Pogonostoma (Microstenocera) fabiocassolai Moravec 2003
Creators: name: Moravec, Jiří
name: Vybíral, Jan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Pogonostoma
Pogonostoma fabiocassolai

description: Pogonostoma (Microstenocera) fabiocassolai Moravec, 2003
(Figs 85–103, 107).
Pogonostoma (Microstenocera) fabiocassolai Moravec, 2003: 29, 33, figs 63–70.
Type locality. East Madagascar, evergreen forest of Sandranantitra, north-east of Tamatave (S18°02.907’; E49°05.516’).
Pogonostoma (Microstenocera) parvulum: Cassola & Andriamampianina 2001: 56. Non P. (Microstenocera) parvulum Riva-lier, 1970!
Pogonostoma (Microstenocera) fabiocassolai: Moravec 2007: 417, figs 1524–1530, 1806.
Type mater ial. Holotype ♁ (by monotypy) in FCCR labelled: “ Madagascar, 450 m. Sandranantitra / 20. Jan. 1999, S18°02.907’ – E49°05.516’ / Lanto Andriamampianina leg.” [printed] // “Pogo. sp. 12” [printed // “ Pogonostoma (Microstenocera) / cf. parvulum Rivalier, 1970 / det. F. Cassola 1999” [printed] // “ Holotype / Pogonostoma / (Mi-crostenocera) / fabiocassolai sp. n. / J. Moravec 2002 det.” [red, printed].
Other material examined. 2 ♁♁, 1 ♀ in CJVB, 1 ♁ in CCJM: “ Madagascar Central-East / Andasibe-Perinet N. P. / Circuit Aduant, 13.I.2017 / leg. Jan & Ondřej Vybíral”.
Differential diagnosis. Pogonostoma (Microstenocera) fabiocassolai is a species of the P. (Microstenocera) minimum species-group (sensu Moravec 2007). It may resemble Pogonostoma (Microstenocera) sicardi W. Horn, 1927 and P. (M.) perexiguum Moravec, 2000, particularly due to their similarly anteriad-constricted pronotal disc, but immediately distinguished from them and also from all other species of the subgenus Microstenocera by its consistently 2-setose labrum completely lacking lateral setae and lateral indentations (Figs 100–103) and by the very different shape of its aedeagus with remarkably dorsally beak-hooked acute apex (Fig. 88); moreover, its galea has a brownish penultimate galeomere and bases of femora are not testaceous but concolorous with other femoral portions (only trochanters are testaceous). Within the genus only Pogonostoma (Dipogonum) anthracinum Laporte de Castelnau & Gory, 1835 possesses consistently 2-setose labrum, but the single species of the monobasic subgenus Dipogonum Moravec, 2007 differs in a complex of other diagnostic characters (Moravec 2007).
For the wording of the original description and other illustrations of the male holotype see Moravec (2003).
Redescription (male) and first description of female. Body black, very small, males 5.45–5.70 (HT 5.45) mm long, 1.45–1.55 (HT 1.45) mm wide; female 6.00 mm long, 1.65 mm wide.
Head (Fig. 93) much narrower than body, width 1.05–1.00 mm; temples short, 2.7 times shorter than eyes in males, 3.1 times shorter in female.
Frons not differentiated from clypeus and vertex, distinctly convex in middle; supraantennal keels indistinct or more distinct, consisting of moderately elevated anterior edge and blunter, and lower crest directed posteriad; surface of frontoclypeal portion nearly smooth, surface of frons sparsely, but distinctly longitudinally scabrous-rugulose; vertex with two orbital setae on either side, flat in middle, surface sculpture scabriculous to almost areolate, posterior area moderately convex; lateral rugae subparallel when passing onto temples; vertex-occipital impression distinct, delimiting temples laterally; occiput with irregular, almost transverse directed short rugae; surface of vertex covered with inconspicuous, sparse and very short, white decumbent setae.
