Bubastoides kadleci, Bily, 2008

BÍLÝ, SVATOPLUK, 2008, Bubastoides kadleci sp. nov. from Yemen (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Bubastini), Zootaxa 1751 (1), pp. 55-68 : 55-57

Bubastoides kadleci sp. nov.

( Figs. 1, 3, 5 )

Type specimen. Holotype (female): “W Yemen, Jabal Bura , NEE of Al Hudaydah [52 km NNE of Al Hudaydah], 14°52'' N 43°24 E, 225-600 m, 30.x.–1.xi.2005, lgt. S. Kadlec ”; holotype deposited in the National Museum, Prague.

. Diagnosis. Medium-sized, cylindrical, convex, dark bronze; dorsal surface glabrose, head with several short, white setae above antennal cavities and along inner margins of eyes; ventral surface with sparse, rather long, white pubescence (erect on sternal portion, recumbent on ventrites); laterosternites, metepisterna, outer margin of prosternum and ventrites and apical portion of anal ventrite with cream-white tomentum; labrum and legs with short, dense, white pubescence; dorsal surface dark metallic bronze, ventral surface bronze with red reflections, tarsi and antennae black with green lustre.

Description of the holotype. Head relatively large, as wide as anterior pronotal margin, frons slightly convex, vertex convex, about 5 times as wide as width of eye; eyes small, widely elliptical, not projecting beyond outline of head; frontoclypeus deeply, triangularly emarginate; vertex with fine, lustrous, medial line; antennae very short, reaching anterior third of lateral pronotal margins; scape curved, pear-shaped, 2.5 times as long as wide; pedicel slightly triangular, 1.2 times as long as wide; third antennomere conical, 1.5 times as long as wide, antennomeres 4-10 sharply triangular, slightly wider than long; terminal antennomere ovoid; sculpture of frons consisting of rough, deep, dense, somewhat longitudinally prolonged punctures with tiny central grains; sculpture of vertex finer consisting of simple, deep punctures.

Pronotum slightly wider than elytra, very convex, 1.13 times as wide as long without any laterobasal depressions; anterior margin widely lobate, posterior margin deeply bisinuate; lateral margins regularly rounded, posterior fifth straight, posterior angles sharp; posterior margin opposite to scutellum with small, deep, elongate fovea; pronotal sculpture consisting of deep, rounded punctures which are larger, deeper on lateral portion than on disc; pronotum with indistinct, smooth medial line reaching from basal pit as far as to anterior margin. Scutellum very small, poorly visible, convex, slightly longer than wide.

Elytra evenly convex, 2.35 times as long as wide across humeri, subparallel at anterior two thirds, regularly acuminate at apical third; each elytron with slightly projecting sutural spine, apical sixth of lateral margins finely, sharply serrate; humeral convexities very small, nearly indistinct, epipleura well-developed, narrow, reaching apical sixth of elytral margins; sculpture rugose, nearly homogenous, consisting of dense, rough, sometimes transversely fused punctures; suture slightly depressed at anterior fourth, somewhat elevated at posterior fourth.

Ventral surface rather lustrous with fine, sparse, simple punctation, punctation of sternal portion somewhat denser, more rugose than on ventrites; prosternal process subparallel, narrow, rather convex, obtusely attenuate apically; anal ventrite highly modified ( Fig. 3 ) with two, anteriorly diverging lamina and nearly rectangular, terminal area ( Fig. 5 ); lateral margins of anal ventrite slightly concave, finely serrate at posterior third ( Fig. 3 ). Legs rather long, tibiae somewhat enlarged apically, metatibiae slightly bent outwards; tarsi distinctly widened, tarsomeres 1–4 with well-developed adhesive pads; tarsal claws thin, hook-shaped, very slightly enlarged at base.

Measurements. Length: 16.3 mm; width: 4.3 mm.

Sexual dimorphism. Male unknown.

Bionomy. The holotype was reared from a dead branch of Acacia sp.

Etymology. Bubastoides kadleci is named in honour of the collector, my friend Stanislav Kadlec (Litvínov), a specialist in Cerambycidae .

Differential diagnosis. Bubastoides kadleci differs from B. argodi by the somewhat finer and more lustrous sculpture of the dorsal surface, the smaller body and by the form of the anal ventrite ( Figs. 3, 5 vs. 4, 6). Sculpture of the medial portion of the pronotum is sparser in B. kadleci (space between punctures wider than the diameter of punctures); that in B. argodi is more rough and dense (space between punctures narrower or equal to the diameter of punctures). Terminal area of the anal ventrite in B. kadleci is more or less rectangular ( Fig. 5 ) unlike that of B. argodi which is somewhat biscuit-shaped ( Fig. 6 ). Posterior third of elytra bears three very feeble, longitudinal keels in B. argodi , while the apical third of elytra in B. kadleci is only very slightly flattened, without keels.

Kerremans (1903) supposed Bubastoides to be related to the Australian genus Bubastes and its African vicariant. Bellamy (2003) attributed Bubastoides to the tribe Bubastini as a genus incertae sedis. Both genera share very similar body-shape, form of scutellum, ovipositor, disposition of antennal pores and partly also anal ventrite. Unfortunately the male of Bubastoides remain unknown so the form of aedeagus cannot be evaluated. After the recent separation of the genus Paratassa to the independent tribe Paratassini Bílý & Volkovitsh, 1996 ( Bílý & Volkovitsh, 1996) the genus Bubastoides remains the only representative of Bubastini in the Palaearctic part of Africa. Obenberger (1920b) described the enigmatic genus Strandiola Obenberger, 1920 (type species S. paradoxa Obenberger, 1920 , by monotypy) from Mozambique (Delagoa Bay, Sikumba). Unfortunately I have failed to trace the deposition of the holotype (accordingly to the description the type should be deposited in Obenberger´s collection but it is not). Accordingly to Obenberger´s description ( Obenberger, 1920b), the genus shares the combination of characters of both Bubastes and Bubastoides , i.e. the form of the anal ventrite corresponding to that in Bubastoides and the form of the prosternal process, lateral pronotal carina and elytral grooves in Bubastes . It is highly probable that both Strandiola and Bubastoides have the same ancestor of Gondwanian origin. The genera Bubastes and Bubastoides differ from each other by the characters given in Table 1.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. 1—Bubstoides kadleci sp. nov., holotype, total length: 16.3 mm; 2—B. argodi Kerremans, 1903, holotype, total length: 21.0 mm; 3—anal ventrite, B. kadleci holotype; 4—same, B. argodi, holotype; 5—B. kadleci, apical area of anal ventrite, holotype; 6—same, B. argodi, holotype. Scale bar for 3, 4 = 2 mm; scale bar for 5, 6 = 1 mm.