Hexarhopalus (Leprocaulus) kontumensis Purchart, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Purchart, Luboš
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Tenebrionidae
Hexarhopalus
Hexarhopalus kontumensis

description: Hexarhopalus (Leprocaulus) kontumensis sp. nov.
(Figs 5a–e)
Type material. Holotype, sex not examined (NMPC): {white, printed} VIETNAM centr. / Kon Tum prov., v. 2023 / local collector leg. Paratypes. (2 LPCB): {white, printed} VIETNAM centr. / Kon Tum prov., iv.2024 / Ngọc Linh vill. env. / local collector leg.
Condition of the holotype. Right hind leg is missing.
Differential diagnosis. Owing to its dark brown colour, presence of tubercles in elytral interstriae and smooth pronotal disc, it can only be confused with H. particularis (Pic, 1922) from Vietnam (Fig. 4e) and H. schawalleri Bečvář & Purchart, 2008 from Laos (for figure of habitus see Bečvář & Purchart (2008)). Both mentioned species, however, differ from H. kontumensis sp. nov. by the presence of two large and smooth, dorso-laterally situated longitudinal swellings ranging from anterior angles posteriad laterally toward posterior third of pronotum (Figs 6f, n).
Description. Size of holotype 11.3 × 4.2 mm. Brown, with femorae and labrum pale brown, shiny. Body elongate subcylindrical, glabrous (Figs 5a–c).
Head glabrous, finely shagreened, very sparsely and very shallowly micro-punctured, punctures´ diameter much smaller than eye facet; narrower than pronotum in ratio 1:1.44 (Figs 5a, d). Frontoclypeal suture well developed, moderately deep, reaching clypeal margin. Ocular sulcus moderately deep, distance between eyes 1.25× wider than their transverse diameter (DV). Antenna, pubescent, 1.14× longer than pronotum.
Pronotum dark brown, finely shagreened, slightly shiny, subquadrate, little wider than long, broadest at anterior third, PW:PL ratio 1: 1.09 (Figs 5a, d), flattened (LV). Sides of pronotum slightly rounded in anterior third, then gradually narrowing towards pronotal base, slightly depressed posterolaterally. Entire surface of pronotum very shallowly and sparsely punctate, diameter of punctures little smaller than eye facet. Disc of pronotum with fine, shallow but obvious midlongitudinal grove. Oblique indentation in posterior angles relatively long, deep and smooth (Fig. 5e). Anterior margin of pronotum concave (DV), rimmed but obliterated in middle. Base of pronotum completely rimmed, rounded in middle (DV). Prothoracic hypomeron smooth, finely shagreened, glabrous, separated from pronotal disc by fine, in places obliterated border.
Elytra finely shagreened, glabrous, 1.86× longer than its width, 2.91× longer and 1.46× wider than pronotum, dorsally flattened (LV), subcylindrical, very slightly dilated posteriad, broadest at posterior third (Fig. 5a). Declivity of elytra before apex moderate (LV). Elytral humeri well developed. Elytral striae formed of dense row of separated moderately deep rounded punctures, twice as large as eye facet. Elytral interstriae slightly convex bearing row of low but distinct tubercles, space between tubercles approx. of same size as the width of respective elytral interstria. Base of elytra slightly raised. Scutellum triangular (Figs 5d). Winged.
Prosternum shagreened, glabrous, dull. Prosternal process with distinct and rather deep midlongitudinal groove between procoxae, apically broadly rounded, as wide as procoxa. Mesosternum shagreened, dull, glabrous; in middle with shiny midlongitudinal carina. Metasternum shagreened, dull, very finely and shallowly punctate, finely pubescent. Approximately 2.5× longer than mesocoxa. Abdominal ventrites shagreened, dull, very finely and shallowly but densely punctate, finely pubescent (Fig. 5b).
Legs finely and sparsely punctate with very shallow punctures, sparsely covered with very fine adherent setae.
Variability of size: 11.3–12.0 × 4.2–4.4 mm.
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the area of species occurrence, Kon Tum province; the name is treated as an adjective.
description: Published as part of Purchart, Luboš, 2025, Four new species of the genus Hexarhopalus Fairmaire, 1891 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Stenochiinae) from Vietnam and India, pp. 121-136 in Zootaxa 5631 (1) on pages 130-132, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5631.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/15326732