsely punctured among the transverse grooves. Prosternal process comparatively narrow, narrowly rounded at apex ( Fig. 1B ).

Elytra elongate, widest at middle. Striae consisting of 32–38 very slightly impressed fine round punctures, which are about 2 times larger than sparse and fine interstrial punctures ( Fig. 1A ). Ventral side of pterothorax and abdominal ventrites have no significant differences from other Iranian species ( Fig. 1B ).

Legs ( Figs. 1E, F ). Protibiae strongly widened at apex, with a deep, wide notch on the inner side and a sharp acute tooth at the proximal base of the notch; protibiae wide at the level of the mentioned tooth, where it is equal with apical level ( Fig. 1E ). Mesotibiae weakly bent, apical third with a dense row of yellow hairs on the inner side. Metatibiae bent, inner side bisinuate. Mesotarsomeres 2–4 weakly widened; mesotarsomeres 2 with a small goldish hair brush on sole surface ( Fig. 1F ).

Genitalia and terminalia ( Figs. 1G, H, J ). Inner sternite VIII with sparse distinct punturation along anterior margin. Rods of spiculum gastrale thickened and wider than blades (derivates of sternite IX), with two small spinelike teeth on outer sides near blades; blades small elongate, weakly sclerotized. Aedeagus with acute and straight ventral apophyses of apical piece, which are slightly longer than median lobe. Median lobe truncate at apex.

Female ( Fig. 1C ). Body more robust and wider; antennae slightly shorter; protibiae weakly bent. Measurements: PHw= 1.65–1.66; PwPl= 1.36–1.43; ElEw= 1.44–1.38; EHw= 2.15–2.11; EPw= 1.30–1.26; EPl= 2.70–2.39. Body length 12.6–13.7 mm, body width 5.6–5.7 mm.

Etymology. The species is named in honor of Dr. Maxim V. Nabozhenko, my friend and my inspirer in Tenebrionidae .

Comparative diagnosis. The new species is similar to D. matthewsi Nabozhenko, 2022 and D. simplex Seidlitz, 1893 (see photographs of both species in Nabozhenko & Poggi (2022)) in the structure of strongly widened male protibiae and fine, not deep strial punctures. D. simplex differs from D. matthewsi and D. nabozhenkoi sp. n. in the structure of male protibiae: D. simplex has a very short and shallow notch, with a weak, obtuse tooth on the inner side. Also, the lateral margins of the male temples are rounded and not sharply narrowed beyond eyes. The new species is different from D. matthewsi by the following characters: much deeper, wider notch and an acute tooth in the inner side of protibiae (shorter and not so deep notch, right or weakly obtuse tooth in D. matthewsi ); mesotarsi with only one small/reduced hair brush of goldish hairs on the mesotarsomere 2 (mesotarsi bear two large brushes on mesotarsomeres 2 and 3 in D. matthewsi ); rods of spiculum gastrale bear two teeth on outer margin near blades; blades of spiculum gastrale short, longitudinal (wide and transverse in D. matthewsi ); ventral apophyses of the median lobe of the aedeagus straight (S-curved in D. matthewsi ); the median lobe of the aedeagus with truncate apex (narrowly rounded in D. matthewsi ). Dendarus nabozhenkoi sp. n. also differs from both compared species in the bent male metatibiae with bisinuate inner side.

Bionomics. Adults of this new species were found under Astragalus ( Fabaceae ) bushes during the day in the Zagros mountains ( Fig. 2 ).

Distribution: The new species is distributed in the Southwest of Iran. This is the second species known from Zagros mountains ( Fig. 3 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dendarus nabozhenkoi sp. n., habitus, details of structure. A = male, dorsally; B = male, ventrally; C = female, dorsally; D = male, head and pronotum, dorsally; E = male protibia; F= male mesotibia and mesotarsus; G = spiculum gastrale; H = aedeagus ventrally; I = male tergite VIII; J = male inner sternite VIII.

FIGURE 2. Habitat of Dendarus (Pandarinus) nabozhenkoi sp. n. on the slope of the Mountain area in Chari pass. Photograph by F. Eshraghi Mofrad.

FIGURE 3. Geographical distribution of Iranian Dendarus in Iran (generated with Simple Mappr).