Genae sparsely wrinkled on anterior and postgenal areas, glabrous except for only few short hairlike setae.
Clypeus with sparse, short setae.
Labrum consistently 2–setose with only two pale yellow or straw-yellow anterior setae; surface almost smooth and faintly shiny, very finely coriaceous, appearing entirely glabrous, rarely with few, almost invisible tiny microtrichia (visible only under higher magnification and different angles of illumination and found only in HT and one other male); male labrum (Figs 100–102) rather short, length 0.27–0.29 (HT 0.28) mm, width 0.54–0.57 (HT 0.55) mm, deep brownish to black-brown. usually with paler ochre-brownish area of baso-median convexity; lateral margins widely arcuate (indentations absent), anterolateral teeth nearly effaced or only indicated, anterior margin with rather deep emargination between two blunt anterior teeth; female labrum (Fig. 103) similar in shape to that in male but notably longer, length 0.34 mm, width 0.58 mm.
Maxillae. Galea with penultimate galeomere brownish except for its dirtily whitish base and apex, terminal galeomere black except for its paler apex; lacinia (see Moravec 2007: 427, fig. 1526) black-brown with ochraceous setae, elongate, with simply spatulate-dilated apex (width 0.14 mm).
Palpi (Fig. 93). Maxillary palpi (in HT missing) with testaceous basal palpomere, two other palpomeres blackbrown with whitish microsetae, terminal palpomere ochre-testaceous; labial palpi (only right labial palpus preserved in HT) with basal (short) palpomeres testaceous, penultimate (longest) palpomeres yellow to ochre-testaceous (in HT brownish except for testaceous basal area), terminal palpomeres yellow-testaceous.
Mandibles normally shaped, subsymmetrical (terminal tooth of left mandible somewhat longer), black with cinnamon-brown or mahogany-brown teeth; male mandibles (Fig. 95) with second tooth smaller than fourth tooth in both mandibles; female mandibles (Fig. 94) with terminal teeth notably shorter than those in male, and inner teeth of almost same size in both mandibles.
Antennae (Figs 85–87, 93) shorter than body in both sexes, reaching only elytral anteapical angles, in male mostly black-brown sometimes with more or less distinctly mahogany-testaceous ventral side of scape and small basal area of pedicel, somewhat paler or indistinctly testaceous base of antennomere 4; female antennomeres 3–4 almost uniformly black; antennomeres 5–11 brownish or brownish-testaceous in both sexes.
Thorax. Pronotum (Figs 96–99) cylindric, almost uniformly shaped and sized in both sexes; length 1.30–1.40 mm, width 0.85–0.90 mm; anterior lobe narrower than posterior one, transversely parallel-wavy rugose; lateral margins of disc notably dilated towards base; notopleural sutures invisible from above; median line indistinct, partly merging with surface sculpture; discal surface coarsely but rather densely and mostly irregularly transversely wavyrugulose, lateral areas mostly vermicular-rugulose; posterior lobe rather variably black-brown (as also in HT and the only female), or entirely black, its surface covered with irregular, transverse rugae; pronotal surface nearly glabrous with only occasional, very short and barely visible decumbent setae; ventral thoracic sterna black-brown; prosternum narrow, nearly smooth, with sparse short setae; proepisterna large, shiny-black, with parallel-wavy rugae (passing from disc over notopleural sutures), glabrous except for few setae on effaced area adjacent to ventral suture; mesosternum smooth, with two long central-sublateral setae and covered with short microtrichia; metasternum smooth but covered with denser, mostly short hairlike setae; mesepisterna smooth and with only few microtrichia; metepisterna with deep longitudinal sulcus and almost glabrous.
