Mordella sp.

Batelka, Jan, Rosová, Kateřina & Prokop, Jakub, 2023, Diversity and morphology of Eocene and Oligocene Mordellidae (Coleoptera), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 63 (2), pp. 451-478 : 454

‘ Mordella sp. ’

( Fig. 1A )

Mordella sp. : ERMISCH (1941a):179, single indet.specimen, Baltic amber.

Material examined ( SDEI). ‘ Mordella [p] /sp. [hw] / det. Ermisch 194 [p] i [hw, sic; glued on a bigger white label] // SDEI Müncheberg / SDEI- Amb-000644 [p; yellowish label]’.

Comments on identification. The micro-CT scan revealed at least five short transverse combs including the preapical one on metatibia and five similar combs on metatarsomere I. This beetle therefore belongs to Mordellistenini , not Mordellini .

It is unlikely that Ermisch made such a grave mistake. More likely the specimen was mismatched during subsequent manipulation with one of the syntypes SDEI- -Amb-000635 of Mordellistena korschefskyi Ermisch, 1941 , in which only a preapical comb on the metatibia typical for Mordellini is present (see Mordellistenini below).

The penultimate mesotarsomere of this specimen is deeply dilated so it cannot be attributed to Mordellistena , a genus used exclusively, but incorrectly, for Baltic Mordellistenini by ERMISCH (1941a).

Figures

Figs 1. Mordellidae, Baltic amber.A – Baltistena sp., SDEI-Amb-000644, hind leg. B – Baltimorda scheelei (Ermisch, 1941), holotype, hind leg. C–F – Baltimorda, undescribed speciesA, PřfUK71: C – habitus; D – head and thorax; E – hind leg (black arrows marking fine dorsolateral ridge); F – pretarsal claws. G–I – Baltimorda, undescribed species B, PřfUK94: G – habitus; H – hind legs; I – metatarsus. Scale bars: A, E, H, I – 0.2 mm; B, D, – 0.3 mm; C, G – 0.5 mm; F – 0.05 mm.