Laima andreei, Alekseev & Tomaszewska, 2018

Alekseev, Vitalii I. & Tomaszewska, Wioletta, 2018, New handsome fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea: Anamorphidae, Endomychidae) from European amber of the Upper Eocene, Palaeontologia Electronica (6 A) 21 (1), pp. 1-23 : 14

Laima andreei sp. nov.

Figures 4.4 , 5.1-3

zoobank.org/ 06EC1ADB-DB38-4ABF-9A26-6146FA80AC69

Type material. Holotype: No. 1222-5 [ CCHH]. Sex unknown. The beetle inclusion is preserved in a polished piece of transparent amber with a yellowish shade. The small amber piece is embedded in a block of polyester resin (total measurements are 12 x 8 x 5 mm). Syninclusions consist of numerous small wood pieces and filaments.

Type strata. Baltic amber. Eocene.

Type locality. Russia, Kaliningrad region, the Sambian (Samland) peninsula, Yantarny settlement (formerly Palmnicken) .

Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym for Dr. Karl Erich Andrée, a German geologist and paleontologist, Director at the Geological-Paleontological Institute, and in charge of the amber collections of Albertina (Königsberg University).

Diagnosis. As stated for new genus.

Description. Body length 3.0 mm; width (at widest point in middle part of elytra) 1.25 mm; elongate; dorsal surface irregularly punctate and densely pubescent, uniformly black.

Head transverse, fine and comparatively scarcely punctate (with interspaces 1.0–2.5 times puncture diameter). Fronto-clypeal suture distinct. Eyes rounded, prominent, coarsely facetted. Antennae relatively long, pubescent, extending to base of elytra; composed of 11 antennomeres with loose club composed of three antennomeres. Antennomere length proportions follow formula: 10: 6: 5: 3: 3: 3: 5: 5: 7: 7: 11. Terminal maxillary palpomere cylindrical, longitudinal, apically rounded; penultimate palpomere short, transverse, broader than terminal one. Terminal labial palpomere longer than wide, pointed apically.

Pronotum transverse, 0.66 times as long as wide; weakly convex; with widely rounded anterior and rectangular posterior angles. Anterior pronotal margin slightly convex, posterior margin almost straight; posterior part of pronotum with deep transverse basal sulcus; lateral sulci shallow, each with two small tubercles basally. Pronotal disc coarsely and moderately densely punctate with interspaces 0.3–0.5 times puncture diameter. Prosternal process not visible due to position of legs. Procoxae are very close to each other; mesocoxae separated by distance 0.5 times of mesocoxal diameter; metacoxae broadly separated, with distance equal to coxal diameter. Hypomeron smooth.

Elytra elongate (1.7 times longer than wide; 3.6 times longer than pronotum), subparallel; with weak humeri; densely pubescent and irregularly punctate (like pronotum). Sutural striae distinct apically and reaching from apex to basal one-third of elytra. Scutellum visible, transverse (twice as long as wide), widely rounded posteriorly. Hind wings present.

Legs with tibiae simple and femora cylindrical. Tarsal formula 4-4-4. Tarsi pseudotrimerous; first and second tarsomeres lobed; tarsomere 4 as long as all previous segments combined; tarsomere 1 twice as long as tarsomere 2; tarsomere 2 and 3 almost equal in length. Tarsal claws simple, curved, almost one-quarter length of tarsomere 4.

Abdomen with five ventrites; ventrite 1 as long as three following ventrites combined, without postcoxal lines. Ventrites 2, 3, and 4 subequal in length. Apex of terminal ventrite widely rounded.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Anamorphid and Endomychid from Baltic amber. 1-3, Symbiotes borussiaeorientalis sp. nov. (No. 1799-2 [CCHH], holotype), habitus in dorso-lateral (1) and ventro-lateral (2) views, and a reconstruction of the habitus in dorsal view (3). 4, Laima andreei gen. et sp. nov., a reconstruction of the habitus in dorsal view.

FIGURE 5. Endomychids from Baltic and Bitterfeld ambers. 1-3, Laima andreei gen. et sp. nov. (No. 1222-5 [CCHH], holotype), habitus in lateral (1), dorsal (2), and ventral (3) views. 4-5, Trochoideus koenigsbergicus sp. nov. (No. 1506-1 [CCHH], holotype), habitus in dorsal view (4), and antenna in lateral view (5). 6-7, Trochoideus resinatissimus sp. nov., antenna (6) and maxillary palp (7) in lateral views.