Macrocheilus kudrnai Serrano 2023, n. sp.
Creators: name: Serrano, Artur R. M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Macrocheilus
Macrocheilus kudrnai

description: Macrocheilus kudrnai n. sp.
Figs. 1b, 2b, 3a
Type material. Holotype male: “NE Benin \ E of Kandi \ 4 km W of Bensekou \ 24– 25.06.2001 \ A. Kudrna Jr. Lgt. ” \\ “Collection\ Th. Assmann \ Bleckede, CAB” (yellow label)\\ “ Macrocheilus spec. nov. [h]\ det. Th. Assmann, 2008” [t] \\ “ Holotype male\ Macrocheilus kudrnai n. sp. \ A. Serrano det. 2022 [t] [h] [red card]. Paratype: 1 male: “ Burkina Faso, Pama \ 24–28.VIII.2005,\ 11º 17′00′N, 0º 42′ 59E, 232 m \ Phillipe Moretto leg” \\ “Macr-07” (yellow label)\\ “ Macrocheilus spec. nov. ” [h]\ det. Th. Assmann, 2008” \\ (Collection P. Sch ̧le, Herrenberg)\\ “ Paratype male\ Macrocheilus kudrnai n. sp. \ A. Serrano det. 2022 [t] [h] [red card]. Holotype deposited in PSC. Paratype deposited in TAC.
Differential diagnosis. Head and pronotum dark brown to blackish, lateral margins lighter; antennae and mouthparts brown or reddish-brown; legs brown; a short tooth just before the posterior angles of pronotum; elytra blackish, with one pair of median ovoid shaped orange spots; labrum long, anterior half ogive-shaped advanced; shiny and pubescent.
Description. Length of holotype: 9.2 mm. Length of paratype: 9.5mm (male).
Head (Fig. 1b). Slightly wider than long (males: length 1.82–1.84 mm, width: 2.08–2.27 mm). Surface shining, coarsely and deeply punctate, less dense in middle of the frons, each puncture with a long, decumbent and fine brown-yellowish seta, without microsculpture; frontal lateral impressions well marked and wrinkled, frons not excavated behind clypeus; last maxillary palpomere securiform, pubescent; eyes strongly prominent, temples long with rows of large setae along hind margin of eyes. Clypeus slightly punctured each puncture with a long, decumbent and fine brown-yellowish seta, anterior half with a row of 8–10 large submarginal setiferous punctures. Labrum smooth, brown or dark brown and shiny, 1.1times wider than long (males: length 0.86–0.96 mm, width 0.93–1.01 mm), posterior half subparallel-sided, anterior half slightly rounded along margins, surface protruded and ogiveshaped advanced, strongly lateral grooves of posterior half curved inward; a large seta at the widest point near the rim and 4 setae at the apex, two exactly on the margin from the top, and two beneath the margin just on the top (Fig. 2b); posterior lateral half up to widest point with a fringe of short setae underneath. A pair of supraorbital setae on each side (Fig. 1b). Mentum with a central tooth, strongly thin and sharp like a needle, bent upwards at the end. Antennae with the first three antennomeres less densely pubescent with rather long setae, the fourth and following antennomeres are densely pubescent with shorter setae, first and third antennomeres almost cylindrical, second and fourth sub-pyriform, the remaining depressed, slightly longer than wide, with a conspicuous median longitudinal blackish smooth area; last antennomere more or less acuminate.
Thorax. Pronotum cordiform (Fig. 1b), transverse, about 1.5–1.6 times wider than long (males: length 1.47– 1.60 mm, width: 2.29–2.43 mm), maximum width before the middle length; surface covered with coarse punctures, being more dense throughout the discal surface; each puncture bear a long and fine brown-yellowish seta, intervals smooth; anterior angles rounded, anterior margin arcuate; posterior margin straight in the middle, strongly rightangled sinuate towards the posterior angles which bear a tooth and a long seta; posterior margin not margined, anterior margin margined in the middle, lateral margins with complete and distinct margination since the anterior angles, reaching the posterior angles, slightly sinuate just anterior to posterior angles, forming a short tooth just before the angles, a long seta behind the widest part of pronotum, anterior angles with some large bristles; anterior transverse sulcus not distinct, pronotal base with a pair of longitudinal deep foveae separated by a median sulcus in a flat and depressed area that reaches the posterior margin. Scutellum triangular, strongly setiferous punctured. Prosternum coarsely punctured, without microsculpture.
