Microhoria paxvobiscum, Telnov, 2022

Telnov, Dmitry, 2022, Revisional notes on the genus Microhoria Chevrolat, 1877 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Anthicidae) from the Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey, with new descriptions, an annotated catalogue, and a key, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 22 (2), pp. 195-312 : 270-272

Microhoria paxvobiscum sp. nov. ( Fig. 40 ) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:BD46F1E1­0871­477F­869B­715D6A9011BE

Type material designated. Holotype male FMNH: Iraq an– Najaf Shabakah [stroke through by hand] – Waqisah [printed] 1. 5. [handwritten] 198 [printed] 0 [handwritten] R. Linnavuori

[ printed] // Mus. Zool. Helsinki Loan No. C­99 1583 [printed, label yellow] .

Etymology. The name of this new taxon from war­ and unrests­hit Iraq is derived from the combination of two words of the common Christian salutation “ pax vobiscum ” (“peace with you” in Latin) to highlight the desire of Iraqi people for peace. Noun in the nominative case, standing in apposition.

Description. Holotype male, total body length 2.5 mm. Head 0.6 mm long, across compound eyes 0.45 mm wide, pronotum 0.5 mm long, maximum width 0.4 mm, elytra 1.4 mm long, maximum combined width 0.8 mm. Dorsum uniformly dark brown with indistinct ore shine. Tibiae and tarsi, antennomeres 1–5 yellowish. Venter uniformly brown. Head ovoid, about 1.2–1.3× as long as wide, tempora subparallel, head base broadly rounded, posterior temporal angles rounded. Compound eye moderate, longer than tempus, moderately protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum moderately glossy, punctures small and sparse. Intervening spaces generally smooth and glossy, in part microreticulate, about twice as wide as punctures. Dorsal cranial setae greyish, moderately long and dense, appressed to subdecumbent. Antennae slightly enlarged in apical third. Penultimate antennomere cylindrical, longer than wide. Terminal antennomere elongate, bluntly pointed, about 2.5–2.6× as long as penultimate antennomere, as long combined length of antennomeres 9– 10. Pronotum about 1.2× as long as wide, distinctly narrower than head across eyes, anterior margin broadly rounded, medially truncate. Pronotal disc moderately glossy, flattened in dorsal aspect. Lateral margins slightly converging in posterior half. Latero­basal pronotal fovea narrow, not supplemented with dense setae. Pronotal punctures oval, shallow, somewhat denser than those on head. Intervening spaces as wide as to twice as wide as punctures. Pronotal setae similar to as those on head. Elytra elongate, about 1.7–1.8× as long as wide, laterally subparallel, subtruncate at apex, dorsally flattened. Humerus broadly rounded. Apex of elytron modified, elytral surface somewhat bulged in dorsal at posterior median apical angle, slightly produced posteriad on suture. Elytral surface slightly glossy and smooth, punctures larger than those on forebody, but not much deeper. Intervening spaces generally as wide as punctures, in part distinctly microscopically wrinkled. Elytral setae yellowish, moderately long, rather dense, generally appressed, slightly curved, directed posteriad. Metathoracic wings fully developed. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired. Tergite VII subtruncate at posterior margin. Morphological sternite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin, medially subtruncate. Tergite VIII with a row of long setae at posterior margin. Aedeagus ( Fig. 40C–D ) cylindrical. Tegmen apex bilobate; fused baculi well­developed, extending apicad to near two thirds of tegmen; endophallic armature of four longer, strong, slightly curved spines and a group of 5–6 shorter, somewhat thicker spines each lobate preapically.

Sexual dimorphism. Female is unknow.

Differential diagnosis. Microhoria paxvobiscum sp. nov. belongs to the M. olivacea species group and is externally very similar to a number of brown, ore shiny congeners and can only be separated from them due to the specific shape of aedeagus and the structure of the endophallic armature.

Ecology. Unknown.

Distribution. Southern Iraq (Najaf Governorate).

Figures

Fig. 40. Microhoria paxvobiscum sp. nov. male holotype.A – Habitus, dorsal view; B – Forebody, dorsal view; C – Spiculum gastrale; D – Aedeagus, ventral view; E – Apical portion of aedeagus [not to scale].