Tonycolotes, Tshernyshev, 2022

Tshernyshev, Sergei E., 2022, Soft-winged flower beetles (Coleoptera: Malachiidae) of the United Arab Emirates, European Journal of Taxonomy 817, pp. 58-77 : 66-67

Tonycolotes gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4B5B95CC-00CD-47E8-9A6F-9B83E85850C9

Type species

Colotes kovari Švihla, 1987 , designated by monotypy in the present paper.

Diagnosis

Moderately small-sized (ca 1.5–1.7 mm) malachiid beetles with the body subparallel and oval ( Figs 11– 12 ). Colouration yellow with brown bases of scapus, two triangular spots on elytra below the middle and metathoracic segments. Antennae filiform ( Fig. 15 ), long, extending over the middle of the elytra; in males 1 st antennomere ( Figs 16–18 ) enlarged, strongly compressed at base and depressed at apex, oval, 2 nd antennomere oval, 1.3 × as long as the 3 rd antennomere, the 3 rd antennomere triangular, not wider than the 4 th, 4 th –10 th segments oval-cylindrical, elongate, simple and equal in length, terminal antennomere oval, evenly rounded and narrowed at apex, 1.2 × as long as 10 th antennomere.

Head with same width or slightly narrower as pronotum, slightly elongate and prognathous, eyes small, slightly protruding over the contour of head; frons flat; inter-ocular area flat and slightly impressed, glabrous, lacking depression or protuberances, genae short and straight, lacking excavations or depressions; clypeus narrow and short, transverse, straight; labrum short and transverse; palpi in male with stout and complicatedly sculptured terminal and slightly enlarged cupulate penultimate palpomeres, in female the terminal palpomere subquadrate, slightly flattened, small, the penultimate palpomere small and subtriangular. Pronotum ( Figs 11–13 ) transverse, narrow, with rounded lateral sides, not sinuate but depressed at base; scutellum small, triangular, with curved and adpressed apex.

Elytra subparallel, evenly expanded just behind the base and evenly rounded posteriorly, apices simple; humeri indistinct and small; surface densely punctured, covered with light dense adpressed short hairs. Anterior tarsi simple, four-segmented, slightly compressed, lacking comb above the 2 nd segment, 3 rd tarsomere is the smallest, 1 st is the longest, twice as long as 2 nd, 2 nd and 3 rd of similar shape, the terminal tarsomere strongly narrower; in anterior and posterior legs the 1 st tarsomere is the longest and the penultimate is the shortest; claws thin, weakly curved and sharp, slightly widened at base; anterior tibiae impressed and flattened underneath in apical half, intermediate straight, posterior slightly curved; femora simple, not swollen or strongly curved, lacking indentation, flattened. Metathorax weakly swollen, transverse, lacking appendages or tuft of hairs, slightly bituberculate. Pygidium ( Fig. 21 ) undivided, elongate, evenly narrowed and rounded, weakly emarginate in middle; ultimate ventrite ( Fig. 22 ) bilaciniate, elongate and wide, evenly narrowed posteriorly, with narrow oval emargination in middle and with curved short apices, aedeagus specific, with curved under right-angle base and straight central lobe, apical lamella depressed, flat, with two sharp processes from both sides; inner sac lacking strong bristles ( Fig. 23 ); tegmen wide and elongate with strongly shortened thin appendages ( Fig. 24 ).

Etymology

The new genus ‘ Tonycolotes ’, is composed of two words, ‘ Tony ’ – nickname of Antonius van Harten, enthusiastic organiser and participant of the UAE Insect Project, and ‘ Colotes ’, the name of the genus, nominative to the tribe Colotini .

Comparison

Due to the fact that the type species of the new genus was previously attributed to the genus Colotes , it should be compared with Colotes and Colotrema , also occurring in the region, from which it can be distinguished by the following characters: the elytral apices simple, not impressed; the 1 st antennomere strongly enlarge and modified, compressed at base and depressed at distal part; anterior tibiae impressed and flattened underneath in apical half, head flat, lacking depressions near genae; hind wings normally developed in both sexes; aedeagus with curved under right-angle base and straight central lobe, apical lamella depressed, flat, with two sharp processes from both sides.

Notes

Modified and enlarged palpi in male are typical of representatives of the tribe Colotini . In the Arabian Peninsula, the tribe includes two genera, Colotes and Colotrema . The taxonomic structure of the tribe needs to be revised mainly because of taxonomic uncertainty in the nominal genus Colotes (Tshernyshev 2018) . Definition of the subgeneric taxa on the basis of the only character, the shape of female palpi, results in a confusing conception of the genus which was initially identified by male special characters. Recently, the type species of the genus, Colotes trinotatus Erichson, 1840 (a junior synonym of Colotes maculatus (Laporte de Castelnau, 1836)) has been re-described and illustrated in detail, and the generic characters were determined (Tshernyshev 2018); as a result, a new genus, Himalacolotes Tshernyshev, 2018, was described for a group of Himalayan endemic species on the basis of similarity of external morphology, coloration of body and shape of male genitalia. The proposed new genus, Tonycolotes gen. nov., differs from the nominal species in a series of strong characters, allowing one to consider it a good separate genus.

List of species in the genus Tonycolotes gen. nov.

1. Tonycolotes kovari (Švihla, 1987) gen. et. comb. nov. ( Iran, Oman, UAE)

Figures

Figs 11–24. Tonycolotes kovari (Švihla, 1987) gen. et. comb. nov., ♂ (SCH_ISEA). 11. External appearance, dorsal view. 12. External appearance, lateral view. 13. Head and pronotum, subdorsal view. 14. Head and pronotum, dorsal view. 15. Right antenna. 16–18. Scapus in different positions. 19. Left palp. 20. Left anterior leg. 21. Pygidium. 22. Ultimate abdominal ventrite. 23. Aedeagus, lateral view. 24. Tegmen. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.