Anthaxia (Anthaxia) simandli Baiocchi, 2013, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Baiocchi, Daniele
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Anthaxia
Anthaxia simandli

description: Anthaxia (Anthaxia) simandli sp. nov.
(Figs. 1, 2, 3, 21, 28, 30, 34, 47, 52, 57, 60)
Type specimen studied. Holotype Ƥ: W IRAN (Lorestan) Zagros mts., 2400 m., 25 km SE Dorud, 5 km SE Darband, 14.VI.2011 J. Simandl leg. / on Salix sp.
The holotype is deposited in the author’s collection (DBCR).
Description of the female holotype (Fig. 1). Large and robust species; body stout, strongly convex, distinctly narrowed in the anteropronotal and posteroelytral regions; length: 9.5 mm, maximum width behind the humerus: 3.8 mm, length to width ratio: 2.5 times longer than wide; dorsal colouration: head and pronotum garnet-red with a green saddle-shaped mark along mid anterior pronotal margin, more intensively coloured laterally; vertex and elytra brilliant blueish-green; antennae, scutellum and legs black; ventral colouration entirely magenta-red; pubescence white.
Head (Fig. 3) slightly narrower than anterior pronotal margin; eyes (Fig. 21, 28) rather large, not projecting beyond outline of head; vertex flat, narrow, 0.33 times as wide as width of head; frons (Fig. 21) wide, flat; inner ocular margins slightly divergent on lower 2/3, strongly convergent on upper 1/3; clypeus flat, deeply sculptured, about 0.3 times as wide as total width of head, lateral margins subparallel, anterior margin unsculptured in middle, deeply triangularly emarginate; sculpture of frons deeply foveate-reticulate, very dense, consisting of round foveae, slightly larger in middle, with narrow, smooth interspaces; sculpture of vertex consisting of irregularly shaped foveae, rather confusedly divided in the middle; bottom of foveae slightly microsculptured, with a very small, central, setigerous pore; pubescence erect, very long on frons, shorter, very sparse and poorly visible on vertex.
Antennae (Figs. 3, 21) long, slender, 1.3 times longer than pronotal length in midline; scape and pedicel bearing long white pubescence, antennomeres 4–11 moderately flattened; scape 2.8 times longer than wide, slightly bent, strongly convex on inner side; pedicel 1.4 times longer than wide, nearly subcylindrical; antennomere 3 slightly subconical, weakly bent, 1.5 times longer than pedicel; antennomeres 4–10 about 1.5 times longer than wide, progressively shorter, subtrapezoidal; last antennomere subrhomboidal, 2.5 times longer than wide.
Pronotum (Figs. 3, 28) transverse, nearly 1.6 times wider than long, rather convex, widest in posterior 1/2; anterior margin slightly bisinuate, with well pronounced central lobe; posterior 1/2 with central, very shallow, longitudinal depression; anterior angles slightly obtuse; lateral margins strongly converging at anterior 1/3, subparallel for a short distance in middle, feebly, rectilinearly narrowed on posterior 1/3; posterior margin straight, very bright black; lateroposterior angles slightly obtuse; lateroposterior depressions rather large, shallow; lateral pronotal carina (Fig. 28) sharp, complete, extending from lateroposterior angle to anterior pronotal margin; discal sculpture deep, irregularly areolate-rugose on central 1/3, regularly subpolygonal on lateral parts, consisting of cells of various size, somewhat larger on lateroposterior depressions; cell bottom rather smooth, very shiny, with tiny setigerous pore; pronotal pubescence long, erect, sparse and inconspicuous.
Scutellum (Fig. 3) black, pentagonal, finely microreticulate, more convex on posterior portion.
Elytra wide, strongly convex, 1.9 times as long as wide, slightly narrowed at base, subparallel on anterior 2/3 of their length, apical 1/3 strongly narrowed, slightly sinuate; elytral base slightly bisinuate, as wide as posterior pronotal margin; basal transverse depressions rather deep, irregular, reaching scutellum; humeral swellings moderately developed; suture strongly raised in posterior 1/2; lateral elytral groove wide, shallow, distinctly wider behind the humerus, disappearing before apex; lateral margins slightly serrate on apical 1/3; apex separately rounded, irregularly serrate; elytral epipleura moderately wide, subparallel, disappearing before apex; elytral sculpture rough, homogenously imbricate-punctulate, somewhat more uneven at base; elytral pubescence rather long, conspicuously erect.
Ventral surface (Figs. 2, 30) strongly convex; prosternum with transverse, shallow depression in middle; anterior margin slightly arched; prosternal process moderately wide, lateral margins distinctly curved, lateroposterior angles slightly acute, posterior apex long, well developed; prosternal sculpture irregularly, transversely stretched along anterior margin, oblong, more widely spaced along lateral sutures, rather roughly imbricate in middle and on prosternal process; proepisternal sculpture areolate-rugose, polygonal, very shallow, rather longitudinal near lateral pronotal edge, with the setigerous punctures placed close to the cell margin; mesosternum deeply, rugosely sculptured; metasternal sculpture areolate, deep and sparse, posterior margin unsculptured; posterior end of central metasternal suture divergent for a short distance; mesepisternum sculptured only on proximal portion; pro- and mesocoxae deeply sculptured; sculpture of femora imbricate, weak and sparse; all trochanters unarmed; ventral abdominal sculpture imbricate, weak and sparse.
