Australonotha monteithi Yoshida & Leschen 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yoshida, Takahiro
name: Leschen, Richard A. B.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Erotylidae
Australonotha
Australonotha monteithi

description: Australonotha monteithi Yoshida & Leschen, sp. nov.
(Figs. 1–4)
Description. Body. Body length from apex of anterior margin of clypeus to apices of elytra: 2.79 mm (holotype). Body subparallel, about 3× longer than the maximum combined width of elytra, blackish brown, mostly unicolored, shiny; antennae, mouthparts and legs dark reddish brown; dorsal surfaces glabrous, ventral surfaces with scattered short decumbent setae.
Head robust, length from anterior margin of clypeus to posterior margin of neck measured along midline: 0.84 mm (paratype), greatest width across eyes: 0.75 mm (paratype); without setae on vertex, short setae arising along anterior margin and around eyes, with moderately dense short setae on venter, sparsely and very weakly punctate on vertex, more densely and roughly punctate on venter; clypeus widely protruded; gena well projected anteriorly; transverse gular line deep and very wide, with several somewhat long setae along posterior margin. Eye small, weakly prominent, very coarsely faceted, about 5 facets at greatest length, with very short ocular setae. Antenna moderately long, not exceeding posterior angle of pronotum, thick and robust, with moderately dense setae of medium length; each antennomere mostly wider than long, antennomeres 9 and 10 wide, widening distally, antennomere 11 asymmetrical; antennomere relative lengths from proximal to distal (paratype): 2.0: 1.2: 1.2: 1.0: 1.0: 1.0: 1.2: 1.1: 1.7: 1.7: 2.0.
Thorax. Pronotum subparallel, widest at posterior 1/3, slightly longer than wide, length measured along midline: 0.86 mm, greatest width: 0.83 mm (holotype), becoming shallow posteriorly; punctation very weak; surface glabrous; anterior margin rounded, wider than head; anterior angle rounded; posterior margin widely and shallowly concave; posterior angle rounded, sharper than anterior angle; depression (Fig. 1C) at base very large, deep, rectangular, not reaching midlength of pronotum, deepest at base, gradually becoming shallower anteriorly. Hypomeron with very weak punctation, mostly glabrous, with sparse short setae along with anterior and posterior margin. Prosternum with very weak punctation, mostly glabrous, with dense short setae along anterior margin anteriorly; prosternal process narrow. Mesoventrite moderately sparsely punctate with punctures of various sizes, with setae of short to medium length; mesoventrital process narrow, reaching around posterior 1/3 of mesocoxa. Legs (Figs. 2D, E) stout, robust; femora with moderately sparse setae of medium length, basal half of femora somewhat narrow; tibiae with setae of medium length, denser than those on femora, moderately widening distally, with dense conical setae along distal margin; tarsi stout, tarsomere relative lengths from base to apex (mesotarsus of paratype): 1.5: 1.0: 1.2: 1.0: 2.7. Scutellar shield glabrous; slightly wider than long, heart-shaped, posterior margin acute at middle. Elytra subparallel, widest at anterior 1/3, length from anterior margin of scutellar shield to apex measured along midline: 1.67 mm, greatest width of combined elytra: 0.96 mm (holotype); surface glabrous; striae 1–4 evident on disc, laterally with weak striate punctation partly confused; apex somewhat bent ventrally; humeral spine minute, protruded along posterior margin of pronotum. Hind wing about twice as long as scutellar shield. Metaventrite with short and somewhat sparse setae. Abdominal ventrites with moderately dense short setae; ventrite 1 with dense, rough punctation along submetacoxal lines; intercoxal process stout, somewhat strongly protruded.
Male genitalia. Abdominal sternite VIII (Fig. 3A) with moderately dense setae of short to medium length on posterior 1/3 of surface, with sparse long setae along posterior margin; posterior margin largely concave at middle. Spiculum gastrale (sternite IX; Fig. 3A) U-shaped, struts strongly enlarged at distal 1/4, distally with dense setae of various lengths. Median lobe (Figs. 3B, 4A) somewhat thick, strongly curved at basal 1/4, gradually widening apically, apex moderately sharp, with fine punctation on apical 2/5. Penile strut (Fig. 3B) extremely long and thin, loosely coiled, biflagellate near apex, with small arrow-shaped apices. Internal sac (Figs. 3B, 4A) very long but shorter than penile strut, slightly thicker than penile strut, with a weakly sclerotized elongate plate and a fiber-like structure (Fig. 4A) near median lobe. Basal portion of tegmen (Fig. 4B) moderately long, subparallel, with posterior margins of dorsal and ventral sides largely expanded. Paramere (Figs. 4B, C) about 3.5× longer than wide, widest near apical 1/4, dorsally with sparse campaniform sensilla, ventrally with somewhat dense setae of short to medium length, with long setae along apical margin and outer margin of apical 1/4, with moderately protruded apex.
Type material. Holotype: “NE. Q: 17°16’S x 145°52’E | Bellenden Ker summit | 28 Aug – 8 Oct 1991 | Monteith & Janetzki | Pitfall traps ”, “ QUEENSLAND MUSEUM | LOAN NO. 93.27 | DATE: Nov 1993 ” (QM). Paratype: “NE. Q: 17°16’S x 145°49’E | Massey Range, 4km W of | Centre Bellenden Ker | 9–11 Oct 1991. 1250m | Monteith, Janetzki & Cook”, “ QUEENSLAND MUSEUM | LOAN NO. 93.27 | DATE: Nov 1993 ’, ‘ Cryptophilini | n. gen | det. R. A. Leschen ” (QM).
Etymology. The new specific name is dedicated to collector extraordinaire and naturalist Geoff Monteith (QM) who collected the beetles and quipped to Leschen that he would never return to the type locality.
description: Published as part of Yoshida, Takahiro & Leschen, Richard A. B., 2020, A new genus of Pharaxonothinae from Australia (Coleoptera: Erotylidae), pp. 273-282 in Zootaxa 4838 (2) on pages 275-280, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4838.2.7, http://zenodo.org/record/4403928