Penthicus captiosus, Nabozhenko & Mofrad, 2025

Nabozhenko, Maxim V. & Mofrad, Farhad Eshraghi, 2025, Progress in the knowledge of the genus Penthicus Faldermann, 1836 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Opatrini) of Iraq, Iran and Pakistan with descriptions of 17 new species, Zootaxa 5573 (1), pp. 1-100 : 65-68

Penthicus captiosus sp. nov.

( Figs 52 , 53 )

Material. Holotype, ♂ ( HMIM): Iran, Kerman Prov., Jiroft, Bahr Aseman Mt., Bagh Nazari village , H= 2600 m, 29–30.ix.1993 (leg. Hashemi and Ebrahimi).

Description. Male ( Fig. 52A, B ). Body moderately slender, convex, slightly shiny, black, dorsally glabrous.

Head widest across genae. Lateral margins of genae straightly converging to epistoma in apical half and widely rounded in basal half. Widest portion of genae located ahead of eyes. Head finely and sparsely punctured by rasp-like punctures on all surface; puncturation in epistoma slightly denser and strongly denser along apex. Eye dorsally slightly longitudinal, 1.47 as long as wide. Head ventrally with dense granulation in basal area to submentum and large rasp-like punctured around mouthparts laterally and eyes.

Prothorax. Pronotum slightly transverse (1.5 times as wide as long), widest slightly behind middle, 1.6 times as wide as head, slightly converging from widest portion to anterior margin, ratio width of pronotum at base, widest portion and anterior angles: 19.5: 20.5: 14. Anterior edge widely emarginated. Lateral edges moderately evenly rounded, shortly sinuous near anterior angles. Base slightly bisinuate, rounded in middle, median portion slightly protruded backwards. Anterior angles acute, projected, tip narrowly rounded, posterior angles obtuse, tip widely rounded. Lateral edges margined, margin of anterior edge shortly interrupted in middle, base entirely margined. Disc of pronotum convex, finely and sparsely punctured by circular punctures (interpuncture spaces near 3–5 times as long as puncture), punctures slightly larger on lateral sides; without visible secondary micropuncturation. Lateral sides of prothoracic hypomera moderately widely flattened; flattened portion with the same width from base to anterior margin, finely punctured. Other surface with sparse small granules and fine smooth longitudinal wrinkles; each granule bears short suberect seta. Prosternum with sparse granules same as on hypomera and recumbent short setae. Prosternal process slightly convex, slightly protruded beyond procoxae.

Pterothorax. Elytra moderately elongate, with slightly rounded lateral margins, widest at middle (1.38 times as long as wide), 1.67 times as wide as head, 1.04 times as wide and 2.16 times as long as pronotum. Basal margin of elytra in epipleural portion slightly oblique, humeral angles obtuse, tip pointed, lateral edge of elytra very slightly and shortly emarginated near humeral angles. Striae well expressed, strial punctures moderate, round, located in depressed lines, 1.5–2 times larger than interstrial punctures; interstrial puncturation comparatively coarse, sparse; interstriae flat. Epipleuron in apical portion 2 times as wide as metepisternum. Ventral side of pterothorax sparsely pubescent with recumbent setae. Mesoventrite densely granulated; intercoxal process of mesoventrite rasp-like punctured and wrinkled; mesepisterna with sparse granules. Metaventrite with rasp-like punctures in middle distinct and sparse elongate granules on sides.

Abdomen. Abdominal ventrites 1–3 sparsely and finely granulated on sides and with fine and sparse rasp-like punctures in middle, ventrites 1–2 and partly 3 with longitudinal ellipsoidal depression in middle; ventrite 4 with sparse rasp-like punctures; ventrite 5 with dense and coarse rasp-like punctures, not margined apically. Genitalia ( Fig. 53 ). Inner sternite VIII widely evenly roundly emarginated, rounded in middle, with narrowly rounded lateral angulations. Spiculum gastrale with thickened, slightly S-shaped rods and moderately elongated blades with angular outer margin at base, narrowed to apex. Parameres comparatively wide, S-shaped, each paramera evenly converging to not truncated apex; lateral margins widely emarginated in middle. Basal piece 2.23 times as long as parameres.

Legs. Legs slender, pro- and mesofemora slightly, and metafemora strongly extending beyond body margin. Protibiae narrow, profemur 1.15 as wide as apical width of protibia. Lateral margin of protibiae simple, not obliquely truncated near apex. Protarsi with combined length of 2.5 proximal tarsomeres subequal to apical width of protibia.

Body length 11 mm, width 4.7 mm.

Etymology. The Latin adjective “ captiosus ” means “deceptive” to emphasize its deceptive similarity to related species.

Comparative diagnosis. The species belongs to the subgroup with non-margined abdominal ventrite 5 ( P. iranensis sp. nov., P. grabantae sp. nov. and P. zarudnyi sp. nov.) and the most similar to the last two species by the shape of body and the entirely convex pronotum, but differs from them by rounded genae with the widest portion located ahead of eyes ( Fig. 52C ) (in contrast with angulate genae with widest portion at eye level as on Figs 54B and 69D ). The comparison with P. iranensis sp. nov. see in the diagnosis of the latter species.

Figures

FIGURE 52. Penthicus (Stonavus) captiosus sp. nov., male, habitus, details. A = male dorsally; B = male ventrally; C = head and pronotum dorsally; D = ditto, dorso-laterally; E = prohypomeron.

FIGURE 53. Penthicus (Stonavus) captiosus sp. nov., genitalia. A = aedeagus ventrally; B = male inner sternite VIII; C = spiculum gastrale.

FIGURE 54. Penthicus (Stonavus) grabantae sp. nov., habitus, details. A = female dorsally, holotype; B = head and pronotum dorsally; C = ditto, dorso-laterally; D = prohypomeron; E = spiculum ventral; F = ovipositor ventrally; G = ditto, dorsally.

FIGURE 69. Penthicus (Stonavus) zarudnyi sp. nov., habitus, details. A = male dorsally; B = female ventrally; C = female dorsally; D = head; E = pronotum dorsally; F = ditto, dorso-laterally; G = prohypomeron; H = margin of pronotal base.