Endomia litoralis Kejval 2007, sp. nov.

Endomia litoralis sp. nov.

(Figs. 2, 6, 7)

Type locality. India, SW Maharashtra, ca 15 km E of Savantvadi, 15°55′N 75°53′E.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♁, ‘ INDIA, Maharashtra, ca 15 km E of SAVANTVADI, 15°55′N 75°53′E, riverside, alt. ca 40 m, 22.v.2006, Z. Kejval lgt.’ (NMPC). PARATYPES: 5 ♁♁ 5 ♀♀, same data as holotype (ZKDC).

Additional material examined (see Remarks). INDIA: MAHARASHTRA, Pune, v.1908, G. E. Bryant leg., 1 ♀ (BMNH).

Description (male, holotype). Head and pronotum rufous brown; elytra yellowish brown, at places with rufous tinge, and with black, rather sharply outlined, nearly V-shaped marking (Fig. 2), widened on suture and extending along lateral margins anteriad as far as humeri; antennae rufous brown; legs and palpi yellowish brown.

Head 1.2 times as long as wide, unevenly rounded posteriorly; tempora rather strongly narrowing towards base, posterior temporal angles slightly indicated; frontal protrusions slightly indicated; basal median carina distinct, slightly impressed in dorsal view. Eyes large, rather convex. Surface less glossy, distinctly and rather densely punctured. Setation distinct, subdecumbent, whitish; setae thick, blunt, narrow (not typically scale-like). Antennae short, slender, moderately enlarged in terminal third (Fig. 6); basal antennomere slender, at most moderately enlarged; antennomere 10 about 1.1 times, antennomere 11 1.8 times as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.2 times as long as wide, moderately narrower than head including eyes, rather evenly rounded anteriorly, at most slightly impressed postero-laterally in dorsal view. Surface less glossy; punctation and setation as on head.

Elytra 1.8 times as long as wide, rather convex; humeri distinct; postscutellar impression absent. Surface moderately glossy, distinctly punctured; punctation distinctly sparser and somewhat coarser than on head. Setation similar to that on head, moderately longer.

Sternum VII unevenly convex, with indication of an apical angle. Segment IX forming strong, posteriorly bifurcate apodeme.

Aedeagus (Fig. 7); apical portion of tegmen 1.4 times as long as basal-piece, simple, nearly evenly narrowing towards bluntly pointed to rounded apex in ventral view.

Female. Externally identical with male.

Body length (♁ ♀). 2.3-2.7 mm (holotype 2.5 mm).

Variability. Some specimens with head base wider, more widely rounded, tempora rather moderately narrowing towards base. Dark marking of elytra mostly less conspicuous, band narrower, sometimes reduced laterally and forming Y-like shaped spot, not extending anteriad on suture.

Differential diagnosis. Endomia litoralis sp. nov. is externally nearly identical and undoubtedly closely related to E. castelsi. It shows moderate difference in the dark marking of elytra (crossing the suture somewhat less posteriorly), which may be less distinct in pale-coloured (with reduced marking) or teneral specimens. However, it differs substantially from the latter species in the simple, dorso-ventrally flattened apex of tegmen and the simple median lobe of aedeagus, lacking lateral subapical protrusions; for E. castelsi see Figs. 52-54 in KEJVAL (1998).

Etymology. From Latin litoralis (= coastal, littoral); refering to the collecting circumstances.

Bionomics. Unknown. All specimens were collected in moist plant debris in a depression of a large, flattened stone on the bank of an almost dry riverbed (end of dry season), together with specimens of E. besucheti.

Distribution. India (Maharashtra).

Remarks. The specimen from Pune (BMNH) resembles E. litoralis in the form of the dark markings of elytra, however its identity is not clear because it is a female. Two other specimens, bearing the same labels and including a male, belong to the closely related E. castelsi (see above), which might suggest sympatric occurrence of both species.