Anal ventrite (Fig. 34) subtriangular, 1.6 times wider than long, shallowly depressed along lateral margins, apex subround, with a semicircular notch in middle, lateral margins slightly, irregularly serrate.
Legs thick, rather long, inner margins of tibiae smooth, tarsomeres moderately elongated, progressively enlarged; protibiae slightly enlarged on outer edge at apex, protibial carina of outer edge weakly sinuate apically, inner margin densely covered with short whitish bristles; protarsomere 1 slightly longer than 2 and 3, tarsomere 4 shorter than 3, tarsomere 5 longer than 1; mesotibiae straight, slightly flattened; mesotarsomeres 2–4 subequal, each distinctly shorter than 1, tarsomere 5 slightly shorter than 1; metatibiae straight, strongly flattened; metatarsomere 1 much longer than 2, tarsomere 3 shorter than 2, tarsomere 4 shorter than 3, tarsomere 5 as long as 2; tarsal claws dark brown, thick, distinctly curved, strongly enlarged at base.
Ovipositor: (Fig. 47).
Comments. Despite the different habitus, with a reversed pattern of colouration, the closest species to A. simandli sp. nov. is A. magnifica. Both species are only known from a very few specimens, mostly females. This did not allow a sufficient evaluation of the intraspecific variability, thus the distinction is based, as well as on a different pattern of colouration that I usually do not consider to be sufficient, upon a few other characters which, although weak, I judged to be consistent enough to allow the species to be distinguished. One of these characters is the lateral pronotal carina (Fig. 28), which is rather unusually extended for the whole lateral pronotal length, differing from most other species where it never reaches the anterior pronotal margin (Fig. 29).
In order to make an appropriate comparison of the same sex, the holotype of A. simandli sp. nov. was compared to a fresh, reared female of A. magnifica which had itself been previously compared with its holotype. The character states that differentiate the two species are listed below:
Anthaxia (Anthaxia) simandli sp. nov. Anthaxia (Anthaxia) magnifica Bílý, 1983 Body (Fig. 1) stout, about 2.5 times longer than wide; head Body (Fig. 4) slightly slender, 2.6 times longer than wide; and pronotum red, elytrae blueish-green head and pronotum green, elytrae red-purple Head: sculpture of frons (Fig. 21) very densely foveate- Head: sculpture of frons (Fig. 22) more sparsely foveolate reticulate
Antennae (Fig. 3): scape 2.9 times longer than wide Antennae (Fig. 6): scape 3.1 times longer than wide Pronotum (Fig. 3) 1.6 times wider than long; lateral carina Pronotum (Fig. 6) 1.5 times wider than long; lateral carina (Fig. 28) complete, extending from laterobasal angle to (Fig. 29) incomplete, disappearing at 3/4 of lateral pronotal anterior pronotal margin length
Elytral sculpture rough; lateral groove homogenously deep Elytral sculpture smoother; lateral groove flat on posterior 1/
3
Ventral surface (Figs. 2, 30): posterior end of central Ventral surface (Figs. 5, 31): posterior end of central metasternal suture distinctly divergent; metasternal sculpture metasternal suture not divergent; metasternal sculpture more distinctly, densely imbricate-areolate sparsely imbricate-foveate
Legs: protibial carina of outer edge (Fig. 52) irregular but Legs: protibial carina of outer edge (Fig. 51) irregular, not emarginate distinctly emarginate apically
Anal ventrite (Fig. 34) 1.6 times wider than long, lateral Anal ventrite (Fig. 35) 1.5 times wider than long, lateral margins straight, apex more deeply notched margins weakly arched, apex feebly notched
Bionomy and distribution. The only known specimen of A. simandli sp. nov. is a female found in a narrow valley (Fig. 60) about 25 km southeast of Dorud, in the Lorestan province. According to this single topotypical locality, this new species is tentatively classified in the W-Iranian endemic chorotype (Vigna Taglianti et al. 1999).
The specimen was caught on a decorticated area of a trunk of Salix already showing a number of large exit holes, probably of Cerambycidae (Simandl, pers. comm.), and it was apparently probing the wood, in search of a suitable place to lay eggs. This behaviour suggests that Salix most probably represents a host-plant for this new species, as this is a host for its closest relative A. magnifica. Since the type of riparian habitat in which it was collected is commonly found in the whole country, and is not well studied, I expect this new species to be more common than a single record would suggest.
Etymology. A. simandli sp. nov. is dedicated to my friend Jiri Simandl (České Budĕjovice, Czech Rep.), the first collector of this magnificent species.
description: Published as part of Baiocchi, Daniele, 2013, The Anthaxia (Anthaxia) manca (Linnaeus, 1767) species-group in Iran, with description of a new species and a new synonymy (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), pp. 455-481 in Zootaxa 3613 (5) on pages 462-466, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3613.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/247248