Afrodiaphanes pulcher FANTI & M. G. PANKOWSKI, 2022

Fanti, Fabrizio & Pankowski, Maximilian G., 2022, A new species of Afrodiaphanes Geisthardt, 2007 (Coleoptera, Lampyridae), the first firefly described from the Central African Republic, Zootaxa 5200 (2), pp. 191-195 : 192-193

Afrodiaphanes pulcher FANTI & M. G. PANKOWSKI sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 )

Description. Male, adult, alate, robust, elongate, slightly convex. Body length: 17 mm. Entirely golden orange and testaceous, with elytra having two black lines (wider basally and narrower apically) near suture in scutellar zone, abdomen testaceous, legs and antennae black.

Head small, entirely covered by pronotum. Eyes black, wide, rounded, occupying most of head. Antennae 10-segmented, short, thick, pubescent; scape club-shaped, very robust, widened apically; antennomere II short; antennomere III elongated, longest (except tenth antennomere), about 2.0 times longer than second; antennomere IV similar to third and very slightly shorter; antennomeres V-IX short, thick, sub-equal; antennomere X longer than previous ones, thick and robust, elongated, and longest of antennomeres. Pronotum slightly wider than long, anterior margin rounded, finely bordered; posterior margin almost straight, slightly bordered, sides almost parallel, corners very slightly protruding backwards, surface convex in disc and with deep depression near corners and depression before anterior margin, surface with punctuation that is slightly impressed (more impressed in middle of pronotum), falcate transparent spots totally absent, an evident ridge longitudinally in middle. Scutellum elongated, narrow, rounded at apex, with shallow punctuation. Elytra rugose, elongated, parallel-sided, rounded at apex, surface with carinulae, humeral and scutellar convex and gibbous. Hind wings covered by elytra. Prosternum robust. Tergites wide and transverse; penultimate tergite with sides at apex slightly protruding backwards. Ventrites transverse, wide, pubescent, with small punctuation; last ventrite with light organs absent, wide basally and rounded apically with a very slightly emargination in middle. Pygidium robust, with sides strongly curved, slightly sinuous apically with extremely short and rounded lobe in middle. Legs relatively short and robust, pubescent with short and numerous setae; femora flat and almost straight; tibiae flat, especially at apex, nearly as long as femora. Tarsal formula 5-5-5, tarsomere I elongated; tarsomere II triangular-shaped, shorter than first; tarsomere III about 0.8 times shorter than second; tarsomere IV strongly bilobed, with lobes narrow and elongated, metatarsomere IV very slightly shorter than first metatarsomere; tarsomere V thin, extremely long; claws simple, strongly curved, smooth, with ventral base strongly expanded. Aedeagus with median lobe (penis) curved, enlarged apically, without ventral dilatations (slightly present only at base); parameres shorter than penis, wide basally, apically with a short lobe that is rounded apically.

Etymology. The specific epithet derives from the Latin adjective “ pulchĕr ” = beautiful, graceful.

Holotype. ♂, originally labeled as follows: Central African Rep. // Nana-Grebizi Prov. // 25 km NNE Mbres //16- 18.7.2011 550 m // A. Kudrna Jr. lgt. All of the original writing is in capital letters.

Distribution. Central African Republic.

Type locality. Central African Republic: Nana-Grébizi Prefecture, 25 km NNE Mbrès , 550 m a.s.l.

Differential diagnosis. Afrodiaphanes pulcher sp. nov. differs from Afrodiaphanes marginipennis (Boheman, 1851) in several ways. The new species possesses elytra with black lines near the suture on the scutellar zone, while A. marginipennis has a blackish elytra with suture, and apex and margins testaceous ( Geisthardt 2007; Martin et al. 2019). Afrodiaphanes pulcher sp. nov. also has the median lobe (penis) of its aedeagus more curved and more enlarged apically, and the penis also lacks ventral dilatation; furthermore, it has slightly different parameres and no luminous spots on the last sternite (where A. marginipennis has two very small luminous spots). In addition, the first metatarsomere is about 1.1–1.2 times longer than the fourth metatarsomere, while the first is as long as or shorter than the fourth in A. marginipennis ( Geisthardt 2007) . Diaphanes pallidior Pic, 1956 has more testaceous coloration than Afrodiaphanes pulcher sp. nov. ( Pic 1956); Lampyris tinctoria Gorham, 1900 has a delicately carinate pronotum with different punctures, and the elytra are opaque with a different coloration ( Gorham 1900); and the little-known Lampyris bicoloripes Pic, 1931 is slightly smaller in size, has a different coloration of the legs and the elytra is more elongated and narrower ( Pic 1931b).

Note. The holotype lacks the last three left antennomeres. With only this specimen found so far, the bioecology, eggs, larva and females are unknown.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Afrodiaphanes pulcher sp. nov., holotype.A, habitus (dorsal view); B, detail of pygidium, last sternite and aedeagus; C, detail of aedeagus.