Tmesisternus hunsteinensis, Withaar, 2019

Withaar, Gerrit, 2019, Six new species of the genus Tmesisternus from New Guinea and Seram (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Lamiinae, Tmesisternini), Sugapa Digital 11 (2), pp. 69-78 : 72-73

Tmesisternus hunsteinensis spec. nov.

( Fig. 4 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:28DB2E37-BAFB-46E5-814F-A80E4839084A

Holotype: ♀, D[eutsch].N[eu]. Guinea, Hunsteinspitze , 5.iii.1913, Kais [erin]. Augusta [Fluss] exp., S.G. Burgers [ MFNB].

Paratypes: 1 ♀, as holotype, no date, [ MFNB] ; 1 ♀, as holotype, 4.ii.1913 [ RMNH] .

Diagnosis: Judged from the key in Gressitt (1984) page 31.9 this species belongs to the subchlorus group. But T. hunsteinensis only resembles slightly T. subchlorus Breuning, 1945 , but certainly not the other three species in this group.

Description: Length: 16-19 mm, width: 5-6 mm. Male unknown.

Head pitchy, dorsally and ventrally entirely covered with short grey pubescens, except for a double ridged groove with on frons an elliptical depression and lateral ridges bent from labrum along the antennal insertions, rounding the upper eye lobes and running straight to the base. Eyes red. On front a few and on vertex numerous small punctures. Antennae in all three type specimens not complete, chestnut coloured, shiny and covered with very short transparent pubescens and with short fringes beneath. The scape swollen at the apex.

Pronotum pitchy and shiny, twice as wide as long, laterally constricted in the middle. Entirely covered with deep punctures, except for a narrow medial line. Short contiguous grey pubescens, particularly at laterally. At base ventro-laterally a sharp tubercle, not visible from above, and long contiguous grey pubescens.

Scutellum pitchy, shiny, at base round and apically pointed, with laterally grey pubescens. Elytra pitchy, with strong pronounced shoulders, gradually narrowing to the lateral strong spined apex. Basally shiny, entirely covered with very short contiguous grey pubescens, except for a large postscutellar area. Four strong longitudinal ridges which are almost covered by the pubescens. Basally with a few deep punctures, more apically with smaller punctures, some arranged in rows. Some areas on the elytra have whitish pubescens: behind the shoulders a large area along the epipleura, some spots apically from the smooth postscutellar area, a subapical transverse oblique line from sutur to the sides and more apically a shorter less oblique transverse line and on the epipleura two or three extra white spots.

Legs with tarsi and tibia entirely chestnut coloured with fine grey pubescens. The femora pedunculate and dark brown to black.

Abdomen ventrally chestnut coloured, smooth and shiny. Entirely covered with fine grey pubescens with tiny chestnut coloured spots. In the centre a narrow smooth area.

Female genitalia not depicted.

Distribution: The types were collected in former German New Guinea at the Hunsteinspitze, at present known as Mount Hunstein, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

Etymology: The species is named after Mount Hunstein, where the types have been collected.

Figures

Figs 1-6. Tmesisternus species, adults. Fig. 1. T. bernsteini spec. nov. holotype ♂, Waigeo Island, Papua Barat, Indonesia (RMNH); Fig. 2. T. busuensis spec. nov. holotype ♂, Busu River, Papua New Guinea (BPBM); Fig. 3. T. deyrollei spec. nov. holotype ♂, Seram Island, Moluccas, Indonesia (RMNH); Fig. 4. T. hunsteinensis spec. nov. holotype ♀, Hunsteinspitze, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea (MFNB); Fig. 5. T. pindiuensis spec. nov. holotype ♂, Pindiu, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea (BPBM); Fig. 6. T. wendesi spec. nov. holotype ♂, Wendesi, Papua Barat, Indonesia (RMNH).