Penthicus flatilatus Nabozhenko & Mofrad, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Nabozhenko, Maxim V.
name: Mofrad, Farhad Eshraghi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Tenebrionidae
Penthicus
Penthicus flatilatus

description: Penthicus flatilatus sp. nov.
(Figs 37, 38)
Material. Holotype, ♂ (ZIN) and paratypes, 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (ZIN, PCMN): Iran, Alborz Prov., Central Alborz Mts., Gachsar env., H= 2600–2720 m, 36°05ʹ51.88ʺN, 51°19ʹ46.53ʺE, 30.v.2016 (leg. D.G. Kasatkin). Paratypes: 6 specimens (HNHM): Iran, Mazandaran Prov., S of Chalus, 1965 (Museum Paris, Mission Franco-Iranienne); 3 specimens (HNHM): Iran, Mazandaran, NE slope of Chalus (Museum Paris, Mission Franco-Iranienne); 2 specimens (HNHM): Iran, Alborz Prov., Karadi (Karaj), Gachsar (36°06′13″N, 51°18′17″E), 1800–2300 m, 28.iv.1970 (leg. Wittmer. V. Bothmer); 1 specimen (HNHM); Iran, Mazandaran Prov., high Elburs (= Alborz), 3000 m, 20.viii.1951 (leg. F. Schäuffele); 1 specimen (HNHM): Iran, Tehran Prov., pass between Shemshak and Dizin (36°02′14.34″N, 51°25′59.00″E), 17–23.vi.1978 (leg. Martens and Pieper); 1 ♂ (HMIM): Iran, Alborz Prov., Gajereh, 3000 m, 5.viii.1972 (leg. G. Ledoux); 6 specimens (HMIM): Iran, Mazandaran Prov., Marzanabad city, Chalous, 23.v.1965 (leg. Saf); 5 specimens (HMIM): Iran, Alborz Prov., Central Alborz Mts., Gachsar env. (Kandovan tunnel), H= 2800– 2900 m, 36°09ʹ06.4ʺN, 51°18ʹ45.3ʺE, 17.vi.2023 (leg. F. Eshraghi Mofrad); 1♂ (ZIN): Iran, Golestan Prov., near Gorgan, Ziarat, 36°40ʹ22.67ʺN 54°28ʹ7.68ʺE, 27.05.2016 (leg. D.G. Kasatkin).
Description. Male (Figs 37A, B). Body robust, widened, slightly convex, dull, dorsally black, glabrous.
Head widest across genae. Lateral margins of genae straight and converging to epistoma in apical half and widely rounded in basal half, sometimes genae angulate at widest portion. Widest area of genae located ahead of eyes. Head dorsally moderately and sparsely punctured by circular punctures on all surface. Eyes dorsally small, subequal in length and width. Head ventrally with dense granulation in basal area to submentum and sparse puncturation around mouthparts laterally and eyes.
Prothorax. Pronotum strongly transverse (1.75–1.78 times as wide as long), widest across middle, 1.65 times as wide as head, slightly narrowed from widest portion to anterior margin, ratio width of pronotum at base, widest portion and anterior angles: 21.5: 23.9: 15. Anterior margin widely evenly emarginated. Lateral margins strongly evenly rounded. Base rounded at middle and straight on sides, median portion slightly protruded backwards.Anterior angles obtuse, tip widely rounded, posterior angles also obtuse, tip narrowly rounded. Lateral edges coarsely margined, margin of anterior edge widely interrupted in middle, base margined only on sides, the most protruded middle portion of base not margined. Disc of pronotum slightly convex, from widely to moderately flattened on sides (flattened portion almost horizontal), sparsely and finely punctured by circular punctures (interpuncture spaces near 3–5 times as long as puncture diameter); secondary micropuncturation very fine but visible between large punctures. Lateral sides of prothoracic hypomera widely flattened; flattened portion with the same width from base to anterior margin, finely punctured and smoothly wrinkled. Other surface with sparse small granules and dense smooth longitudinal wrinkles; each granule bears short suberect seta. Prosternum with dense rasp-like puncturation and recumbent short setation. Prosternal process slightly convex, slightly protruded beyond procoxae.
