Murmidius globosus Hinton

Jałoszyński, Paweł & Ślipiński, Adam, 2022, Revision of the family Murmidiidae (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea), Zootaxa 5109 (1), pp. 1-102 : 47-48

Murmidius globosus Hinton

( Figs 135–141 )

Murmidius globosus Hinton, 1935: 275 .

Type material examined. Holotype ( Chile): sex unknown, “ Chili ”, “ Germain ”, “Fry Coll.1905-100”, “ Murmidius globosus 36’ Hntn ”, “ Type ” ( BMNH).

Additional material examined: Chile, 3 exx without any data except for “coll. Germain ”, “coll. Grouvelle ” and No. 316 ( MNHN) ; 1 ex., Quebrada El Tigre , Prov. Aconcagua, VIII-12-1996, 32°31’S, 71°26’W, E. Schlinger, M. Irwin ( CAS) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Hungarian Soil Zool. Exp., Prov. Santiago, Cerro El Roble, Cordillera de la Costa , 29.ix.1965, Nr. P-B.21, leg. Andrassy, Balogh et Mahunka ( TMB) .

Emended diagnosis. Body short, oval, moderately convex, dark brown to nearly pitchy black; antennal club slightly elongate; anterior clypeal margin smooth; pronotum with distinct lateral longitudinal impressions, lacking sublateral impressions; entire head and pronotum with fine microsculpture on head taking form of indistinct, fine reticulation, on pronotum superficial and not forming closed meshes, moderately glossy; pronotum with fine, inconspicuous punctures; elytra impunctate, with traces of superficial microreticulation not forming closed meshes, more glossy than head and pronotum; prosternal carinae long, anteriorly slightly exceeding middle of prosternum; mesoventral plate with subtriangular anterior margin with distinct median angle, lacking submarginal carina, with complete lateral carinae which are strongly oblique, strongly convergent anterad, small area between mesal margin of mesocoxa and lateral mesoventral carina distinctly microreticulate; elytral epipleura not narrowed at the level of metaventrite and broad, near middle about as broad as width of mesofemur; metaventrite virtually impunctate; penis conspicuously slender and subcylindrical, in lateral view strongly curved; in ventral view largely parallel-sided except for gradually narrowing, subtriangular, pointed apex; tegmen moderately slender, with shallowly emarginate apex bearing three pairs of short apical setae.

Redescription. BL 1.43–1.48 mm; BL/EW 1.30–1.37. Body short, oval ( Figs 135–136 ) and in lateral view moderately convex ( Fig. 138 ); pigmentation dark brown to pitchy black, legs slightly lighter than dorsum; dorsum very finely setose (setae whitish and well-visible under magnification 40 ×) and glossy, with fine microreticulation on head, and traces of superficial microsculpture on pronotum and elytra, lacking closed meshes, least distinct on elytra.

Head 0.39–0.40 mm wide, entirely finely microreticulate but not matt; frons and vertex weakly convex, with indistinct and sparse punctures obscured by microsculpture; clypeus similarly microreticulate as frons and vertex; eyes large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Antennal club weakly elongate.

Pronotum ( Figs 135–136 ) strongly transverse, widest at base; PL 0.23–0.25 mm, PW 0.78–0.85 mm, PL/PW 0.28–0.29; lateral margins weakly rounded and strongly convergent anterad, with narrow lateral carinae; mesal corners of antennal cavities distinctly projecting anterad; lateral longitudinal impressions distinct, step-wise demarcated laterally and gradually becoming shallower mesally, broad and deep anteriorly and reducing in width and depth toward pronotal base, their lateral margin parallel to lateral pronotal margins; sublateral longitudinal impressions lacking; anterior pronotal margin demarcated by distinct marginal line. Punctures on disc fine and obscured by extremely fine microsculpture lacking well-defined, closed meshes.

Prosternum ( Fig. 137 ) with fine transverse microreticulation especially distinct anterad and laterad prosternal carinae and with fine, indistinct punctures; prosternal carinae slightly exceeding half of prosternum; notosternal carinae sinuate and nearly reaching anterior prosternal margin, the latter with narrow marginal carina.

Elytra ( Figs 135–136 ) together oval, with strongly rounded sides, broadest distinctly in front of middle, EL 1.13–1.15 mm, EW 1.08–1.10 mm, EL/EW 1.02–1.07. Humerus lacking callus; elytra virtually impunctate; surface with indistinct, superficial traces of microsculpture, moderately glossy.

Hind wings absent.

Mesoventral plate ( Fig. 139 ) with oblique, complete lateral longitudinal carinae strongly convergent anterad; posterior end of each carina touching mesocoxa; anterior margin subtriangular, distinctly angulate, lacking submarginal carina. Small area laterad each longitudinal carina and mesad mesocoxae distinctly reticulate.

Metaventrite ( Fig. 139 ) with sparse and fine setiferous punctures. Discrimen externally well-marked in some specimens, in others indiscernible.

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

Aedeagus ( Figs 140–141 ) 0.35 mm long, slender; penis nearly tubular, in ventral view largely parallel-sided except for gradually tapering, subtriangular and pointed apex, in lateral view strongly curved; tegmen relatively slender, with shallowly emarginate apex bearing three pairs of equally short apical setae.

Distribution. Neotropical ( Chile).

Remarks. Murmidius globosus is extremely similar to M. melon ; they can be distinguished by the shape of the mesoventral plate (with subtriangular anterior margin in M. globosus vs. bisinuate in M. melon ); the shape of lateral mesoventral lines (strongly convergent anterad in M. globosus vs. indistinctly convergent in M. melon ), and genital structures (slenderer penis and three pairs of equally short setae on the apex of tegmen in M. globosus vs. stouter penis and two pairs of setae of conspicuously unequal length on the apex of tegmen in M. melon ).

Figures

FIGURES 135–141. Morphological structures of Murmidius globosus Hinton. Body in dorsal (135–136), ventral (137) and lateral (138) views; pterothorax in ventral view (139); and aedeagus (140–141).