Elytra (Fig. 1b) 1.6 times longer than wide (males: length 5.87‒6.07 mm, width 3.68‒3.78 mm), subparallelsided, widening slightly towards the posterior third, not covering the last two tergites; only seven striae visible, well-marked, all punctured and not reaching the base and the apex; intervals slightly convex, almost plane, coarse setiferous punctures in three rows on 2 nd ‒7 th intervals and two rows on 1 st interval, decumbent seta brown-yellowish sub-erected and directed posteriad; lateral margin rounded in the shoulders, ending in deep furrow densely punctuated towards the scutellum. Scutellar striae visible through the deep punctures in the anterior region of first interval. Basal pore present. Umbilicate series with about 25 (holotype) and 30 (paratype) pores, not interrupted in the middle although pores are more separated from each other in this area; 1 subapical pore shifted inward in the lengthening of the imaginary 8 th striae; apex with 4 extra pores, 2 in the lengthening of the imaginary 8 th striae and of 7 th striae, respectively, and 2 in the lengthening of the 6 th and 3 rd intervals; apical transparent membrane extending from sutural angle to the lengthening of the imaginary 8 th interval. A median, more or less circular orange patch extends from the 2 nd to the 6 th striae (Fig. 1b).
Legs. brown or reddish-brown coloured; all tarsomeres pubescent, first three fore tarsomeres not dilated, fourth tarsomere slightly triangulate; fore tibiae on the outer edge with two bristles.
Ventral surface. Almost all underside dark brown; whole underside, including abdominal sternites coarsely punctured and pubescent (yellowish colour), except gula, ventral and lateral sides of neck and propleura. Pubescence of prosternum and proepisternum suberected and slightly directed anteriad; pubescence of the remaining ventral sclerites dressed and directed posteriad. Elytral epipleura moderately punctured, pubescence dressed and directed posteriad.
Male genitalia (Fig. 3a). Median lobe short, not knee shaped at the base, slightly dilated behind the middle, apical lamella short, acuminated at apex (dorsal view), downward (lateral view), ostium with one pair of scaled and sclerotized stripes on latero-dorsal region, bending downward near apex, becoming membranous and ending in a very large curled inward sclerotized plate; left paramere slightly longer than wide, rounded at apex, with a tooth in postero-dorsal edge.
Female. Unknown.
Intraspecific variation. There is variability between the holotype and paratype in the number of pores of umbilicate series (25 vs. 30).
Etymology. This species is named in honour of Arnošt Kudrna (Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic), a wellknown specialist in Cicindelidae, who collected the Benin specimen and other Macrocheilus specimens here studied.
Remarks. Taking into account the general shape of median lobe of aedeagus (Fig. 3a), Macrocheilus kudrnai n. sp. seems to be close to M. clasispilus Basilewsky, 1967 (see Basilewsky 1963, Figs. 2b, 3b vs. Fig. 3a, this work). However, some external morphological characters allow separating both species. The pronotum of the new species is slightly less transverse than that of the latter species (1.52–1.56 vs. 1.65–1.67). On the other hand, just anterior to the posterior angles of pronotum, a short tooth occurs in the former species, but it is not present in the latter species (cf. Figs. 1b and 5c). In addition, the elytral intervals of Macrocheilus kudrnai n. sp. are almost plane while the intervals of M. clasispilus are subconvex. The new species also exhibits a more or less similar general shape pattern of the median lobe (in lateral and dorsal views) as in Macrocheilus biguttatus (Reiche, 1832) and Macrocheilus dorsalis Klug, 1834, but is slightly different (cf. Figs. 3a, 3e and 7a). Moreover, the general body colour of the new species and these two species is quite different.
Concerning M. dorsalis, its left paramere does not present a tooth at the postero-dorsal edge. The new species differs from the remaining African species by the median lobe shape, among other external morphological characters.
Distribution. Benin and Burkina Faso.
description: Published as part of Serrano, Artur R. M., 2023, Afrotropical ground beetles of Macrocheilus Hope, 1838 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) description of four new species and faunistic notes, pp. 1-35 in Zootaxa 5256 (1) on pages 4-5, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5256.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7745281