Monolepta suchomeli Bezděk 2012, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bezděk, Jan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Monolepta
Monolepta suchomeli

description: Monolepta suchomeli sp. nov.
(Figs. 13, 19–24)
Type locality. Yemen, Socotra Island, Diksam plateau, 12°31′24′′N 53°58′29′′E.
Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♂, ‘ YEMEN, SOCOTRA Island / Diksam plateau, 850-920m / N 12°31′24′′, E 53°58′29′′ / 5.ii.2010 / L. Purchart & J. Vybíral lgt. [w, p]’ (NMPC). PARATYPES: 2 ♂♂, same data as in holotype (NMPC); 11♂♂, 9 ♀♀, ‘ YEMEN, Socotra Island / wadi Ayhaft / 12°36.5′N, 53°58.9′E, 200 m / J. Bezděk leg., 7-8.xi.2010 [w, p]’ (7 ♂♂ 5 ♀♀ in JBCB, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ in RBCN, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ in BMNH, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ in NHMB, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ in ZMHB); 1 ♀, ‘ YEMEN, SOCOTRA Island / Diksam plateau, Bidehor, Digeila / Cave env., 920m, 8.ii.2010 / N 12°30′31′′, E 53°56′18′′ / L. Purchart & J. Vybíral lgt. [w, p]’ (JBCB); 3 ♂♂, ‘ YEMEN, Socotra Isl., / Deiqub cave env. / 20.vi.2010, / V. Hula & J. Niedobová leg. [w, p]’ (JBCB); 1 ♂, 1 ♀, ‘ YEMEN, Socotra Isl. / Dgisfu valley, 2.vi.2010, / N 12°28.444′, E 054°08.596′ / V. Hula & J. Niedobová leg. [w, p]’ (NMPC); 1♂, 1♀, ‘ YEMEN, Socotra Isl., / Zemhon area, 270-300 m, / N 12°20.58′, E 054°06.39′ / 16.- 17.6.2010, V. Hula leg. [w, p]’ (JBCB); 1 ♂, ‘ YEMEN, SOCOTRA Island E / Homhil area, 400-510 m / N 12°34′25′′, E 54°18′53′′ / 9.-10.ii.2010 / L. Purchart & J. Vybíral lgt. [w, p]’ (NMPC); 1 ♀, ‘ YEMEN, SOCOTRA Island / 410 m, 3.ii.2010 / N 12°29′41′′, E 54°09′30′′ / L. Purchart & J. Vybíral lgt. [w, p]’ (NMPC); 1♀, ‘ YEMEN, SOCOTRA Island NW / Di Hamri, 20 m / N 12°37′59′′, E 54°15′40′′ / 27.ii.2010, L.Purchart lgt. [w, p]’ (NMPC); 1 spec. unsexed, ‘Yemen, Soqotra Is., 2003 / 5-6/xii., Noged plain / QAAREH (waterfall), 57m / N 12°20′10′′ E 53°37′56′′ / (GPS), David Král lgt. [w, p] // YEMEN – SOQOTRA 2003 / Expedition; Jan Farkač, / Petr Kabátek & David Král [w, p]’ (NMPC); 1 spec. unsexed, ‘ YEMEN, SOCOTRA ISLAND / Shibhon plateau, / ESERHE, 13.vi.2012 / Croton socotranus shrubland / 12°25.2´N 53°56.6´E, 547 m [w, p] // SOCOTRA expedition 2012 / J. Bezděk, J. Hájek, V. Hula, / P. Kment, I. Malenovský, / J. Niedobová & L. Purchart leg. [w, p]’ (NMPC). The specimens are provided with additional printed red labels: ‘ HOLOTYPUS [or PARATYPUS], / Monolepta / suchomeli sp. nov., / J. Bezděk det., 2012’; 1 spec. unsexed, ‘ YEMEN, SOCOTRA ISLAND / Dixam plateau 14.- 15.vi.2012 / Firmihin, Dracaena woodland / 12°28.6´N, 54°01.1´E, 490 m [w, p] // SOCOTRA expedition 2012 / J. Bezděk, J. Hájek, V. Hula, / P. Kment, I. Malenovský, / J. Niedobová & L. Purchart leg. [w, p]’ (NMPC)
Description. Body length: males 1.9–2.4 mm (holotype 2.3 mm); females 2.2–2.8 mm.
Male (holotype). Body slender, flattened, subparallel, glabrous. Body strawy yellow, labrum, maxillar palpi and apices of mandibles darkened, head behind frontal tubercles brownish, scutellum and extreme sutural margins darkened, last two tarsomeres of all legs infuscated, base of first metatarsomere black. Antennomeres I–III yellow, antennomeres IV–V gradually darkened, antennomeres VI–XI black.
Head as wide as anterior part of pronotum, lustrous, completely covered with microreticulation (including frontal tubercles). Labrum transverse, with four pale setae in transverse row, anterior margin almost straight. Anterior margin of clypeus with several long pale setae. Frontal tubercles subtriangular, slightly elevated, with anterior tips separated by even nasal keel. Both tubercles separated from each other by thin shallow furrow as well as posterior margin of frontal tubercles from frons. Interocular space wide, 2.10 times as wide as transverse diameter of eye. Frons slightly impressed just behind frontal tubercles. Frons and vertex with almost indistinct longitudinal median line. Antennae slender, 0.85 times as long as body, length ratios of antennomeres I–XI equal to 15-7-7-14-14-13-13-12-12-11-14.
