Kumatoeides leptalei Gómez-Zurita 2018, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Gómez-Zurita, Jesús
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Kumatoeides
Kumatoeides leptalei

description: Kumatoeides leptalei sp. nov.
(Figs 2d, 3a, 4e, 5h, 6a)
Holotype: Male, New Caledonia (N), Tiendanite [Hienghène County], 20°44.8'S 164°52.8'E, 50 m, 12.i.2007, at light, leg. M. Wanat & R. Dobosz, HOLOTYPE Kumatoeides leptalei sp. nov. J. Gómez-Zurita det. [red label] (MNHN). Paratype: Male, New Caledonia (N), Tiendanite [Hienghène County], 20°44.8'S 164°52.8'E, 50 m, 12.i.2007, at light, leg. M. Wanat & R. Dobosz, PARATYPE Kumatoeides leptalei sp. nov. J. Gómez-Zurita det. [red label] (MNHW).
Other material examined: (1) one female, New Caledonia (N), Tiendanite [Hienghène County], 20°44.8'S 164°52.8'E, 50 m, 12.i.2007, at light, leg. M. Wanat & R. Dobosz, Kumatoeides leptalei m. J. Gómez-Zurita det. 2018.
Body rather uniformly orangish brown, brighter on pronotum; antennae palpi and legs yellowish orange (Fig. 6a). Length: 2.23 mm (range: 2.23–2.36 mm); width: 1.21 mm (range: 1.21–1.26 mm).
Head hypognathous at rest; frons and vertex regularly convex, very finely microsculptured, glossy, sparsely, but neatly punctured; impressed above eyes but supra-antennal swellings almost undifferentiated; glabrous except for long seta at middle of supraocular furrow. Clypeus as long as wide at apex, smooth, glossy, with few small punctures at base. Labrum small, smooth, about 1.3x as wide as long, very feebly emarginate at apex. Last maxillary palpomere spindle-shaped, acute at apex. Eyes large, bulging, weakly emarginate at inner border. Antennae slender, reaching beyond middle of elytra; scape nearly cylindrical, slightly bent posteriorly, twice as long as thick, strongly narrowed at base; pedicel cup-shaped, half as long as scape; antennomeres 3–10 slender, club-shaped, 3–6 glossy with sparse long setae, 7–11 feebly incrassate, finely granulose, clothed with dense, short, fine hairs; antennomeres 3 and 4 subequal, slightly longer than pedicel, slightly shorter than sixth; fifth antennomere longer than sixth, nearly as long as seventh; antennomere seventh longest; antennomeres 8–10 subequal, about as long as fifth; eleventh antennomere pointed and obliquely cut at apex internally. Pronotum transverse (1.47x as wide at base than long at middle), convex, with stronger declivity toward anterior angles; anterior border produced forward, straight, unmargined, narrower than posterior border, weakly convex, with very short median lobe before scutellum, and finely margined, more so on median lobe; anterior angles obtuse, with feebly developed calli, not produced forward; posterior angles obtuse, slightly thickened; sides regularly curved, widest at middle, with fine explanate margin; surface glabrous, shiny, very finely microsculptured, more or less uniformly but shallowly punctured with punctures larger than punctures on frons and generally smaller than distance separating them. Hypomera smooth, finely microreticulate, unpunctured; straight at anterior border. Anterior border of prosternum concave, finely margined, narrow before procoxae; prosternal process 0.7x as wide as transverse diameter of procoxae and expanded apically to enclose procoxae posteriorly, smooth with sparse disheveled fine yellowish hairs. Mesoventrite as wide as prosternal process, spatulate at apex, smooth, unpunctured. Metaventrite relatively short, as long as mesoventrite, smooth, glabrous and finely impressed longitudinally on disc, with deep median apical notch, finely microreticulate with posteriorly recumbent fine yellowish hairs at sides. Scutellum arched, as long as wide at base, round at apex, smooth. Elytra long, basally as wide as base of pronotum, gently curved at sides, widest before middle and progressively curved at apex; elytra regularly convex, without transverse impression at basal 1/3; humeri marked, unpunctured; eight complete regular striae on each elytron with longitudinal series of weakly impressed dot-like punctures at basal half and slit-like punctures at apical half of elytra, punctures larger and deeper in humeral area; additional short scutellar stria of seven individual punctures reaching basal 1/3 of elytra, and short subhumeral curved row of 5–6 punctures joining marginal stria before middle of elytron; intervals nearly flat basally and on disc, and feebly convex laterally and apically on elytra; intervals unpunctured, smooth. Abdominal ventrites finely shagreened, unpunctured, with sparse posteriorly recumbent fine hairs; apical visible ventrite emarginate at apex and slightly impressed medially. Penis (Fig. 2d) stocky, curved at base and apically in lateral view, sinuous at apex; sides widened and curved at level with operculum, with small projecting blunt tooth medially at apex. (Both type specimens had their penises poorly sclerotized, with only their tips darkened.)
Females (Fig. 4e): The only female available for study is very similar to the two males, except for the unmodified tarsi and the slightly darker color of head and pronotum. Spermatheca (Fig. 5h) very small and poorly sclerotized, with cornu bent, slightly dilated and round at apical half, nodulus small, nearly spherical with lateral, slightly bent tubular connection to spermathecal duct.
Diagnosis: This is by far the smallest species of Kumatoeides gen. nov., but can be distinguished from all other species in the genus by the lack of transverse impressions on elytra, which are more or less regularly curved, and by the spaced punctation on pronotum, only found in K. tarsalis sp. nov., but this species is larger, darker and has the typical prebasal impression on elytra of this genus.
Derivatio nominis: The name derives from the Latin transliteration of the Greek adjective (fem.) λεπταλέῃ, meaning fine and delicate, referring both to the small size of the species and the relative subtleness of its punctation.
Distribution: Only three specimens of K. leptalei sp. nov. were available and both from the same low elevation locality, Tiendanite (Hienghène County), near Poindimié (Fig. 3a).
description: Published as part of Gómez-Zurita, Jesús, 2018, Description of Kumatoeides gen. nov. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae) from New Caledonia, pp. 89-115 in Zootaxa 4521 (1) on pages 99-100, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4521.1.4, http://zenodo.org/record/2609701