Pseudonthobium doense Montreuil & Théry, 2011

Montreuil, Olivier & Théry, Thomas, 2011, Revision of the New Caledonian genus Pseudonthobium Paulian, 1984 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Epilissini), Zootaxa 2863, pp. 49-62 : 57-58

Pseudonthobium doense Montreuil & Théry , new species

Habitus: Fig. 2 .

Type specimens. Holotype male: NEW CALEDONIA, 21°45’S 166°00’E, Mt Do, 0,5 km below summit, 950 m, flight int. trap, 22 Nov–28 Jan 2004, Monteith leg. [ MNHN]; Paratypes (65): 9 males and 8 females — same data as holotype [QM]; 1 male and 2 females — NEW CALEDONIA, Mt Do Summit, 1000 m, 20 May 1984, Monteith & Cook leg. [ MNHN, QM]; 1 female — NEW CALEDONIA, Mt Do Summit, 20 May 1987, R. Raven leg. [QM]; 7 males and 19 females — NEW CALEDONIA, 21°45’S 166°00’E, Mt Do Summit, 1000 m, Pitfall, 21–22 Nov 2003, Monteith leg., dung trap [QM]; 1 male and 4 females — NEW CALEDONIA, 21°45’S 166°00’E, Mt Do Summit, 1000 m, Pitfall, 27 Sep–21 Nov 2000, Skevington & Monteith leg. [QM]; 1 MALE — NEW CALEDO- NIA, Mt Do Summit, 20 Nov 2000, Monteith leg., 21°45’S 166°00’E, Rainforest, 1000m, Sieved litter [QM]; 5 males and 5 females — NEW CALEDONIA, Mt Do Summit, 1000m, 21–22 Nov 2000, Monteith leg., 21°45’S 166°00’E, dung pitfall [QM]; 1 female — NEW CALEDONIA, Mt Do Summit, 21–22 Nov 2000, Bouchard, Burwell & Monteith leg., 21°45’S 166°00’E, 1000m [QM]; 1 — MALE NOUVELLE CALEDONIE, Mont Do (Bouloupari) 21° 45.212 S 166° 0 0.011 E 1022 m, 08–22.XI.2007, Piège d’interception, T. Théry leg. [ CTT].

Description (male). 7.0–8.0 mm. Dark reddish-brown, sometimes with shiny bronze coloration on elytra, mouthparts and setae yellowish brown. Dorsal side shiny and glabrous.

Head. Frons flat, clypeus feebly depressed at middle. Clypeus bidentate, lateral margins subconvex.

Pronotum. Base bilobate, straight or feebly concave at middle, straight and obliquely divergent on each side. Posterior angles obtuse. Lateral margin straight, feebly then strongly convergent anteriorly. Anterior angles feebly sharp.

Elytra. Interstriae flat, smooth, without microreticulation, with fine punctation; punctures evenly dispersed, much smaller than pronotal punctures, separated by about 1–2 times their diameter; interstriae bearing 1–2 rows of sparse, larger setae mainly near apex. Anterior margin straight, projecting obliquely from base of 5th stria to fit the basal margin of pronotum. Side of elytra evenly curved. Setae sparse, distributed only near apex of elytra and along odd interstriae.

8th tergite. Fine punctation evenly distributed, less dense than punctation on pronotum. Apical margin not enlarged. Furrow not deep.

Sternites. Last sternite strongly enlarged, tegument feebly microreticulate, shiny, completely covered by punctation similar to that on 8th tergite. Other sternites normally developed, strongly microreticulate, dull, punctate only on sides.

Legs. Protarsi normal. Median tooth of outer margin of protibia closer to apical tooth. Inner margin with tooth-like lamella in front of median external tooth and feebly sinuate before apex ( Fig. 19 ).

Aedeagus ( Fig. 11 ). Left paramere evenly and feebly projected laterally in apical third. Right paramere short, even, enlarged and with small curve at apex in lateral view.

Notes. Female similar to male, with simple inner margin of protibia. 8th tergite short, very transverse.

Distribution. This species is known only from Mt. Do, in south New Caledonia.

Etymology. This species is named after its type locality.

Remark. Paulian (1991) illustrated this species under the name P. fracticolloides .

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 9. Habitus of Pseudonthobium. 1, P. fracticolloides Paulian, male; 2, P. doense n. sp., male; 3, P. genieri n. sp., male; 4, P. sinuatotibiale n. sp., male; 5, P. humboldtense n. sp., male; 6, P. paniense n. sp., male; 7, P. monteithianum n. sp., male; 8, P. foveolatum n. sp., female; 9, P. fracticolle (Fauvel), male. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 18 – 25. Right protibia of male Pseudonthobium, dorsal view. 18, P. fracticolloides Paulian; 19, P. doense n. sp.; 20, P. g e n i e r i n. sp.; 21, P. sinuatotibiale n. sp.; 22, P. humboldtense n. sp.; 23, P. paniense n. sp.; 24, P. monteithianum n. sp.; 25, P. fracticolle (Fauvel). Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 10 – 17. Parameres of Pseudonthobium, right, dorsal and left views. 10, P. fracticolloides Paulian; 11, P. doense n. sp.; 12, P. g e n i e r i n. sp.; 13, P. sinuatotibiale n. sp.; 14, P. humboldtense n. sp.; 15, P. paniense n. sp.; 16, P. monteithianum n. sp.; 17, P. fracticolle (Fauvel). Scale bar: 1 mm.