Pterothorax. Elytra elongate, with slightly rounded lateral margins, widest at midlength (1.4 times as long as wide), 1.7 times as wide as head, 1.04 times as wide and 2.7 times as long as pronotum. Basal margin of elytra in pseuepipleural area strongly oblique, humeral angles obtuse, tip widely rounded, lateral edge of elytra not emarginated near humeral angles. Puncturation of elytra very fine and sparse; strial punctures fine, round, located in slightly depressed lines, the same size as interstrial punctures, which only 2 times larger than punctures of the secondary micropuncturation; intersrtiae flat. Epipleuron in apical portion 2.5 times as wide as metepisternum. Ventral side of pterothorax sparsely pubescent with short recumbent setae. Mesoventrite coarsely rugose and granulated, mesepisterna with narrow transversely elongate granules and foveae between them. Metaventrite with distinct round sparse granules on sides and smooth sparse not setose puncturation at middle.
Abdomen. Abdominal ventrites 1–4 sparsely and finely granulated on sides and punctured medially with fine and sparse punctures; ventrite 5 with simple denser and coarser puncturation, not margined at apex. Setation of abdomen shorter than on pterothorax ventrally. Genitalia (Figs 38A–C). Inner sternite VIII widely evenly roundely emarginated, straight in middle, with widely rounded lateral angulations. Spiculum gastrale with narrow S-shaped strongly curved rods and semi-oval more or less pointed at tip blades, sparsely punctured in middle. Parameres wide, each paramera subparallel in apical half and sharply obliquely truncated at apex (at angle of 45°); lateral margins widely emarginated between basal and apical halves. Basal piece 2.2 times as long as parameres.
Legs. Legs short, profemora not reaching body margin, meso- and metafemora slightly extending (metafemora slightly longer) beyond elytral margin. Protibiae wide, with almost the same width at apex as widest portion of profemora. Lateral margin of protibiae simple, not obliquely truncated near apex. Protarsomeres short, combined length of tarsomeres 1–4 subequal to apical width of protibia.
Female (Fig. 37C). Body more robust, pronotum sometimes narrowly flattened along lateral edges, lateral margins of elytra more rounded, interstria flat or slightly convex on sides. Ovipositor (Figs 38D, E). Valvifer slightly widened from base to widely rounded apex, almost parallel, baculi smooth, poorly expressed, looks like more sclerotized portion than other surface; coxite lobes 4 wide, widely rounded at apex, gonostyli short, wide, granuliform, widest at base, with several long setae at apex. Baculi of paraproct narrow, straight, subparallel after curved portion.
Body length (both sexes) 11.5–13, width 5–5.5 mm.
Etymology. The name of this new species is made up of two Latin words that characterize the body shape: flatus (flat) and latus (wide).
Comparative diagnosis. The species belongs to the iners species-group and it is similar to P. horni by flattened lateral sides of the pronotal disc, obtuse rounded humeral angles and strongly oblique lateral sides of the elytral base. It differs from P. horni by the much wider robust body (Figs 37, C), shorter protarsi with short and transverse protarsomeres 1–4 and obtuse short femora, the apices of which are barely visible dorsally (Figs 37A, C) (P. horni has long slender femora extending far beyond the body margin (Figs 37C–E)). The shape of the parameres, the spiculum gastrale and the valvifer are also different in both species (compare Figs 38 and 40). The similar P. ardoini differs from P. flatilatus sp. nov. by the pointed humeral angles (Figs 31A, B), almost straight lateral sides of the elytral base (Figs 33A, B) and not flattened lateral sides of the pronotum with only groove along lateral margin (Figs 33E, F). Penthicus freyi and P. similis also (as the new species) have oblique lateral sides of the elytral base and flattened lateral sides of the pronotum, but both these species differ from P. flatilatus sp. nov. by the much narrow and slender body and pointed humeral angles; the second species also differs by narrow protibiae, which are much narrower at the apex than the widest portion of profemora.
description: Published as part of Nabozhenko, Maxim V. & Mofrad, Farhad Eshraghi, 2025, Progress in the knowledge of the genus Penthicus Faldermann, 1836 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Opatrini) of Iraq, Iran and Pakistan with descriptions of 17 new species, pp. 1-100 in Zootaxa 5573 (1) on pages 47-50, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5573.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14745717