Elytra (Figs 89–92) elongate, length 3.30–3.60 mm, almost uniformly shaped in both sexes, lateral margins notably dilated towards distinctly delineated anteapical angles; apices rather indistinctly sexually dimorphic; male apex (Figs 89, 91) rounded in middle (in left elytron of HT narrowed and appearing nearly subacute), widely emarginate towards bluntly terminated suture; female apex (Figs 90, 92) externally widely arcuate and pointed in middle, then more steeply excised towards small, blunt sutural spine; elytral surface appearing matt, moderately convex and somewhat flattened on posterior area of disc, discal impression indistinct, rather coarsely punctate throughout; punctures deep, smaller on basodiscal convexity, conspicuously deep and large on anterolateral areas, punctation on flattened posterior discal area converted into shallow irregularly bumpy-imbricate sculpture; punctures on posterior declivity shallow, apex with shallowly foveolate-uneven surface; intervals between punctures on discal area of matt appearance, as they are bumpy and covered with tiny tubercles, intervals on lateral areas wider, smooth and shiny, widest intervals on anteapical angles; setal vesture irregular (as usual for the subgenus) consisting of dense, very short decumbent ornamental setae originating from the microtubercles on bumpy intervals; several long erect hairlike setae present on humeral and anteapical area.
Abdomen. Ventrites pitchy black or black-brown, surface with sparse short setae and usual two long setae on either side along the middle at posterior margin of ventrite 4; female ventrite 8 testaceous.
Legs. Coxae pitchy black or brownish with blackened basal areas, procoxae with indistinct short appressed setae, mesocoxae smooth with apical seta, metacoxae black, covered with sparse short setae and with long apical seta; trochanters translucently whitish-testaceous except for brownish metatrochanters; femora and tibiae pitchy black to black-brown with only indistinctly paler apex of femora and base of pro- and mesotibiae except for paler longitudinal stripe on ventral apical third of profemora; tarsi black-brown; last two tarsomeres of metatarsi and claws ochraceous.
Aedeagus (Fig. 88) elongate, nearly straight, length 1.35–1.40 mm, width 0.20 mm, in its left lateral view with conspicuously dorsally hooked, beak-like, acute tip which is thinly leaf-flattened in dorsal view; dorsoapical orifice long.
Variability. The original line drawing of the male labrum of the holotype (Moravec 2003: 33, Fig 77) shows more distinct and numerous microtrichia on the labral surface. However, the figure was drawn schematically and as emphasized in the redescription above, only one other male of the four recently examined adults has few indistinct, barely visible microtrichia on its labral surface. The coloration of the penultimate (longest) palpomere of labial palpi somewhat varies as mentioned in the redescription above. The pattern of the elytral punctation with uneven bumpy intervals in the four recently caught adults perfectly corresponds to that in the holotype and its original description (Moravec 2007), although the punctures may appear more spaced and nitid in the habitus of the holotype (Fig. 85). However, the seemingly somewhat different appearance of the elytral surface was caused by a different angle of illumination and a different method of the photography used 16 years ago (for the recent method used for the other figures published here see “Material and methods” above).
Biology and distribution (Fig. 107). Pogonostoma (P.) fabiocassolai was originally described from the evergreen forest of Sandranantitra, northeast of Tamatave, inland area of eastern Madagascar (Moravec 2003). Three other males and one female were caught recently by the second author and his son Ondřej Vybíral in the AndasibePerinet National Park (evergreen forest of Analamazaotra). The examined male holotype adult held in its mandibles remains of a very small Diptera-like insect (Moravec 2003, 2007).
Remarks. The absence of any lateral indentation and lateral setae in the labrum has been confirmed in all five recently examined adults of P. (M.) fabiocassolai. Such consistently 2-setose labrum represents a unique diagnostic character within the subgenus Microstenocera.
description: Published as part of Moravec, Jiří & Vybíral, Jan, 2020, New or rare Madagascar tiger beetles- 18. Pogonostoma (Pogonostoma) ondravybirali sp. nov., elaborated redescriptions of P. (P.) atrorotundatum, P. (P.) densisculptum and P. (Microstenocera) fabiocassolai (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), pp. 201-230 in Zootaxa 4881 (2) on pages 223-225, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4881.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4283530