Microhoria degener (Baudi di Selve, 1881)

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 : 225-227

Microhoria degener (Baudi di Selve, 1881)

( Fig. 15 )

Anthicus degener Baudi di Selve, 1881: 294 (description).

Anthicus (Immicrohoria) degener – Pic 1899a: 176 (record – Lebanon); Pic 1911a: 43 (checklist); Hariri 1968: 206 (checklist).

Anthicus (Tenuicomus) degener – Winkler 1927: 845 (checklist).

Microhoria degener – Uhmann et al. 2005: 52 (new combination, bibliography, checklist); Chandler et al. 2008: 439 (checklist); Kejval & Chandler 2020: 131 (assigned to the M. terminata species group); Telnov 2020a: 608 (checklist). Type material studied. Syntype 1 female: type [handwritten] // TYPE [printed, label red] // Degener Baudi type Liban [handwritten].

New material. 2 males ADC: TURCHIA: Misis (Adana) 27.IV.1967 leg .?; 2 males ADC: SYRIA – Dj. Ansariyah Slunfah , m. 1200/1300, 2.–6.VI.2000, G. Sama leg. ; 2 females HMNH: SYRIA, muh. Al Ladhqiyah, Mts Aqra, 10 km S // Kasab 550 m, 2006.VI.23 leg.: Szalóki D. ; 2 males DTC: Syria W, Tartȗs dist., el­Qadmus env., 25.V.2007, xeric biotopes, leg. F. Savićs ; 1 male ADC: TURKEY: m. 625, 15 km NW Mersin, 36°54’N 34°32’E, 25.V.2010, M. Uliana leg. ; 4 males HMNH & 2 males DTC: SYRIA, Prov. Latakia, Slunfeh , macchia­oak forest, beaten & swept, 4. VI. 2010 // leg. Attila Kotán, Edvárd Mizsei & Nikola Rahmé ; 1 male ADC: TURCHIA: Adana prov., Hsambeyli [sic! Hasanbeyli], km 3 W, 6.VI.2011 F. Angelini leg.

Supplementary description. Belongs to the M. terminata species group. Female syntype. Total body length 2.4 mm. Head dark brown, pronotum pale rufous, elytra yellowish.Antennomeres 1–6 yellow, remaining antennomeres darkened. Palps and legs yellowish brown, tibiae distinctly paler than femora. Head about 1.2× as long as wide, basal margin rounded in one arc with posterior temporal angles. Compound eye large, strongly protruding from lateral outline of head. Head dorsum glossy, sporadically punctate with minute punctures. Intervening spaces much wider than punctures, smooth. Dorsal cranial setae whitish, sparse, appressed to subdecumbent. Antenna slightly thickened in apical third. Terminal antennomere elongate, apically acutely pointed, about twice as long as penultimate antennomere, shorter than combined length of antennomeres 9–10. Pronotum about 1.1–1.2× as long as wide, slightly narrower than head across eyes, glossy, rounded at anterior margin. Lateral margins impressed in posterior half. Latero­basal pronotal fovea broad and deep. Pronotal disc barely convex in dorsal aspect, punctures and setae sporadic, similar to those on head. Elytra about 1.4× as long as wide, subparallel laterally, dorsally flattened. Humerus broadly rounded, not protruding.Apex of elytron broadly rounded. Elytral disc moderately glossy, moderately dense punctured, punctures larger and coarser than those on forebody. Intervening spaces about as wide as to 2–3× as wide as punctures, smooth, glossy. Elytral setae whitish, moderately long and dense, subdecumbent. Legs without modifications, tibial terminal spurs paired. Tergite VII and morphological sternite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin.

Sexual dimorphism. Male from el­Qadmus env., Syria. Male elytron apex with minute, acutely triangular denticle at opening of gland channel. Male tergite VII truncate at posterior margin, morphological sternite VII broadly rounded at posterior margin, with several long setae. Male tergite VIII with a hair­like, membranous lamina. Aedeagus ( Fig. 15C–E ) broadly cylindrical, tegmen apex with short, hooked process; fused baculi conspicuous, extending apically about half of endophallus length; endophallic armature of some variably curved to nearly straight spines (some of them appear Z­shaped) and two apically rounded, elongate processs; primary gonopore rathe narrow, not ring­like.

Ecology. Some specimens were sampled by beating and sweeping in an oak forest. Reported from 550 and 625 m elevation.

Distribution. Lebanon, Syria (first country record), S Turkey (first country record).

Chorotype. SW­Asiatic (1.13 SWA), considered restricted to Levant.

Note. Lectotype is not designated since there is a chance to allocate male syntype (s).

Figures

Fig. 15. Microhoria degener (Baudi di Selve, 1881). A – Female syntype, habitus, dorsal view; B – Male from el­Qadmus env., Syria, habitus, dorsal view; C & E – Aedeagus, lateral view; D – ditto, ventral view [not to scale; images C–E courtesy Augusto Degiovanni, Bubano, Italy].