Lucanopria Audisio & Cline, 2009

Audisio, Paolo, Cline, Andrew Richard, Biase, Alessio De, Antonini, Gloria, Mancini, Emiliano, Trizzino, Marco, Costantini, Lorenzo, Strika, Sirio, Lamanna, Francesco & Cerretti, Pierfilippo, 2009, Preliminary re-examination of genus-level taxonomy of the pollen beetle subfamily Meligethinae (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (2), pp. 341-504 : 478-481

38. Lucanopria Audisio & Cline new genus

( Figs. 38 a–k )

Type species. Lucanopria wagneri Audisio & Cline , sp. nov. (by present designation).

Generic description and diagnosis. The single known species (1.6–2.0 mm length; 0.7–1.0 mm width) exhibits the following combination of characters.

Body color and pubescence: pubescence fine and short, recumbent, golden, not obscuring the mostly unicolorous yellowish-brown dorsal body surface; pubescence on lateral margins of elytra short, faintly distinct; microsetae on posterior margin of pronotum long and mostly bifid or trifid distad.

Dorsal habitus: body flatly convex, moderately elongate and parallel-sided ( Fig. 38a ); dorsal punctures on discal portion of pronotum slightly smaller than eye facet, shallowly impressed and moderately dense; anterior margin of clypeus subtruncate anteriorly, simple, i.e. without small distinct medial bulge, lateral angles bluntly rounded, not visible in dorsal view in males, mouthparts and clypeus oriented nearly perpendicularly to frons; frons with lateral margins moderately to strongly raised and minutely incised over antennal insertions forming a markedly arcuately emarginate saddle anteriorly when observed from above ( Fig. 38a ); clypeus and frons Pria -like, simple, normally oriented in females; circum-ocular furrows (occipital sulci) on dorsal side of head absent; eyes middle-sized and moderately projected laterally ( Fig. 38a ), pronotum faintly wider than elytra in males, slightly narrower than elytra in females, with markedly distinct posterior angles, subrectangular ( Fig. 38a ), slightly directed posteriorly; pronotal sides flattened slightly wider than 2 nd antennomere ( Fig. 38a ); scutellum densely punctate on most of exposed portion; elytral punctation simple, not transversely strigose; elytral humeral angle obtuse, not protruding laterally; elytral humeral striae indistinct; elytral presutural striae visible, fine, originating slightly posterior to scutellar vertex, terminating prior to elytral apex, and delimiting on each elytron a faintly distinct, flat, sutural border, widest medially, narrower than proximal width of 3 rd male antennomere; elytra apically truncately rounded in males ( Fig. 38a ), moderately separately lobed in females ( Fig. 38e ); pygidium small, almost completely covered by elytra, minute triangular distal lobe directed posteriorly in males ( Fig. 38d ), moderately convex, nearly apically rounded in females.

Ventral habitus: antennal furrows strongly raised in males, delimited by markedly bulged genae, strongly arcuately convergent posteriorly ( Fig. 38b ), much less raised, shorter, and less markedly delimited in females; strongly transverse subpentagonal mentum; prosternal antennal furrows on anterior margin of prosternum absent; prosternal process flat, moderately widened predistally, with obtusely rounded apex ( Fig. 38c ), subapical dilated portion 1.0–1.4× as wide as maximum width of 1 st male antennomere; lateral borders of prosternal process not delimiting impressed furrows, distally terminating close to posterior margin ( Fig. 38c ); posterior margin of mesoventrite simple, not medially incised; nearly absent sexual dimorphism in impressions on metaventrite; first two visible abdominal ventrites simple in both sexes, without tufts of setae, caudal marginal lines of metacoxal cavities simple, parallel and contiguous to posterior margin of metacoxal cavities, without deep arched impression of outer ‘axillary’ portion; ‘axillary’ space on first abdominal ventrite moderately well developed, ‘axillary’ angle widely arcuately rounded; arched impressions on basal portion of last visible abdominal ventrite large and wide, but short, shallowly impressed, and usually obscured by penultimate abdominal ventrite ( Fig. 38k ).

