Dicronychus saudianus, Platia & Pedroni, 2025

Platia, Giuseppe & Pedroni, Guido, 2025, Five new species and new records of click beetles from Saudi Arabia with an updated catalogue (Coleoptera, Elateridae), Faunitaxys 13 (5), pp. 1-12 : 4-6

Dicronychus saudianus n. sp.

( Fig. 4, 10, 15, 20)

ZooBank: https://zoobank.org/ 1A3C88BD-7AC0-4895-BF74-F13BECF61811

Holotype, ♂, SW Saudi Arabia: Wadi ̓ Amoud env. (17°34’09”N, 42°59’51”E), 9.XI.2023, J. Stanovský. ( CPG).

Diagnosis. – A species with impressed v-shaped lines at the posterior half of prosternum that can be compared to D. unimaculatus Platia, 2012 from Yemen, it can be separated for the blackish colour of elytra forming a vague spot, the punctuation of pronotum with punctures small and approximately of the same size, the elytral interstriae clearly convex.

Description of the holotype

Coloration. – Moderately shiny; head and pronotum blackish; elytra bicoloured without big contrast, the great part of the disk blackish, humeral base and last two lateral striae from the base to behind the middle, yellowish; antennae and legs yellowish; covered with dense, yellowish, declined pubescence.

Head. – With frons slightly convex in the vertex, flat before the anterior margin, the latter sub-arcuate, just protruding above the clypeus; frontal-clypeal space regularly developed; punctuation very dense with punctures approximately of the same size and contiguous.

Antennae not reaching for about one article the apices of the posterior angles of pronotum, slightly serrate from the third article on; second article sub-conical, shorter than the third; third-tenth sub-triangular, on average 2.5x longer than wide, last sub-ellipsoidal.

Pronotum. – Long as wide, widest at the middle, strongly convex without any depressions strongly sloping at sides and base; sides very arcuate, from the middle regularly narrowed to the anterior margin and backwards, slightly sinuate before the posterior angles, the latter short, obliquely truncate with a very short carina directed inside; lateral suture-like margin obsolete before the anterior margin and not visible in a dorsal view; punctuation very dense with punctures simple, approximately of the same size with shortest, shiny, intervals to contiguous.

Scutellum. – Heart-shaped long as wide, emarginate at middle of the base, pointed at apex, impressed in the middle with very fine punctures.

Elytra. – 2.3x longer thanpronotum and2.15x longerthan wide, convex; sides widest at the middle, apices rounded, striae regularly developed and deeply punctured, interstriae convex with very fine punctures.

Wings. – Perfectly developed.

Prosternum. – Posterior half with impressed V-shaped lines running sub-parallel to the prosternal sutures.

Claws. – Toothed in the first half.

Aedeagus. – As in the Fig. 4 (length 0.86 mm).

Female. – Unknown.

Size. – Length 5.6 mm; width 1.62 mm.

Etymology. – The species is named from Saudi Arabia where was collected.