Yethiha lackneri Simon-Prazak & Hava 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Simon-Pražák, Jan
name: Háva, Jiří
name: Prokop, Jakub
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Histeridae
Yethiha
Yethiha lackneri

description: Yethiha lackneri Simon-Pražák & Háva sp. nov.
Material. Holotype (stored at JHAC), burmite (99 Ma), amber piece cloudy, with bubbles, without synclusions. Figure 1. The specimen is provided with a red, printed label with text as follows: “HOLOTYPE Yethiha lackneri sp. nov. J. Simon-Pražák & J. Háva des. 2023”.
Description. Measurements. Head width: 0.4 mm, width between anterior pronotal angles: 0.45 mm, width between posterior pronotal angles: 1 mm, pronotal length: 0.5 mm, elytral length: 1.25 mm, elytral width (across widest point): 1.2 mm. Body oval, oblong, slightly constricted at pronotal base, flat ventrally and moderately convex dorsally. Cuticle glabrous and visible punctation. Head. Frons wide and flat, without visible punctation. Clypeus constricted, labrum short and wide, widely rounded apically. Eyes flattened, partially concealed beneath the pronotum. Terminal maxillary palpomere swollen with blunt tip, 3x longer than palpomere 3. Terminal labial palpomere slightly elongate, narrowing apically.Antennal scape swollen, widest medially. Pedicel oval and twice as long as antenomere 3. Antennal club oblong, apically acute. Thorax. Pronotum smooth with a widely angular basal margin. Pronotal margins slightly sinuate. Scutellar shield not visible. Elytron elongated (approximately twice as long as wide), without punctation and dorsal striation. Epipleural area with a single thin stria. Sutural area slightly elevated forming a low and narrow carina. Prosternal keel with a pair of carinate striae from basal margin unto prosternal lobe. Prosternal lobe short and wide, laterally with antennal grooves. Wide antennal cavities located on the prosternal hypomeron beneath the front leg (when folded). Anterior mesoventral margin slightly emarginate, mesoventrite short and wide, without apparent striae. Metaventrite with a thin, indistinct median stria. Abdomen. Abdominal ventrites simple, without striae or punctures. Propygidium smooth, mostly covered by elytra, pygidium smooth. Legs. Profemur wide and flat with a single stria ventrally along posterior edge. Protibia extremely dilated, only slightly longer than the width at the broadest point (broadest point at apical third). Simple short and thick denticles present growing in size apically. Protibial spur present. Protarsal groove present, well defined in apical half than becoming shallow basally. Mesofemur flat and wide (narrower than profemur), mesotibia with long spines along outer edge. Metafemur similar to mesofemur. Metatibia without spines. Tarsal formula 5-5-5.
Diagnosis. The species belongs to the genus Yethiha Caterino, 2021 based on its convex, elongated and oval body shape, absence of dorsal striation, absence of scutellar shield, presence of a thin elytral epipleural stria and broad protibiae. The genus currently contains two other species, Yethiha peregrina Caterino, 2021 and Yethiha pubescens Simon-Pražák & Lackner, 2023. Yethiha lackneri sp. nov. is the largest species of the genus. It can be distinguished from Y. pubescens by the lack of cuticular setae, lack of punctation and more elongated body shape. Y. peregrina differs by the shape of prosternum (with slightly sinuate lateral margins in Y. lackneri), more convex body dorsum, smaller mesotibial spikes and less broad protibiae with broadest point at approximately apical third.
Etymology. Named after our friend and specialist in Histeridae taxonomy, Tomáš Lackner.
description: Published as part of Simon-Pražák, Jan, Háva, Jiří & Prokop, Jakub, 2025, A new species of the Cretaceous clown beetle genus Yethiha (Coleoptera: Histeridae) with interpretation of the function of enlarged protibial spurs, pp. 186-190 in Zootaxa 5613 (1) on pages 187-189, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5613.1.10, http://zenodo.org/record/15215861