Calydus yaroslavi, Shapovalov & Skrylnyk, 2023

Shapovalov, Andrey M. & Skrylnyk, Yuriy E., 2023, The occurrence of the genus Calydus Reitter, 1896 (Coleoptera, Meloidae) in Afghanistan with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 5264 (1), pp. 129-136 : 130-136

Calydus yaroslavi new species

( Figs. 1, 2 , 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17–18 )

Type locality. Central Afghanistan, Bamyan Province, Yakawlang Distr., Bande-Amir National Park , 3 km W Sabzel, 34°47′58.27″N, 67°10′51.17″E, 2903 m a.s.l.

Type material (8 specimens). Holotype, ♂ ( ZIN), Afghanistan, Bamyan Province, Yakawlang Distr., BandeAmir National Park , 3 km W Sabzel, 34°47′58.27″N, 67°10′51.17″E, h = 2903 m a.s.l., 6-8.VII.2009, Yu.E. Skrylnyk leg. ; Paratypes, 4 ♂♂ and 3 ♀♀: 1 ♂ 1 ♀, same data ( ZIN) ; 3 ♂♂ same data ( ASPC) ; 1 ♀ same data ( YSPC) ; 1 ♀, Afghanistan, Bamyan Distr., 10 km S Bamyan, Khushkak env., h = 2900 m a.s.l., 12.VI.2012, I.G. Pljushtch leg. ( ASPC) .

Diagnosis. Body black, elytra with faint purple metallic tinge, pronotum orange with black margins and a pair of paramedian round black spots on disc, frontal red spot not distinctly swollen. Head not distinctly depressed dorsally; temples relatively widened and progressively rounded posteriorly; submentum almost flat, only with weak longitudinal paramedian impressions; mandibles robust, relatively wide, external outline strongly curved inward at apical third; antennae moniliform, rather thickened distally, distal antennomeres not approached, distinctly extending beyond the base of elytra; pronotum slightly (about 1.1 times) wider than long, subglobular, surface almost smooth with only fine scattered punctures; ventrolateral margin of pronotum almost evenly merging with margin of prosternum, not forming suture reaching beyond anterior outline of procoxal cavities; prosternum before the middle with sharp laterally flattened medial elevation between procoxal cavities; shoulders nearly rectangular; elytra with faint purple tinge; legs and tarsi slender; body with comparatively long pubescence; head, pronotum and elytra with distinct erect hairs; parameres relatively narrow with dorsal hook before apex.

Description. Male (holotype ♂). Body length 14.5 mm, elytral width at shoulders 3.9 mm.

Body ( Fig. 1 ) black, shiny, elytra with faint purple metallic tinge, pronotum red with black margins and a pair of paramedian round black spots on disc. Body pubescence unicolourous black; hairs erect or suberect and relatively long on ventral side of body, head, pronotum (but central part of disc almost glabrous), abdomen, external margin and base of elytra, femora; antennomeres 1–2 with rather long and erect setation, antennomeres 3–6 with short recumbent pubescence, antennomeres 7–11 with very short and dense recumbent pubescence; underside of tarsi with numerous, but not dense black setae, not forming distinct pads.

Head capsule ( Fig. 1 , 5 ) subquadrate, 1.2 times as wide as long at temples level, at temples 1.8 times as wide as at frons between eyes, temples relatively widened and rounded posteriorly, length of temples 1.4 times as great as transverse diameter of eye, longitudinal diameter of eyes 1.8 times as great as transverse diameter, distance between eyes 2.2 times as great as transverse eye diameter and 1.2 times as great as longitudinal eye diameter; frons flattened and weakly depressed proximally, in the middle with suboval depression and red spot; median sulcus narrow and partly shallow, weakly depressed on vertex; head dorsally with dull area between eyes and from anterior margin of head capsule almost to vertex with dense microsculpture and strongly smoothed fine punctures, outside this area surface of head shiny, with more deep punctures, interspace between punctures almost more than punctures. Clypeus transverse, convex, anteriorly depressed; fronto-clypeal suture clearly visible; labrum slightly shorter and narrower than clypeus, at sides arcuate, anterior margin slightly sinuate. Mandibles ( Fig. 1 , 7 ) robust, with bidentate apex, interiorly with tooth proximally of the middle, external outline strongly curved from apical third. Submentum almost flat, only with weak paramedian longitudinal impressions. Last maxillary palpomere apically thickened and rounded at apex, external margin weakly emarginate beyond apex. Antennae ( Fig. 1 , 11 ) moniliform, comparatively long, extending behind posterior margin of pronotum by apical part of antennomere 9, distal antennomeres distinctly wider than proximal ones, antennomeres 1–6 shiny, antennomeres 7–11 matt with dense sculpture; scape three times as long as pedicel; antennomeres 3–5 greatly elongate, subequal in length and 2.5 times as long as wide, antennomere 3 cylindrical, antennomeres 4–5 subcylindrical (only slightly thickened apically); antennomere 6 short and wider than preceding ones; antennomeres 7–11 rather wide, antennomere 7 slightly wider than 6 and slightly narrower than 8, antennomeres 8–10 wider than others (1.5 times as long as wide and 1.5 times wider than antennomere 3), antennomere 11 slightly narrower than 10, elongate and narrowing apically.

