Merionoeda borodinae, Barševskis & Medina, 2021

Barševskis, Arvīds & Medina, Milton Norman, 2021, Two new species of Merionoeda Pascoe, 1869 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from Palawan Island, Philippines, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 21 (1), pp. 59-63 : 59-63

Merionoeda borodinae sp. nov.

( Fig. 1)

Type material: HOLOTYPUS, male: Philippines: Palawan isl. / Roxas , 09.2020. / local collector leg. [handwritten] ; HOLOTYPUS / Merionoeda / borodinae sp. nov. / A.Barševskis det. 2021. [red, handwritten] ( DUBC) .

Paratypes: 1 male, 1 female: Palawan isl. / Roxas , 10.2020. / local collector leg. [handwritten] ; PARATYPUS / Merionoeda / borodinae sp. nov. / A.Barševskis det. 2021 [red, handwritten] ( DUBC). All type specimens are damaged .

General distribution: Palawan isl., Philippines.

Description. Body elongated, narrow. Coloration black, dorsal surface of elytra dark-brown, with two yellow elongated spots. Length: 4.3 – 4.5 mm, maximal width: 1.3 - 1.4 mm. Head flattened, relatively short, with convex, bilobate eyes. Dorsal surface of head black or dark–brown, shiny, with very sparse, fine punctures, without visible pubescence, with wide triangular impression between eyes. Labrum dark-brown, slightly pubescent, shiny. Apical margin of labrum concave. Clypeus brown, transverse, shiny. Mandibles dark-brown, with sharp apex, massive, wide, shiny, relatively short, with lateral pubescence. Cheeks small, with sparse pubescence. Antennal bases flattened, smooth, shiny. Antennae slen- der, relatively long, longer than body, covered with coarse punctures and fine, sparse pubescence; antennomeres 1–4 brown or dark–brown, relatively narrow, but widened apically; remaining antennomeres widened, dark-brown, three apical antennomeres yellow. Pronotum black, cylindrical, neck-shaped narrowed and impressed in apical and basal portions, with several long and indistinct elevations on dorsal and lateral surfaces, with coarse punctation between them. Dorsal and lateral portions of pronotum without pubescence. Scutellum relatively large, rounded apically, with dense dark pubescence. Pars stridens not visible below base of pronotum. Elytra flattened, with very distinct and smooth shoulders humps. First half of elytra almost parallel-sided, slightly narrowed in middle. Elytra are shorter than the body. Suture short, both elytra begin to move away from each other soon behind the scutellum. Elytra dark-brown, with two elongated yellow spots. Punctation of elytra arranged in longitudinal rows. Apical margins of elytra sharp, with small and sharp apical extensions near suture. Lateroventral surface of body with dense, grey pubescence. Forelegs and middle legs black, hind legs with significantly widened apical parts of femora, with yellow-red base of each femur and dark tibia; tarsus and apical part of femora covered with very fine pubescence.

Differential diagnosis. Regarding the shape of the body, the new species is similar to M. makiharai Yokoi & Niisato, 2012 from Borneo, but differs by longer elytra and smaller yellow dorsal spot, which are shorter, more rounded for the new species, and black middle and front legs, which are brown in M. makiharai .

Etymology. This species is named after our colleague, Belarusian entomologist Olga Borodina (Daugavpils, Latvia) in appreciation of cooperation.