Appendages: male antennae showing peculiarly expressed allometric development and variation in the single known species; male 1 st antennomere usually exceptionally developed, ~7–8× as long as width of protibiae, and ~5× longer than wide ( Fig. 38a ), 2 nd male antennomere ( Figs. 38a ) long and thin, 6× longer than wide, 1.2–1.3× longer than 3 rd; 3 rd and 4 th male antennomeres subequal, long and thin, ~0.8× as long as 2 nd antennomere, 5 th antennomere slightly shorter and blunt-shaped, oriented to form a right angle with 6 th antennomere when antennae distended, 6× longer than wide, slightly longer than 7 th antennomere; male antennal club comprising last 4 antennomeres, terminal 3 antennomeres peculiarly prolonged in a thin and long lobe directed towards inner side ( Fig. 38a ); antennae simple, mid-sized, short, and not enlarged in females, with normally compact and slender club comprising last 3 antennomeres, not lobed or modified; male antennal shape varies from the example given in Fig. 38a to a remarkable reduction in length, with loose 4-jointed antennal club, not exhibting the peculiarly developed and thin lobes in Fig. 38a , and with much shorter antennal flagellum; labial palpi moderately short in both sexes, terminal segment 1.3–1.8× as long as wide; maxillary palpi variably shaped in both sexes, terminal segment 2–3× longer than wide; mandibles small-sized, arcuate, apex acuminate; tarsal claws simple, not toothed at base; tarsi moderately long and thin, 0.7–0.8× as long as corresponding tibiae; protibiae with a series of small, fine crenulations on distal portion of lateral margin ( Fig. 38a ); lateral margin of meso- and metatibiae bearing a single and regular row of long thin pegs in both sexes, without U-shaped sinuosity at distal third; meso- and metatibiae moderately flat, but slender, not distinctly subtrapezoidal or axe-shaped; tarsal plates of prolegs scarcely wider in males; posterior margins of metafemora simple in both sexes, without tubercles or projections.

Male genitalia: processes along inner side of parameres absent ( Figs. 38f–g ), with deep and wide V-shaped excision along distal margin, without deep median longitudinal desclerotization from proximal portion of tegmen extending to medial distal V-shaped excision; median lobe of aedeagus relatively short, without lateral emargination, moderately acuminate distad, without distal excision.

Female genitalia (ovipositor): mid-sized; styli long and distinct, simple, cylindrical, not darkly pigmented, inserted close to apex of contiguous gonostyloids; each gonostyloid lightly sclerotized and scarcely pigmented distally, with a simple, never indentate outer portion of basicoxites ( Fig. 38h ), and a single, wide, moderately pigmented and relatively more sclerotized arcuate area along outer subdistal portion of gonostyloids. ‘Central point’ of ovipositor centrally located, without proximad directed spicule.

Etymology. The generic name was derived from the combination of the Latin generic name Lucanus Scopoli, 1763 (= a stag-beetle genus), and Pria , a widespread genus of Meligethinae , which is indicative of the usually pectinate male antennal club resembling that of stag-beetles, and overall morphological similarity with Pria . Gender feminine.

Biology. The biology of the single known representative is uncertain. The type material was collected in Rwanda by insecticidal canopy fogging of Carapa grandiflora Sprague (Meliaceae) , a large tree in a montane (cloudy) rain forest remnant (Cyamudongo Forest) (T. Wagner, pers. comm. 2009). Therefore, larvae of Lucanopria gen. nov. may be associated with inflorescences of Carapa , but this assumption needs further field data. At the type locality the type species was collected in conjunction with a few specimens of Micropria .

Phylogenetic position. Available morphological data provide possible evidence of phylogenetic relationships of this genus with members of Microporum and allied taxa. See below discussion about the phylogenetic position of the Microporum generic assemblage. No molecular data are available for this genus.

Taxonomy and geographic distribution. This taxon includes only Lucanopria wagneri Audisio & Cline , sp. nov. from Rwanda described below.

Figures

Fig. 38. Lucanopria Audisio & Cline, gen.nov.: a– k – L. wagneri Audisio & Cline, sp. nov.a – male habitus (length 1.9 mm); b – ventral view of head (width – 0.62 mm); c – prosternal process (width – 0.18 mm); d – male pygidium; e – female elytral apex; f–g – male genitalia (f – length 0.15 mm; g – length 0.18 mm); h – ovipositor (length 0.38 mm); k – exposed (below dashed line) and obscured (above dashed line) portions of last visible abdominal ventrite (abdominal width 0.85 mm).