Pronotum lustrous, glabrous, transverse, 1.66 times as broad as long, widest at anterior third, slightly narrowed anteriorly and posteriorly, 0.75 times as broad as elytral base (measured at humeral calli). Surface densely covered with fine punctures, with two shallow oblique depressions. Lateral margins moderately rounded, anterior margin almost straight, posterior margin rounded.Anterior margin unbordered, lateral and posterior margins distinctly bordered. All angles with setigerous pore bearing long pale seta. Anterior angles nearly rectangular, posterior angles obtusely angulate. Scutellum subtriangular with rounded apex, lustrous, glabrous, covered with microsculpture.
Elytra subparallel, lustrous, glabrous, very slightly divergent posteriad, with maximal width at apical third, 0.70 times as long as body and 1.86 times as long as wide. Humeral calli well developed. Elytral surface covered with small and very dense confused punctures. Epipleura wide in basal quarter, than gradually tapering and disappearing behind midlength of elytra. Macropterous.
Legs slender, densely covered with short pale setae. Protarsomere I elongated, triangular, 0.90 times as long as two following tarsomeres combined, length ratios of protarsomeres I–IV equal to 9-5-5-9. Metatarsomere I long, slender, twice as long as two following tarsomeres combined, length ratios of metatarsomeres I–IV equal to 20-6-4-9. Claws with small basal tooth.
Ventral surface semiopaque, finely punctate and covered with pale setae. Anterior coxal cavities open posteriorly. Last ventrite with two incisions (Fig. 23).
Aedeagus slender, parallel, slightly extended subapically, with apex widely rounded (Fig. 19).
Female. Sexual dimorphism weakly developed. Last ventrite regularly rounded, without incisions. Spermatheca with globular nodulus, cornu C-shaped with prolonged apex (Fig. 24). Sternite VIII elongated, tignum very long, apically slightly dilated and bent (Fig. 20). Vaginal palpi with several long setae apically, basally forming long thin projection bifurcated posteriorly (Fig. 21). Ventral bursa sclerites sharp with two teeth at inner side (Fig. 22).
Variability. Some specimens have completely yellow vertex or brown colour is reduced to the posterior part of vertex, scutellum and extreme sutural margins. Meso- and metaventrite sometimes infuscated. Antennae darkened from the fourth or fifth antennomere. The width/ length ratio of pronotum varies between 1.60–1.70.
Differential diagnosis. According to SCHLICH & WAGNER (2010), the only entirely yellow Monolepta Chevrolat, 1836 from the Arabian Peninsula is M. saudica Medvedev, 1996. It can be distinguished from M. suchomeli sp. nov. by larger body size (3.7–4.9 mm) and by aedeagus gradually tapering towards the apex. In addition, Monolepta suchomeli sp. nov. is very similar to the yellow West Palearctic species with anterior coxal cavities open, metatarsomere I more or less as long as the two following tarsomeres combined and its extreme base black, which are traditionally classified in the genus Calomicrus Dillwyn, 1829 (see also Comments on classification below): C. opthalmicus (Ogloblin, 1936) (Iran, 3.2 mm), C. syriacus (Weise, 1924) (Syria, Turkey, 3.3–4.2 mm), C. wilcoxi Lopatin, 1984 (Iran, 2.7–4.5 mm), C. vanharteni Lopatin, 2001 (Yemen, 4.0 mm), C. arabicus Lopatin & Nesterova, 2006 (United Arab Emirates, 3.5 mm), C. fallax (Joannis, 1865) (northern Africa, 3.0–4.0 mm). With the body length 1.9–2.8 mm, M. suchomeli sp. nov. is the smallest species among them. Aedeagus of M. suchomeli sp. nov. is slender, parallel, with apex widely rounded, while it is wide, parallel and with rounded apex in C. fallax, distinctly constricted subapically in C. vanharteni, with strongly narrowed apical half in C. wilcoxi and C. arabicus, with apical third wide and slightly narrowed in C. syriacus, or slender and gradually narrowed in C. opthalmicus.
Comments to classification. Generic placement of M. suchomeli sp. nov. in the genus Monolepta is supported mainly by long first metatarsomere with extreme base black and structure of spermatheca (Fig. 24) typical for Monolepta species (cf. WAGNER 2007). On the other hand, the base of vaginal palpi of M. suchomeli sp. nov. (Fig. 21) lacks the wing-shaped base known in Monolepta species (cf. WAGNER 2007). Although anterior coxal cavities are usually described as closed in the species-rich genus Monolepta (e.g. KIMOTO 1989, WARCHAŁOWSKI 2010) (open in M. suchomeli sp. nov.), WAGNER (2003) doubted closed cavities as a constant character usable for identification of the genus Monolepta, as they are variable from widely open to closed. Variability in the shape of coxal cavities, as well as variability in the length of metatarsomeres (cf. BEZDĚK 2007) could lead to the confusions between genera Calomicrus and Monolepta. The genus Calomicrus, distributed in the Old World, cumulates a large number of species in several habitually different groups. It is highly probable that Calomicrus in its current concept is paraphyletic, and it will be necessary to transfer at least some of these groups to other genera (see also KIMOTO 1989, BEZDĚK 2005, BEENEN 2010, and BEENEN & WARCHAŁOWSKI 2010). Unfortunately, the study of relationships of yellow Calomicrus species to Monolepta has been insufficient, and although I presume that in the future some of the yellow Mediterranean and Arabian Calomicrus species could be transferred to Monolepta, I refrain from doing it without a comprehensive phylogenetic study.
Etymology. Dedicated to Josef Suchomel (Brno, Czech Republic), a participant in Socotra expedition.
Collection circumstances. The specimens collected by me in Wadi Ayhaft were beated from Croton sulcifructus Balf. f. (Euphorbiaceae) between 9.00 and 13.00 of local time.
Distribution. Socotra Island, Yemen.
description: Published as part of Bezděk, Jan, 2012, Galerucinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of Socotra Island, with a review of taxa recorded from Yemen, pp. 403-428 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 52 on pages 412-416, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5339720