Murmidius merkli, Jałoszyński & Ślipiński, 2022

Jałoszyński, Paweł & Ślipiński, Adam, 2022, Revision of the family Murmidiidae (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea), Zootaxa 5109 (1), pp. 1-102 : 68-70

Murmidius merkli sp. n.

( Figs 206–212 )

Type material examined. Holotype ( India): sex unknown, “India, Orissa / Daitari / leg. Gy Topál ”, “No. 51, under / bark of trees / 24.XII.1966 ” ( TMB) . Paratypes: 1 ♂ and 5 exx of unknown sex, same data as for holotype ( TMB; MHNG; MIZ) .

Diagnosis. Body moderately elongate oval and weakly convex, dark brown to nearly black; antennal club only slightly elongate; anterior clypeal margin smooth; pronotum lacking lateral and sublateral longitudinal impressions; clypeus with distinct semi-matt to matt microreticulation, reticulation on frons, vertex, pronotum and elytra superficial and fine but distinct; elytra with fine but distinct and very dense punctures not arranged in rows; prosternal carinae about as long as 2/3 of prosternum; mesoventral plate with evenly rounded anterior margin, with distinct anterior submarginal carina but lacking lateral carinae; elytral epipleura not strongly narrowed at the level of metaventrite where they are distinctly narrower than width of mesofemur; metaventrite with large and deep, circular and oval, unevenly distributed punctures on sides; penis moderately sender, in lateral view its distal half strongly curved; in ventral view penis gradually narrowing from base toward subtriangular and blunt apex; tegmen stout, with rounded apex bearing two pairs of long setae.

Description. BL 1.40–1.58 mm; BL/EW 1.54–1.61. Body moderately elongate oval ( Figs 206–208 ) and in lateral view weakly convex ( Fig. 209 ); pigmentation dark brown to nearly black; dorsum covered with short whitish setae (discernible under magnification 40 ×); cuticle semi-glossy, clypeus matt or nearly matt, microreticulation on frons, vertex, pronotum and elytra weaker and only superficial but distinct.

Head 0.38 mm wide; frons and vertex weakly convex, with fine, inconspicuous punctures; clypeus matt or weakly glossy; eyes large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Antennal club ( Fig. 208 ) only slightly elongate.

Pronotum ( Figs 206–207 ) strongly transverse, widest at base; PL 0.33–0.35 mm, PW 0.70–0.75 mm, PL/PW 0.46–0.50; lateral margins weakly rounded and moderately strongly convergent anterad, with narrow but distinct lateral carinae; mesal corners of antennal cavities weakly projecting anterad; lateral and sublateral longitudinal impressions lacking; anterior pronotal margin lacking marginal line. Punctures on disc fine but sharply marked, and those near anterior corners and along anterior margin larger than on remaining regions and coarse.

Prosternum ( Fig. 208 ) with barely discernible transverse microreticulation and with fine, inconspicuous setiferous punctures; prosternal carinae about as long as 2/3 of prosternum and wit slightly curved outwards distal ends; notosternal carinae nearly straight and not reaching anterior prosternal margin, the latter lacking marginal carina.

Elytra ( Figs 206–207 ) together oval, with strongly rounded sides, broadest distinctly in front of middle, EL 0.98–1.13 mm, EW 0.90–1.03 mm, EL/EW 1.08–1.13. Humerus with distinct callus; elytra very densely punctate, punctures small but distinct, not arranged in rows, those on anteromedian region of each elytron separated by spaces slightly narrower than their diameters, punctures slightly reducing in depth toward sides and apices. Epipleura not narrowed near middle, but with distinctly flattened, straight margins between metaventral femora lines and metacoxae.

Hind wings fully developed.

Mesoventral plate ( Fig. 210 ) lacking lateral longitudinal carinae, with distinct and complete anterior submarginal carina; anterior margin evenly, broadly rounded.

Metaventrite ( Fig. 210 ) with large, circular and oval, deep, somewhat coarse punctures unevenly distributed on sides; median region with fine, inconspicuous setiferous punctures. Discrimen externally well-marked.

Tarsi with short, inconspicuous setae on tarsomeres 1–3.

Aedeagus ( Figs 211–212 ) 0.30 mm long, moderately stout; penis in ventral view broadest at base and gradually narrowing toward subtriangular, blunt apex, in lateral view penis strongly curved in distal half; tegmen stout, longer than half of penis, with rounded apex bearing two pairs of long setae.

Distribution. NE India (Odisha State).

Etymology. This species is dedicated to the late Ottó Merkl, a renowned specialist on Tenebrionoidea, who prematurely passed away in February 2021, leaving us in a deep grief.

Remarks. Externally, M. merkli closely resembles M. lankanus and M. hebrus . Apart from a clearly different aedeagus, M. merkli has much longer prosternal carinae than either of the two remaining species and punctures in anterolateral pronotal corners large and almost coarse, vs. extremely short prosternal carinae and uniformly, finely punctate pronota in M. lankanus and M. hebrus .

Figures

FIGURES 206–212. Morphological structures of Murmidius merkli sp. n. Body in dorsal (206–207), ventral (208) and lateral (209) views; pterothorax in ventral view (210); and aedeagus (211–212).