Micropodabrus imparicornis, Yang, Yu-Xia & Yang, Xing-Ke, 2009

Yang, Yu-Xia & Yang, Xing-Ke, 2009, A new species of Micropodabrus Pic from Hainan, China, and a new name to replace M. coomani (Pic) (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), Zootaxa 2014, pp. 65-68 : 65-67

Micropodabrus imparicornis sp. nov.

( Figs 1– 9 )

Holotype male. Body length from apex of clypeus to apex of abdomen 7.0 mm, maximal width on elytra 1.3 mm. Coloration: Head orange, vertex black, mouthparts yellow, apiceps of mandibles dark brown, maxillary palpi black; antennae black, first 4 antennomeres yellow partly; prothorax largely orange, pronotum anterior half with a large transtriangular black spot, posterior half with impression and posterior margin black in middle, former and latter black areas connecting; scutellum and elytra black; mesoventrite yellow, metaventrite black, ventral abdomen black, with posterior and lateral margins yellow; legs yellow to orange, apices of tibiae and tarsi black. Body densely and finely covered with yellowish pubescence.

Head: Eyes moderately protruding, head across eyes slightly wider than pronotum, head behind eyes narrowed evenly posteriorly. Apical maxillary palpomere longest and triangular. Antenna extending to apical one third of elytra, antennomere II slightly longer than wide, III slightly widened apically, IV thickened, lateroventral margin slightly and laterodorsal margin strongly flattened and widened, inside surface between two margins smooth and lustrous, V–X slightly flattened and widened from base to apical one third, then narrowed and finely bordered to apex, XI parallelsided, as in Figs 3–6 . Pronotum: slightly wider than length, anterior margin rounded, anterior angles obtusely rounded, lateral margins finely bordered and slightly sinuate, posterior angles obtusely vertical, posterior margin obviously bordered and almost straight, surface lustrous, posterior half convex on sides. Elytra: parallel-sided, matt, punctures larger and pubescence longer than in head and pronotum. Legs: all tarsal claws cleft. Aedeagus: as in Figs 7–9 , ventral process of each paramere sharpened and bent apically, dorsal plate broad and rounded at apical margin, not reaching apex of ventral process.

Sexual dimorphism. Female ( Fig. 2 ) with eyes smaller and less protruding than in the male, head across eyes almost as wide as pronotum, antennae simple and filiform; pronotum subparallel-sided, distinctly wider than length, posterior half not distinctly convex; all tarsal claws toothed with a nearly triangular lobe at each base, never cleft.

Variation in paratype series. The black marking on vertex sometimes reduced or absent; antennae sometimes light colored more than the first 4 antennomeres. Pronotal black marking sometimes reduced or absent. Scutellum sometimes orange. Tibiae sometimes entirely or never black. Body length 7.0– 8.5 mm, width 1.3–2.0 mm.

Type material. Holotype: male, CHINA: Jianfengling, Tianchi (18°44.677´N, 108°51.603´E), Hainan, 24 March 2008, leg. Y.X. Yang. Paratypes: 3 males, 2 females, the same data as holotype; 1 male, Wuzhishan, Qiongzhong (18°54.467´N, 109°40.628´E), Hainan, 2 April 2008, leg. Y.X. Yang; 1 male, 1 female, Bawangling (19°05.948´N, 109°10.541´E), Hainan, 7 April 2008, leg. Y.X. Yang; 3 males, 4 females, Jianfengling, Tianchi (18°44.677´N, 108°51.603´E), Hainan, 18 March 1980, leg. S. Y. Wang.

Type depository. The holotype and paratypes are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China ( IZAS).

Etymology. This specific name is derived from Latin words “ impar ” = distinctive + “ cornu ” = antenna, referring to its distinctive male antennae, by which the species can be distinguished from all others in this genus.

Distribution. CHINA: Hainan.

Discussion. This new species is similar to M. bezdeki Švihla (2004) by the aedeagus, but can be easily distinguished by its antennal form, the former with antennomere IV thickened, lateroventral margin slightly and laterodorsal margin strongly flattened and widened, inside surface between two margins smooth and lustrous, V–X slightly flattened and widened from base to apical one third, then narrowed and finely bordered to apex, while the latter with antennomeres III- VII widened apically and inner margins rounded, never flattened or finely bordered.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 9. Micropodabrus imparicornis, sp. nov. 1. male, dorsal view; 2. female, dorsal view; 3. antenna, ventral view; 4. antenna, dorsal view; 5. antennomere III, ventral view; 6. antennomere V, ventral view; 7. aedeagus, ventral view; 8. aedeagus, dorsal view; 9. aedeagus, lateral view. Scale bar a: 1 - 2, b: 7 – 9, c: 5 – 6, d: 3 – 4.