Craspedostethus grosseri, 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 : 2-4

Subfamily Cardiophorinae Candèze, 1859

Craspedostethus grosseri n. sp.

( Fig. 5, 6, 11, 16, 21, 22)

ZooBank: https://zoobank.org/ 0EDD77BB-91BD-47C8-B729-C24C53EF4131

Holotype, ♂, Saudi Arabia: Makkah Prov., 45 km S of Makkah, 306 m, 6.XI.2023, W. Grosser. ( CSO).

Paratypes, 2 ♂ & 1 ♀, same data as HT. ( CPG, CSO) .

Diagnosis. – A small species allied to C. buettikeri Platia & Schimmel, 1997 for the general shape and size and double pronotal punctuation,it can be separated for the colours of head and pronotum just darker than elytra and the larger punctures of pronotum more regularly distributed; in any case the examination of genitalia male, apices of paramera long and clearly divergent and female, sclerites of bursa copulatrix, are essential to separate the two species.

Description of the male

Coloration. – Shiny; entirely yellow-ferruginous with head and pronotum slightly darker than elytra, antennae and legs; covered with moderate, yellow-golden, declined pubescence.

Head. – With frons flat, very slightly impressed immediately before the anterior margin, this ridged, sub-arcuate, just protruding above the clypeus; punctuation moderate, double, sparse and larger punctures are more or less regularlymixed with very fine punctures. – Antennae notreachingfor about one article the apices of the posterior angles of pronotum, slightly serrated from the fourth article on; second article sub-cylindrical, a little shorter than the third sub-conical, taken together 1.3x longer than the fourth; fourth-tenth sub-triangular, gradually slenderer, on average twice longer than wide, last longer, sub-ellipsoidal.

Pronotum. – 1.15x wider than long, widest at the middle, strongly convex without any depressions; sides arcuate, from the middle regularly narrowing anteriad and backwards, slightly sinuate before the posterior angles, the latter short, obliquely truncate, not carinate; lateralmargins sub-straight obsolete in the anterior third; punctuation moderate, double; larger, deep, more or less regularly distributed punctures are mixed with other very fine and irregularly distributed.

Scutellum . – Heart-shaped, flat, as long as wide, not emarginate at base, pointed at apex, with indistinct punctuation.

Elytra. – 2.5x longer thanpronotum and 1.92x longer than wide, convex; sides widest at the middle, apices rounded; striae regularly distinct and punctured, interstriae flat to sub-convex, very finely punctured.

Wings. – Regularly developed.

Aedeagus. – As in the Fig. 5 (length 0.72 mm). 1. Aeoloides pallidulus n. sp. 2. Aeoloides saudiarabicus n. sp. 3. Dicronychus aldhaferi n. sp. 4. Dicronychus saudianus n. sp. 5. Craspedostethus grosseri n. sp.

Fig. 7-11. Antennae.

7. Aeoloides pallidulus n. sp. 8. Aeoloides saudiarabicus n. sp. 9. Dicronychus aldhaferi n. sp. 10. Dicronychus saudianus n. sp. 11. Craspedostethus grosseri n. sp.

Female. – Identical to the male with elytra widest behind the middle. Bursa copulatrix sclerified as in the Fig. 6.

Size. – Length 4.6-4.7 mm; width 1.43-1.56 mm.

Etymology. – The species is named on honour of the collector W. Grosser.