Murmidius araguanus, Jałoszyński & Ślipiński, 2022

Jałoszyński, Paweł & Ślipiński, Adam, 2022, Revision of the family Murmidiidae (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea), Zootaxa 5109 (1), pp. 1-102 : 37-39

Murmidius araguanus sp. n.

( Figs 96–102 , 125 , 131 )

Type material examined. Holotype (Venezuela): ♂, “ VENEZUELA: Aragua / Rancho Grande Biological Sta- tion / 1350 m, 10°21’15’’N, 67°41’11’’W / 12 MAY 1998: R.Anderson / VEN1 A98 002B ex: montane forest lit- ter” ( KUNHM) . Paratype: 1 ex., same data except for 1390-1420 m, 27.ii.1995, R . W. Brooks, berlese leaf litter ( KUNHM) .

Diagnosis. Body circular and strongly convex, nearly black; antennal club over twice as long as broad; anterior clypeal margin smooth; pronotum with distinct, sulciform lateral longitudinal impressions, lacking sublateral impressions; clypeus with strong, frons with shallow and indistinct microreticulation, pronotum lacking microsculpture; pronotum and elytra with very fine, inconspicuous punctures, but each elytron also with ~15–20 large punctures on side, arranged in two slightly irregular rows, some large punctures are also distributed mesad sublateral row; prosternal carinae vestigial, barely discernible near posterior prosternal margin; mesoventral plate with evenly rounded anterior margin and complete submarginal carina, lacking lateral carinae; elytral epipleura not narrowed at the level of metaventrite and extremely broad, near middle broader than width of mesofemur; metaventrite entirely impunctate; penis slender, in lateral view strongly curved and flattened; in ventral view with subrectangular apex; tegmen not conspicuously stout, with slightly emarginate apex bearing four pairs of short setae.

Description. BL 1.40 mm; BL/EW 1.19. Body circular ( Fig. 96 ) and in lateral view strongly convex ( Fig. 98 ); pigmentation dark brown, nearly black, legs indistinctly lighter; dorsum very finely setose and with inconspicuous, fine and sparse punctures except large punctures on sides of elytra; cuticle glossy except for matt clypeus, microreticulation present on clypeus, frons and vertex.

Head ( Fig. 125 ) 0.40–0.45 mm wide; frons weakly convex, with fine but distinct and sparse punctures; clypeus more matt than frons; eyes large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Antennal club over twice as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Figs 96 , 131 ) strongly transverse, widest at base; PL 0.25–0.28 mm, PW 0.88–1.00 mm, PL/PW 0.28–0.29; lateral margins weakly rounded and very strongly convergent anterad, with narrow lateral carinae; mesal corners of antennal cavities distinctly projecting anterad; lateral longitudinal impressions distinct, glossy, broad and deep anteriorly and reducing in width and depth toward pronotal base, posteriorly convergent with lateral pronotal margins; sublateral longitudinal impressions lacking; anterior pronotal margin not swollen and lacking marginal line or carina. Punctures on disc very fine, barely discernible, slightly unevenly distributed, those on median area separated by spaces 3–5 as wide as their diameters, large punctures lacking, surface of disc strongly glossy, lacking microreticulation.

Prosternum ( Fig. 97 ) with fine transverse microreticulation more distinct in anterior half and with fine, inconspicuous punctures; prosternal carinae vestigial, developed as short lines at posterior prosternal margin; notosternal carinae weakly sinuate, not reaching anterior prosternal margin, the latter with narrow marginal carina.

Elytra ( Figs 96, 98 ) together oval, with strongly rounded sides, broadest distinctly in front of middle, EL 1.05–1.08 mm, EW 1.18 mm, EL/EW 0.89–0.91. Humerus lacking callus; elytra with large punctures only on sides, forming two irregular rows near lateral margins and with several similar punctures unevenly distributed mesad sublateral row; surface glossy.

Hind wings reduced, narrow and about as long as elytra, unfunctional.

Mesoventral plate ( Fig. 100 ) lacking lateral longitudinal carinae; anterior margin evenly rounded, with complete submarginal carina.

Metaventrite ( Fig. 100 ) entirely impunctate. Discrimen externally not visible.

Tarsi with conspicuously long setae on tarsomeres 1–3 ( Fig. 99 ).

Aedeagus ( Figs 101–102 ) 0.50 mm long, slender; penis in ventral view with subrectangular apex, in lateral view strongly curved and strongly flattened; tegmen with shallowly emarginate apex bearing 4 pairs of short setae.

Distribution. Neotropical ( Venezuela).

Etymology. Named after Aragua State of Venezuela.

Remarks. Murmidius araguanus is externally most similar to M. panamanus , with which it shares large elytral punctures distributed only on sides and forming two slightly irregular rows. These two species clearly differ in genital structures, with the penis of M. araguanus slenderer, strongly flattened and with a subrectangular apex, vs. stout, nearly tubular and rounded at apex in M. panamanus . The aedeagus of M. araguanus closely resembles that of M. tachiranus . However, in M. panamanus the body is much more convex (weakly so in M. tachiranus ); dorsal, median region of the elytral disc is devoid of large punctures (in M. tachiranus elytra are strongly punctate all over); the metaventrite is smooth, lacking any large punctures (in M. tachiranus with round, large punctures, especially on sides and along metaventral femoral lines); and the pronotum is smooth, lacking any traces of microsculpture, whereas that in M. tachiranus is strongly microreticulate on the entire surface.

Figures

FIGURES 96–102. Morphological structures of Murmidius araguanus sp. n. Body in dorsal (96), ventral (97) and lateral (98) views; front tarsus (99); pterothorax in ventral view (100); and aedeagus (101–102).

FIGURES 123–128. Murmidius campbelli group, comparison of microsculpture on heads of M. campbelli sp. n. (123), M. panamanus sp. n. (124), M. araguanus sp. n. (125), M. meridensis sp. n. (126), M. tachiranus sp. n. (127), and M. trujilloensis sp. n. (128).

FIGURES 129–134. Murmidius campbelli group, comparison of microsculpture on pronota of M. campbelli sp. n. (129), M. panamanus sp. n. (130), M. araguanus sp. n. (131), M. meridensis sp. n. (132), M. tachiranus sp. n. (133), and M. trujilloensis sp. n. (134).