Microblattellus kakizoei Maruyama, Liang, Sokh & Ando, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Maruyama, Munetoshi
name: Liang, Wei-Ren
name: Sokh, Heng
name: Ando, Kiyoshi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Tenebrionidae
Microblattellus
Microblattellus kakizoei

description: Microblattellus kakizoei sp. nov.
(Figs. 1–11)
Type series. Holotype, male, near the exit gate of Angkor Watt, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 15 X 2015, S. Kakizoe. Deposited in M. Maruyama’s collection at the Kyushu University Museum, Fukuoka.
Diagnosis. Microblattellus kakizoei sp. nov. is easily distinguished from M. lecongmani (Figs. 12, 13) by the more elongate and less robust body, more loosely articulate antennal segments, clear and transverse scutellum instead of reduced and invisible one in the latter, obviously produced humeral corners of elytra, finely and irregularly arranged strial punctures on elytra, and less punctate body surface. (See, also key to species.)
Description. Male. Body length: ca. 2.1 mm. Body (Figs. 1, 2, 4–6) subparallel-sided, reddish brown overall. Head (Figs. 3, 7–9) slightly longer than wide; traces of eyes slightly convex laterally; dorsum almost glabrous; venter with coarse and piligerous punctures; antennae long, somewhat loosely articulate and all antennal segments wider than long except for scape; distal three antennal segments distinctly dilated and forming a club; antennal segments III to XI visible in dorsal view; segment I long, large; segment II almost as long as III, slightly wider than long; segments IV to VIII short and transverse; segment IX widest; segment X slightly shorter and narrower than IX; segment XI 2/5 as wide as X; labrum semicircular; mandibles thick, slightly asymmetric, apically pointed; mentum obtrapezoidal, deeply emarginate on anterior margin; labial palpus with segment I minute, as long as wide; segment II widened apically; III large, oval; maxillary palpus with segment I large, spherical; segment II short, triangular in ventral view; segment III large, oval, slightly truncate at apex.
Pronotum (Figs. 1, 3, 4) elongate, very feebly bisinuate at sides in basal two-thirds, almost twice as long as wide, widest around anterior 2/5; surface moderately, uniformly punctate, the punctures shallower on apical 1/5, each bearing a seta; basal margin almost straight though faintly produced posteriad; scutellum short and transverse, impunctate, with fine microsculpture; prosternal process oblong-oval, rounded at apex.
Elytra (Figs. 1, 4) elongate, more than twice as long as wide, widest around middle; humeral corners distinctly projected antero-laterally, and their apices rounded; surface moderately convex, finely, irregularly punctate; each puncture bearing a short seta; lateral margins feebly serrated, and each serration with a short seta; hindwing reduced, brachypterous.
Legs (Figs. 2, 6) short and robust; femora and tibiae sparsely covered with minute setae, posterior margins of meso- and metafemora ancipital for receiving corresponding tibia; tibiae scarcely incurved, dilated apicad.
Male genitalia as in Figs. 10 and 11; basale more than four times as long as apicale, strongly curved ventrad; apicale short and robust.
Female. Unknown.
Measurements. Head length (from base to labral apex), 486.80; head width, 417.05; antennal length, 582.31; pronotal length, 987.59; pronotal width, 570.43; elytral length, 1242.71; elytral width, 573.08; hind tibial length, 316.02; hind tibial width, 81.03. In micrometers.
Remarks. Holotype was collected from a fungus garden of Macrotermes gilvus (Hagen, 1858). The morphology of the mouthparts is probably mostly common to that of M. lecongmani due to the close resemblance of the other character states; thus, it could be the character states delimiting the genus. The absence of the hindwings was confirmed by micro-CT data of M. kakizoei.
description: Published as part of Maruyama, Munetoshi, Liang, Wei-Ren, Sokh, Heng & Ando, Kiyoshi, 2025, The second species of the enigmatic genus Microblattellus Ferrer, 2006 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) from Cambodia: A possibility of termitophily in the genus, pp. 167-172 in Zootaxa 5575 (1) on pages 168-171, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5575.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/14746615