Podistra elbrusensis Kazantsev 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kazantsev, S. V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cantharidae
Podistra
Podistra elbrusensis

description: Podistra (s. str.) elbrusensis Kazantsev, sp. nov.
(Figs 1A, 2A, 3A–D)
Material. J, NW Caucasus, N Elbrus, Terskolak Pass, 2900–3000 m, 17.VIII.1992, G. Davidyan leg. (ICM).
Description. Male. Dark brown; antennomeres 1–3, anterior half of head and vertex medially reddish testaceous; anterior pronotal margin broadly and posterior margin narrowly, proximal half of narrowing distally elytral sutural stripe, proximal half of elytral lateral margin and elytral apices pale testaceous (Fig. 1A).
Head transverse, about as wide as pronotum. Eyes relatively small, spherical, interocular distance ca. 2.4 times greater than eye diameter. Vertex with dense, moderately coarse punctuation. Ultimate maxillary and labial palpomeres subequal in size and shape, ca. 2.5 times longer than wide. Antennae filiform; pedicel ca. 2 times shorter than antennomere 3; antennal pubescence short and semi-erect (Fig. 1A).
Pronotum subquadrate, widest near hind angles, rounded anteriorly, convex and slightly incised at sides near angles and concave posteriorly; posterior angles acute small and inconspicuous; lateral bordering complete but noticeably less conspicuous near the hind angles. Scutellum triangular, about as long as wide, rounded at apex (Figs 1A, 2A).
Elytra elongate, ca. 3 times longer than wide at humeri, slightly narrowing towards apices, entirely covering abdomen, with indistinct longitudinal costae; elytral pubescence uniform, with relatively long erect or sub-erect hairs (Fig. 1A).
Legs long and slender; femurs and tibiae straight and narrow, subequal in length; tibial spurs relatively short, subequal in size and shape; tarsi long, metatarsomere length ratio 3: 1.5: 1.5: 1: 1.5; tarsomeres 1–3 narrow, tarsomere 4 deeply cleft; all claws simple (Fig. 1A).
Aedeagus elongate, sub-rectangular, its dorsal plate with a broad but shallow triangular incision at distal margin, laterally with a prominent dent meeting the latero-distal process of laterophyses, in apical view with triple bulging; parameres elongate, about as long as the dorsal plate, relatively narrow, almost straight; laterophyses about as wide as dorsal plate, considerably shorter than dorsal plate and parameres, medially, in apical view, with a pair of rather distant from each other and approximate to dorsal plate dents (Figs 3A–D).
Length: 7.5 mm; width at humeri: 1.8 mm.
Diagnosis. Podistra (s. str.) elbrusensis sp. nov. is similar to P. (s. str.) piceolineta Pic, 1922, differing in the somewhat more pronounced lateral bordering near hind pronotal angles and in the shorter light sutural stripe, attaining only to elytral half (Figs 1A, 2A, vs 2B, 5A). The aedeagus of the new species shows a dorsal plate noticeably less narrowed distally, with a broader but shallower median incision, triple bulging in apical view and laterophyses with widely separated median dents, as seen in apical view (Figs 3A–D, vs 3E–H).
Etymology. The name of the new species is derived from Mount Elbrus, in the vicinity of which the type specimen was collected.
description: Published as part of Kazantsev, S. V., 2023, A review of soldier beetles of the genus Podistra Motschulsky, 1839 (Coleoptera Cantharidae) of the Greater Caucasus, with the description of two new species, pp. 349-360 in Zootaxa 5293 (2) on pages 350-352, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5293.2.8, http://zenodo.org/record/7960278