Pseudosynarmostes perrieri Ballerio 2008, n. comb.
Creators: name: Ballerio, Alberto
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Hybosoridae
Pseudosynarmostes
Pseudosynarmostes perrieri

description: Pseudosynarmostes perrieri (Fairmaire, 1898) n. comb.   
(Fig. 14)  
 Synarmostes perrieri Fairmaire, 1898: 471 (description).— Marie & Lesne 1917: 117 (catalogue).   
 Philharmostes perrieri Fairmaire, 1900: 473. — Alluaud 1900: 245 (catalogue). — Arrow 1911: 46 (catalogue). — Paulian 1937: 132 (key); 1979: 71 (key, description, distribution). — Boucomont 1937: 280 (listing). — Ocampo & Ballerio 2006: 189 (catalogue).   
 TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype ♂ (MNHN): “Madag. Perrier/ Synarmostes perrieri Fairm. Madag. /Museum Paris, Madagascar, Perrier de la Bâthie, Coll. Léon Fairmaire 1906/Type/ Pseudosynarmostes perrieri Fairmaire 1898 det. A. Ballerio 2006 ” [specimen in good condition, partly distended and glued on a card; the dissected aedeagus, genital segment, abdomen and left protibia are mounted in DMHF resin on separate cards on the same pin].   
ETYMOLOGY. — Named after its collector, the French botanist Henri Perrier de la Bâthie (1873-1958).  
OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 2 ♀♀ (CASC) [all dissected]: “ Madagascar: Mahajanga Prov. Foret de Tsimembo, 11.0 km 346° NNW Sostana, elev. 50 m, 21-25 Nov. 2001, 18°59’43”S 44°26’37”E /coll: Fisher, Griswold et al., California Acad. of Sciences, sifted litter (leaf mold, rotten wood) in tropical dry forest, coll. code: BLF4508”.  
 DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT. — Probably restricted to the tropical dry forests of western Madagascar. The holotype bears only a generic locality label “ Madagascar ”, but Fairmaire, while describing it, quoted “Suberbieville” (Maevatanana, Mahajanga Province) as the type locality. Despite the fact that the holotype bears a label dated 1906, this should have been added later, since the description by Fairmaire is from 1898. Perrier de la Bâthie came to Madagascar in 1897 (Lacroix 1998) and therefore Pseudosynarmostes perrieri n. comb. should have been one of the very first beetles collected by him. The other two specimens examined come from another locality in western Madagascar, belonging to the same ecological region, but some 400 km southwards from the forests around Maevatanana: theTsimembo forest,near Antsalova. There seems to be a big gap between the two localities, however the shortage of available material does not allow to find appreciable differences for separating these two females from the male holotype from Maevatanana.   
 DIAGNOSIS. — See under P. mitsinjo n. sp.   
DESCRIPTION  
HL = 0.60 mm; HW = 1.25 mm; PL = 1.05 mm; PW = 1.90 mm; EL = 1.80 mm; EW = 1.81 mm.  
Dark brown to light brown; underside alutaceous, reddish-brown; head, pronotum and elytra with yellowish/whitish very short recumbent pubescence.  
Head: Surface covered by relatively shallow dense (their distance being usually about as big as or slightly smaller than their width) punctures, transversely comma-shaped. A few large irregularly shaped lines at sides and near fore margin. Pubescence shorter and finer than on pronotum and elytra.  
Pronotum:surface with dense (their distance being distinctly shorter than their width) puncturation made of shallow ocellate or rarely horseshoe-shaped punctures, each one bearing a short recumbent seta at middle, horseshoes opening inwards basally and outwards laterally.Scutellum:punctures as on pronotum, opened backwards. Elytra: surface completely covered by dense shallow longitudinally narrowed horseshoe-shaped punctures, relatively larger than on pronotum, each one bearing a short recumbent seta at middle, with openings and oriented backwards. Pseudoepipleuron indistinct, sides of elytra regularly rounded, lacking any carina or furrow.  
 KEY TO MALAGASY CERATOCANTHINAE GENERA AND TO THE SPECIES OF CRYPTOSPHAEROIDES N. GEN. AND PSEUDOSYNARMOSTES N. GEN.   
1. Dorsal ocular area always present and normally developed (Fig. 9A), antennal pedicellus straight or slightly curved........................................................................................... 2  
— Dorsal ocular area very reduced (Fig. 4D) or absent, antennal pedicellus strongly curved backwards (Fig. 3G)................................................................................................... 5  
 2. Fore tibiae regularly broadly curved inwards............................................ Philharmostes   
— Fore tibiae straight or S-shaped.................................................................................. 3  
 3. Apical portion of elytra with several carinae................................................ Synarmostes   
 — Apical portion of elytra with the same sculpturing of the remaining elytral surface, lacking any carinae (Fig. 9 A-D)..................................................... Pseudosynarmostes n. gen., 4   
 4. Puncturation of head, pronotum and elytra deeply impressed with erect semi-curled setation............................................................................................... P. mitsinjo n. sp. — Puncturation of head, pronotum and elytra shallow with recumbent setation........................................................................................................................ P. perrieri n. comb.   
 5. Surface sculpturing made only of sparse horseshoe-shaped or comma-shaped punctures, setate (45 ×), posterior margin of pronotum not raised......... Cryptosphaeroides n. gen., 6   
 — Surface sculpturing made of tubercles and carinae and strong fine punctures, glabrous (45 ×), posterior margin of pronotum raised.............................................. Goudotostes   
 6. Elytra with distinct pseudoepipleura................................................ C. hystrix n. comb.   
— Elytra lacking any distinct pseudoepipleura, at most with some longitudinal carinae near sides........................................................................................................................... 7  
 7. Pronotal lateral margins with a row of dense short clavate setation........ C. tenrec n. sp.   
— Pronotal lateral margins without any distinct setation or with very sparse long clavate setae........................................................................................................................... 8  
 8. Puncturation of elytra made of shallow large horseshoe-shaped punctures......................................................................................................................... C. hippocrepis n. sp.   
 — Puncturation of elytra made of deep small comma-shaped punctures............................................................................................................................... C. ankaranensis n. sp.   
 Dedication   
This work is dedicated to the memory of Renaud Paulian (1913-2003)
description: Published as part of Ballerio, Alberto, 2008, Descriptions of two new endemic genera and four new species of Ceratocanthinae (Insecta, Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea, Hybosoridae) from Madagascar, pp. 605-628 in Zoosystema 30 (3) on pages 625-627, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5395397