Pronotum ( Fig. 1 , 9 ) 1.1 times wider than long, widest near the middle, narrowed anteriorly, convex, subglobular, with moderately depressed middle-line in centre of disc; surface almost smooth with only fine scattered punctures. Ventrolateral margin of pronotum ( Fig. 13 ) almost evenly merging with margin of prosternum, not forming suture reaching beyond anterior outline of procoxal cavities. Prosternum ( Fig. 13 ) transverse, near the middle of length with elevated transversal ridge, proximally of the middle with sharp laterally flattened medial elevation between procoxal cavities.

Mesoventrite ( Fig. 15 ) arcuate anteriorly, without modified area (“scutum”), middle part smooth and glabrous (without punctures and hairs); mesepisterna with furrowed anterior border. Abdominal ventrite VI not deeply angularly emarginate in middle of posterior margin, punctuation of abdomen fine and not dense.

Elytra ( Fig. 1 ) at the base 1.6 times as wide as pronotum, shoulders distinct and nearly rectangular. Surface shiny, finely rugose with small and partly merged punctures.

Legs ( Fig. 1 ) slender, tarsomeres distinctly longer than wide in lateral aspect; tarsomeres 1-4 moderately thickened apically in lateral aspect, tarsomere 5 subcylindrical, moderately widened in dorsal aspect; pro- and mesotarsi nearly as long as corresponding tibiae, tarsomere 5 longest, tarsomere 1 slightly shorter than 5, tarsomeres 2 and 3 subequal and shorter than 1, tarsomere 4 shortest; metatarsi 0.9 times the length of metatibia with longest tarsomere 1; pro- and mesotibial spurs simple, apically pointed, the inner metatibial spur slightly flattened and rounded at apex, the external spur pointed; claws slightly curved, with ventral blade fused to dorsal blade proximally and not attaining apex (equal to ¾ of length) of dorsal blade, ventral blade diverging at middle of dorsal blade.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 17–19 ). Parameres relatively narrow with dorsal hook before apex, lobes with dorsal hook before apex and with long setae basal to hook; penis with one apical hook.

Variability in males. Body length 10.9–14.5 mm, width elytra in shoulders 2.6–3.9 mm. Disc of pronotum often with pair of paramedian impressions proximal of the middle.

Females ( Fig. 2 , 15 ). Body length: 10.8–17.3 mm. Head without dull area between eyes, with rather deep uniform punctures, shiny, without dense microsculpture; antennae slightly shorter than in males, with antennomere 11 attaining the base of elytra, antennomeres 1–5 shiny, 1–2 with dense and rather long erect pubescence, 3–5 with comparatively long and dense semierect pubescence, antennomeres 6–11 matt with dense sculpture and dense and very short recumbent pubescence. Ventral blade of claws slightly shorter than in males and equal nearly to 2/3 of length of dorsal blade.

Distribution. The new species was recorded only from the Bamian Province in central Afghanistan: two localities on the northern slope of Koh-I Baba (or Baba) Mountain Range in the Hindu Kush mountain system (see map, Fig. 22 ).

