Odocnemis rufocruralis M. Nabozhenko et B. Keskin, 2021

Nabozhenko, Maxim V., Keskin, Bekir, Keskin, Nurşen Alpagut, Gagarina, Ludmila V. & Nabozhenko, Svetlana, 2021, Two new species and new records of lichen-feeding darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Helopini) from Turkey with notes on bionomics and trophic relations, Zootaxa 5057 (1), pp. 69-86 : 73-78

Odocnemis rufocruralis M. Nabozhenko et B. Keskin , sp. n.

( Figs. 3 , 4 )

Material. Holotype, ♂ ( ZDEU) and 41 paratypes (5♂, 3♀ in ZIN, 12♂, 19♀ in ZDEU, 1♂ and 1♀ in Museum für Tierkunde, Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden ): Turkey, Mardin Prov., above Eskikale , 37°18ʹ32.43ʺN / 40°46ʹ4.83ʺE, 1070 m, 16.04.2021 (leg. B. Keskin, M. & S. Nabozhenko) . Paratypes. 6♂, 3♀ ( ZIN): Turkey, Mardin Prov., between Mardin and Kabala, turn to Cevizpınar , 37°20ʹ3.91ʺN / 40°46ʹ11.44ʺE, 844 m, 15.04.2021 (leg. B. Keskin, M. & S. Nabozhenko) ; 5♂, 4♀ ( ZIN): Turkey, Diyarbakır Prov., Hani Distr., Kuyular , 38°25ʹ13.72ʺN / 40°14ʹ59.42ʺE, 996 m, 12.04.2021 (leg. B. Keskin, M. & S. Nabozhenko) ; 8♂, 2♀ ( ZIN) , 1♂, 4♀ ( ZDEU): Turkey, Batman Prov., Düzmeşe , 37°36ʹ6.27ʺN / 41°25ʹ50.79ʺE, 1097 m, 12.04.2021 (leg. B. Keskin, M. & S. Nabozhenko) ; 3♂ ( ZIN): Turkey, Batman Prov., old Hasankeyf (left bank of Dicle), near Karaköy , 37°41ʹ42.98ʺN / 41°25ʹ14.33ʺE, 720 m, 11.04.2021 (leg. B. Keskin, M. & S. Nabozhenko) .

In total, 77 paratypes.

Description. Male. Body slender, with greasy shine, reddish-brown with pronotum usually more reddish, legs and antennae red.

Measurements: Y—1.74; PH —1.48; P w P l —1.16; E l E w —1.7; EH w —1.9; EP w —1.28–1.29; EP l —2.56.

Head widest at eye level. Eyes large, convex. Lateral margin of genae strongly rounded in basal third and weakly rounded in apical two thirds. Lateral margin of head with weak and short sinuation between gena and epistoma. Anterior margin of epistoma weakly rounded. Punctation of head dorsally fine and sparse (puncture diameter less than interpuncture distance), irregular. Ventral side of head with coarse short wrinkles. Apical maxillary palpomeres strongly securiform, slightly wider, than in female.Antennae long and thin, with three apical antennomeres extending beyond base of pronotum.

Prothorax. Pronotum weakly transverse, widest at middle. Lateral margins weakly rounded, often slightly emarginated in basal quarter. Anterior margin weakly rounded, base straight, but oblique near posterior corners. Antero-lateral corners rounded, obtuse, postero-lateral corners pointed, obtuse. All margins narrowly beaded. Disc moderately evenly convex, finely and sparsely punctuated by round punctures. Prothoracic hypomera finely wrinkled, with sparse setae. Prosternum with fine and sparse punctation. Prosternal process weakly convex, not beaded.

Pterothorax. Scutellar shield wide and rounded, without punctation. Elytra elongate, widest at middle. Punctures in striae elongated, merged in entire furrows. Interstriae weakly convex, very finely and sparsely punctated, with small tubercles (with coeloconic sensilla) on sides and apical quarter. Eighth elytral interval apically similar to others, joining inner intervals apically. Epipleura and dorsal epipleural carina reaching sutural angles, where they transformed to rounded roll. Inner epipleural carina not reaching sutural angle. Mesoventrite with dense, coarse punctation and short setation in anterior half. Mesepisterna and mesepimera with sparse moderately coarse punctation; metepisterna and metaventrite with fine and sparse punctation, bare.

Legs. Outer portion of protrochanters separated from profemora and elevated. Trochanters with one (rarely some trochanters can be with two) long seta. Femora without dense hairs, only with short sparse yellow setation. Protibiae straight, with 10–13 teeth on inner side. Meso- and metatibiae straight, without teeth or granules. Protarsomeres 1–3 weakly widened, wider than in female.

