Craspedostethus echis, Platia & Konvička, 2024

Platia, Giuseppe & Konvička, Ondřej, 2024, Description of three new species of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) with an updated catalogue of Elateridae from the Sultanate of Oman, Faunitaxys 12 (47), pp. 1-11 : 1-2

Craspedostethus echis n. sp.

( Fig. 1, 7)

ZooBank: https://zoobank.org/ 7BC7B12D-A83A-45D5-A171-BF2EEDCFF13C

Type locality. Sultanate of Oman, Ash Sharqiyah South Governorate, 26km south of Jalan Bani Buali town , 21°45’50”N, 59°19’0” E, 50 m a.s.l.

Holotype, ♂, (CKZ), ‘ Oman, Ash-Shar. S. Gov. [Ash-Sharqiyah South Governatore ] / Jalan Bani Bu Ali 26km S [south] / 21°45'50"N, 59°19'0"E / 8.III.2023, at light / lgt. Ondřej Konvička’.

Paratypes

- 2 ♂, 1 ♂, (CPG), same data as holotype ;

- 1 ♂, (CBO), ‘ Oman, Ash-Shar. S. Gov. / Jalan Bani Bu Ali 26km S / 21°45'50"N, 59°19'0"E / 8.III.2023, at light / L. Bobot leg. ’.

All specimens were provided with an additional red printed label: ‘ HOLOTYPUS [or PARATYPUS respectively] / CRASPEDOSTETHUS / echis n. sp. / Platia-Konvička’.

Diagnosis. –The new species is allied to C. flavescens Chassain, 1979 for the general shape, size and colour of the integuments. It can be separated by the shape of pronotum long as wide with very slightly sinuate sides before the posterior angles and aedeagus.

Description of the holotype

Coloration. – Moderately shiny; entirely yellow-ochraceus with elytra and legs just lighter; covered, particularly on the elytra, with yellow-golden, semierect at sides of the body, pubescence.

Head. – Frons convex on the vertex, flat before the anterior margin, the latter ridged, sub-arcuate and in the middle just protruding above the clypeus; fronto-clypeal space not restricted in the middle; punctuation dense with punctures approximately of the same size, simple and contiguous. – Antennae nearly reaching the apices of the posterior angles of pronotum serrated from the fourth article on; second article sub-cylindrical, third sub-conical1.25x longer than the second, taken together1.35x longer than the fourth; fourth-tenth sub-triangular, gradually slenderer, on average 2.6x longer than wide, last longer with sub-parallel sides symmetrically constricted after the middle, rounded at apex.

Pronotum. – Long as wide, widest before the middle, strongly convex without any trace of depressions; sides from the middle very gradually and regularly narrowing to the posterior angles, very slightly sinuate immediately before the apices, the latter short, rounded, not divergent, with a trace of carina confused with the lateral margins, this visible in the first third in a dorsal view and reaching the middle of pronotum; punctuation uniformly distributed, double; larger punctures are more or less regularly mixed with very fine, nearly contiguous punctures, the very short intervals are shiny.

Scutellum . – Heart-shaped, long as wide, with sub-parallel sides in the first half, slightly emarginate at base, pointed at apex, finely punctured.

Elytra. – 1 2.4x longer than pronotum and 2x longer than wide, widest at base than pronotum, convex; sides widest at the middle; striae regularly punctured, interstriae sub-convex finely punctured.

Aedeagus. – As in the Fig. 1 (length 0. 7 mm).

Size. – Length 4.35-4.5 mm; width 1.34-1.42 mm.

Female. – Unknown.

Etymology. – This species is named after the fact that the sawscaled viper (Echis carinatus) is very common in the type locality.