Meleagros pseudosinicola, Gildenkov, 2020

Fedorenko, D. N., 2020, New species of Meleagros and Tarsagonum (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Platynini) from the Oriental region, Russian Entomological Journal 29 (2), pp. 139-147 : 143

Meleagros pseudosinicola Fedorenko, sp.n.

Figs 2 , 8, 10 .

MATERIAL. Holotype ♂ ( ZISP): ‘ ВЬЕТНАМ горы, у Ша- па 1600–2000 м, 11.8. 1962 г. Кабаков’ (Vietnam, mountains near Sa Pa, 1600–2000 m, 11.VIII.1962, [O.N.] Kabakov [leg.]). Paratype ♂ ( SIEE) labelled: ‘N-Vietnam, 40 km WNW of Lao Cai, env. Y Ty, Bat Xat N [ational]P[ark], 22°36´31´´N / 103°37´23´´E, h= 2000–2100 m, 4–14.VI.2019, leg. D.Fedorenko’ .

DESCRIPTION. BL 10.9–11.5 mm. Body ( Fig. 2 ) shiny violaceous blue, femora and scape more or less deep violaceous; tibiae, tarsi, antennomeres 2–4 and abdomen, except for extreme base of sternite II, black; antennae otherwise dark brown, increasingly reddish apicad; mouthparts dark reddishbrown to dark brown; abdominal sternite VII more or less pale along apical margin. Microsculpture obliterate on head and pronotum, with very superficial isodiametric meshes more or less traceable on sides of frons and vertex, and more distinct isodiametric to slightly transverse meshes on sides of pronotal base. Elytral microsculpture superficial, consisting of transverse and rather narrow meshes. Body microscopically punctate and rather densely yet indistinctly ciliate.

Head wide, HnW/OL 2.34–2.48; eyes small and protruding, longer than genae, GL/OL 0.55–0.68, these meeting neck at very obtuse angle, shallowly cross-striated; neck constriction shallow. Supra-ocular seta on a level with posterior margin of eye, distant rather far from deep supra-ocular groove. Frontal foveae round and fairly deep behind clypeus, laterally extended into a fine, more (paratype) or less (holotype) distinct, impressed line, with a blunt carina just outside, diverging to eyes and reaching the level of eye midlength. Antennae long filiform, surpassing elytral base by segments 7–11.

Pronotum convex, cordate subhexagonal, PW/PL 1.26– 1.31, PW/HW 1.26–1.28, broadest a third from apex, PLw/PL 0.33–0.35. Base and apex almost indistinctly bisinuate and subequally wide, PB/PA 1.06–1.07. Basal angles sharp, slightly obtuse to almost right; apical angles slightly acute and porrect; basal and apical beads entire. Sides obtusely angulate, converging and nearly straight before and behind, sinuate a fourth from base. Explanate lateral margin moderately wide, wide inside lateral angle, strongly reflexed in basal half; lateral bead fine, only traceable anterior to lateral angle. Median line fine, almost reaching base and apex. Basal and apical transverse impression vague. Basal foveae deep and slightly oblong in basal two thirds, with more (holotype) or less (paratype) deep forward extensions running parallel to lateral edge and reaching apical 1/3–1/6; lateral margin outside them and basal foveae densely punctate and somewhat transversely rugulose; explanate lateral margin anteriorly more sparsely punctate to nearly smooth, with punctures confined to lateral groove only. Disc finely transversely rugulose.

Elytra rather square, EL/EW 1.49–1.56, EW/PW 1.55– 1.61, truncate basally, with humeri widely rounded yet distinct, broadest three fifths from base, straight and barely diverging before, rounded behind, each with a shallow preapical sinuation; apices separated, blunt or rounded. Basal ridge sinuose, with indistinct humeral angle opposite stria 5. Striae deep, very finely punctate in basal fourth, indistinctly punctate behind; intervals subconvex (paratype) to convex (holotype), with at least intervals 1–5 being nearly flat on disc (deep elytral striae in Fig. 2 create optical illusion of the intervals being much more convex than in fact); interval 3 merging into apical bead, with seta d1 adjoining stria 3, d2 adjoining stria 2, d3 near stria 2 (paratype) or left unilateral in the middle of interval (holotype); interval 8 narrow and costate apically. USS: 19–23, US being sparser in middle third; interval 7 bisetose apically (posterior seta in interval 3) .

Underside: Prosternal process subconvex, not beaded. Sides of metaventrite, metepisterna and base of abdominal sternite II densely to confluently punctate; mesepisterna anteriorly and propleura basally slightly less so; propleura otherwise very finely and much more sparsely punctate.

Legs: as in M. laticeps sp.n., except that tarsomeres 1–3 are deeply bisulcate-tricarinate on meso- and metatarsi while bisulcate on protarsi, with sharp lateral carinae. Profemur with one anteroventral seta, and three posterior setae (additional unilateral medioventral seta present in paratype); metafemur bisetose (distal, median, seta absent unilaterally from holotype).

Aedeagus median lobe ( Figs 8, 10 ).

DIAGNOSIS. The new species is only different from M. sinicola in the elytral intervals being flat (vs. very convex). The other differences are subtle if any. The pronotum is barely wider relative to the head, with maximum width a third (vs. two fifths) from apex, and the metafemur generally bisetose (vs. unisetose). This may suggests subspecies status of the new species or the two names being conspecific. To solve the problem more material is required.

NAME. Refers to great similarity of the new species to M. sinicola .

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Known from the Hoang Lien mountain ridge, northern Vietnam.

Figures

Figs 1–3. Dorsal habitus of holotypes: 1 — Meleagros laticeps sp.n.; 2 — M. pseudosinicola sp.n.; 3 –– M. setulosus sp.n. Рис. 1–3. Габитус голотипов, дорЗально: 1 — Meleagros laticeps sp.n.; 2 — M. pseudosinicola sp.n.; 3 –– M. setulosus sp.n.

Figs 7–16. Median lobe of aedeagus in holotypes: 7, 9 — Meleagros laticeps sp.n.; 8, 10 — M. pseudosinicola sp.n.; 11–13 — Tarsagonum (Louwerensium) breve sp.n.; 14–16 — T. (L.) indicum sp.n.; 7, 8, 11, 15 — left aspect; 9–10, 13–14 — ventral aspect; 12, 16 — right aspect. Scale bars: 0.5 mm. Рис. 7–16. СреднЯЯ долЯ Эдеагуса голотипов: 7, 9 — Meleagros laticeps sp.n.; 8, 10 — M. pseudosinicola sp.n.; 11–13 — Tarsagonum (Louwerensium) breve sp.n.; 14–16 — T. (L.) indicum sp.n.; 7, 8, 11, 15 — слева; 9–10, 13–14 — вентрально; 12, 16 — справа. Масштаб: 0,5 mm.