Amaurodera calicitheca spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank. org:act: 774965EE-4326-45C1-B89E-303A3B4AC04F

(Figs 15, 57, 153–158)

Type material: Holotype ♂: “ SABAH: Poring Hot Springs, 500 m, 6.V.1987, Burckhardt - Löbl / Holotypus ♂ Amaurodera calicitheca sp. n., det. V. Assing 2016” (MHNG). Paratypes: 10 exs.: same data as holotype (MHNG, cAss); 3 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀: “ SABAH Danum Valley, B.R.L., f.i.t. 14–16. II.2007, G. de Rougemont ” (cRou, cAss).

Etymology: The specific epithet is a noun in apposition composed of the Latin noun calix (chalice, goblet) and the Greek noun theca. It alludes to the conspicuous shape of the distal portion of the spermatheca.

Description: Body length 4.3–5.3 mm; length of forebody 2.1–2.6 mm. Other measurements: head width: 0.60–0.69 mm; length of pronotum: 0.83–0.96 mm; width of pronotum: 0.60–0.70 mm; elytral length at suture: 0.48–0.54 mm; elytral width: 0.88–1.05 mm. Coloration (Figs 15, 57): head and pronotum reddishbrown to dark-brown; elytra pale reddish-brown with the postero-lateral portions slightly and diffusely darker; abdomen with segments III–IV or III–V reddish and the posterior segments dark-brown; legs yellowish with the apical halves of the meso- and metafemora slightly darker; antennae uniformly yellowish or with all or some of antennomeres IV–VIII darker; maxillary palpi yellowish-brown to pale-brown with the terminal palpomere yellowish.

Head (Fig. 57) weakly oblong or as long as broad; postero-lateral outline between eyes and posterior constriction broadly convex in dorsal view; median dorsal portion not impressed; punctation moderately sparse to moderately dense and very fine; interstices with or without extremely shallow traces of microreticulation visible only at high magnification (100 x). Eyes large and strongly convex, approximately 0.8 times as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction in dorsal view. Antenna (Fig. 15) long and slender, 2.5–2.7 mm long; antennomere IX more than twice as long as broad and antennomere X nearly twice as long as broad.

Pronotum (Fig. 57) moderately slender, 1.32–1.36 times as long as broad, without sexual dimorphism; dorsal surface with very dense microgranules and opaque; midline with narrow median sulcus reaching neither anterior nor posterior margins; lateral portions without long setae; antero-lateral portions with short setae.

Elytra (Fig. 57) 0.60–0.65 times as long as pronotum; punctation extremely fine (barely noticeable even at high magnification) and moderately dense; microreticulation absent. Hind wings fully developed. Legs including tarsi long and slender; metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; tergites III–V with moderately deep anterior impressions; punctation and pubescence rather dense on tergites III–VI, distinctly sparser on tergite VII; tergal surfaces with distinct microsculpture composed of strongly transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex and serrate.

♂: median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 152–156) of variable size, 0.62–0.75 mm long; ventral process apically more or less acute both in lateral and in ventral view.

♀: spermatheca shaped as in Figs 157–158; distal portion strongly enlarged and shaped like a chalice.

Intraspecific variation: The median lobe of the aedeagus is remarkably variable both in size (0.62–0.75 mm!) and shape. The ventral process may be abruptly convex or acute in ventral view; it is also of somewhat variable shape in lateral view.

Comparative notes and comment: Based on the shape of the spermatheca, A. calicitheca is closely allied to the similar A. discoidea PACE, 2008 (Brunei), from which it differs by slightly smaller and less bulging eyes (A. discoidea: eyes at least as long as postocular region from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head in dorsal view), less dense short setae in the antero-lateral portions of the pronotum, the completely different shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus, and by the different shape of the distal cuticular invagination of the spermatheca. For illustrations of A. discoidea see PACE (2008a).

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in Sabah at an altitude of 500 m. Amaurodera frondium and A. bulbosa were found in the same locality. The specimens from the second locality (altitude not indicated) were collected with a flight interception trap. Some of the beetles collected in February are slightly teneral.

Unnamed species