Comparison and remarks. The shape of claws of the new species (with ventral blade fused to dorsal blade) and genitalia (lobes of parameres hooked dorsally before apex, penis with one apical hook) are typical of the genus Calydus . However C. yaroslavi new species is very distinct from all congeners in the shape of the temples ( Fig. 5 ), head dorsally not depressed, mandibles ( Fig. 7 ) with external outline strongly curved inward at the apical third, longer and moniliform antennae ( Fig. 11 ), subglobular and almost smooth pronotum ( Fig. 9 ), distinct erect pubescence of body including pronotum and elytra ( Fig. 1 ). Body coloration is similar only to that of C. syriacus ( Fig. 4 ), but in latter the elytra totally lack a metallic tinge. Other Calydus species differ from the new species by the body colouration, having elytra which are totally black or with red, brown-red ( Fig. 3 ) or bicoloured. Also, all the previously known species of Calydus are characterised by the temples progressively widened and not rounded posteriorly ( Fig. 6 ), rather short antennae not attaining elytral base and weakly widened distally, antennae not moniliform with antennomeres closely articulated ( Fig. 3, 4 , 12 ); pronotum almost campaniform with the disc flattened or only weakly convex, integument with rather deep distinct punctuation ( Fig. 3, 4 , 10 ); legs more robust, tarsomeres shorter and in lateral view rather widened ( Fig. 3, 4 ); body pubescence short and recumbent, pronotum and elytra with poorly visible, very short recumbent pubescence ( Fig. 3, 4 , 6, 10, 14 ). In the examined species C. semenovi and C. cf. syriacus ( Fig. 3, 4 , 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 ) mandibles are narrower with external outline gradually and comparatively weakly curved inward ( Fig. 8 ), submentum widely impressed, ventrolateral margin of pronotum not evenly merging with margin of prosternum and forming a distinct elevated suture extending beyond anterior outline of procoxal cavities, prosternum proximal to the middle with a wide obtuse elevation ( Fig. 14 ).

Etymology. The new species is named after Yaroslav Skrylnyk, the younger son of the second author of this paper.

Ecology. Specimens were collected from June, 12 to July, 8. Both known localities are situated at an altitude of about 2900 m a.s.l. In the type locality (3 km W Sabzel) the new species was found in a localised mesophytic meadow biotope with shrubs in the floodplain of the Bande-Amir River surrounded by very dry hilly landscapes ( Figs. 20, 21 ). It is interesting to note that in the same biotope was found also the recently described Lytta (Eolytta) skrylniki A. Shapovalov, 2016 and L. (Eolytta) laeta Waterhouse, 1889 ( Shapovalov, 2016) .

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Calydus spp., general view. 1—C. yaroslavi new species (holotype, male); 2—C. yaroslavi new species (paratype, female); 3—C. semenovi (Escherich, 1896) (male, Iran, West Azerbaijan Prov.); 4—C. cf. syriacus Kaszab, 1960 (female, Iran, Lorestan Prov.).

FIGURES 5–19. Calydus spp. 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15–18—C. yaroslavi new species (5, 7, 9, 11, 17–19—holotype, male; 13— paratype, male; 15—paratype, female); 6, 8, 10, 12, 16—C. semenovi (Escherich, 1896) (6, 8, 10, 12—male, 16—female; Iran, West Azerbaijan Prov.); 14—C. cf. syriacus Kaszab, 1960 (female, Iran, Lorestan Prov.). 5, 6—head; 7, 8—right mandible; 9, 10 pronotum; 11, 12—antennae; 13 (the arrow indicates medial elevation), 14 (the arrow indicates elevated ventrolateral margin of pronotum)—prosternum; 15, 16—mesoventrite; 17—tegmen, ventral view; 18—tegmen, lateral view; 19—aedeagus, lateral view.

FIGURES 22–23. Biotope and distribution of Calydus spp. 22—map of distribution Calydus yaroslavi new species (1—type locality, 3 km W Sabzel; 2–10 km S Bamyan); 23—biotope of the Calydus semenovi (Escherich, 1896) in Iran, West Azerbaijan, Takht-e Soleyman, 24.V.2017, 36°37′15.46″N 47°18′36.94″E (photo by A. Zubov).

FIGURE 20-21. The type locality of the Calydus yaroslavi new species. 20—view of locality, 21—biotope.