Abdomen. Abdominal ventrites with sparse and fine punctation and 1 st –4 th ones very fine smooth wrinkles on sides; ventrite 5 completely beaded, with median longitudinal depression in apical half and clear recumbent yellow setation. Genitalia. Inner sternite VIII thickened, with very short spinulose setae, apical lobes turned inside; gland of the sternite large and thickened. Spiculum gastrale with strong C-shaped laterally rods and common stem; blades of spiculum gastrale (derivates of inner abdominal tergite IX) rhombic, with strongly sclerotised inner margin. Aedeagus long and narrow, apical piece very narrow, with widely rounded, almost subquadrate apex; ventral apophises of apical piece widely connected at apical portion.

Body length 9.38–12.5 mm, width 3.5–4.63 mm.

Female. Measurements: PH —1.46; P w P l —1.28; E l E w —1.55; EH w —2–2.08; EP w —1.4; EP l —2.83. Body robuster, antennae shorter, with two apical antennomeres extending beyond base of pronotum. Maxillary apical antennomeres narrower than in male. Pronotum and elytra wider. Protarsi not widened, protibiae without teeth. Abdominal ventrite 5 with deep oval impression in apical two thirds, without setation. Body length 11.25–14.38 mm, width 4.37–5.25 mm.

Etymology. The name derives from two Latin words: “rufus” (red, reddish) and adjective from “crura” (legs).

Differential diagnosis. This new species belongs to the praelonga species-group by the structure of the epipleura (epipleura and dorsal epipleural carina reaching sutural angle, where they are transformed to the rounded roll; inner epipleural carina not reaching sutural angle); the aedeagus (the apical piece is thickened, with the longitudinal depression on the dorsal side, weakly S-shaped or straight (lateral view); parameres are dorso-ventrally flattened; the basal piece 2 times and more as long as the apical piece; median lobe baculi merged, acute apically, male inner sternite (strongly sclerotized, thickened, with rounded apices) ( Nabozhenko & Keskin 2016). Odocnemis rufocruralis sp. n. is similar to O. torosica Nabozhenko & Keskin, 2016 (Taurus Mts., Turkey), O. terminassianae (Nabozhenko, 2011) (Taurus Mts., Turkey) and O. kakunini Nabozhenko & Keskin, 2016 (Western Iran), which also have straight (not bisinuate) inner side of protibiae. The shape of the aedeagus and the male inner sternite VIII are similar to those in O. kakunini (see Figs. 12A,B,D in Nabozhenko & Keskin (2016)). The new species differs from all three taxa by the reddish-brown body with red legs (three compared species are brown or dark-brown, with brown legs), male apical maxillary palpomeres wider than in female, elevated and narrowly separated male protrochanters, and the structure of the very long and narrow apical piece of the aedeagus; it additionally differs:

– from O. kakunini by the completely beaded and setated in male abdominal ventrite 5;

– from O. terminassianae by weakly convex elytral interstriae (flatted in O. terminassianae ), impressed and setated male abdominal ventrite 5 (not impressed and not setated one in O. terminassianae ), mesotibiae without teeth;

– from O. torosica by lateral margins of pronotum shortly emarginated near the base, absence of the elytral mucron (some populations of O. torosica are with the mucron), mesotibiae without teeth (eastern populations of O. torosica with teeth), the shape of male inner ventrite VIII.

Bionomics and trophic relations. This species inhabits woodlands with different tree species. It was collected on Juglans regia L. near old Hasankeyf (Batman Province), on Quercus brantii Lindl. in Kuyular (Diyarbakır Province) and Düzmeşe (Batman Province), and on Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb in Mardin Province. Odocnemis rufocruralis feeds on Physcia aipolia (Ehrh. ex Humb.) Fürnr. ( Physciaceae Zahlbr. ) ( Fig. 5A ) and crustose lichen Pertusaria sp. (on Prunus ) in Mardin Province ( Fig. 5B ). Feeding on crustose lichens is registered for the first time for Coleoptera . Beetles strongly damage lichen thalli at a high abundance ( Fig. 5C ). Adult beetles were active at night from 20:00 to ~22: 30 in mid-April; during the day they hide in the leaf litter and under stones around the trunks.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Odocnemis rufocruralis sp. n., habitus, details of structure:A—habitus dorsally, male; B—habitus ventrally, male; C—habitus dorsally, female; D—male right protibia; E—head, female; F—protrochanters, male.

FIGURE 4. Odocnemis rufocruralis sp. n., details of structure: A—apical part of left elytron (edc—epipleural dorsal carina); B—abdomen, male; C—abdomen, female (eic—epipleural inner carina); D—aedeagus dorsally; E—aedeagus ventrally; F— aedeagus laterally; G—male inner sternite VIII (gl—gland); H—spiculum gastrale.

FIGURE 5. Host lichens of Odocnemis rufocruralis sp. n.: A—Physcia aipolia (on Quercus branti); B—undetermined Physciaceae (on Prunus dulcis); C—the same species, damages from beetles D—habitat of Odocnemis rufocruralis, Batman Prov., woodland with Quercus brantii; E—ditto, Mardin Prov., woodland with Quercus brantii and Prunus dulcis.