Penthicus bam, 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 : 61-65

Penthicus bam sp. nov.

( Figs 50 , 51 )

Material. Holotype, ♂ ( NHML): “ IRAN [print] Kerman Bam 14.xi.60 [handwritten] E.S. Brown [print] 3448 [handwritten]”, “Brit. Mus. 1961–641.” (print) and museum label with QR-code and number NHMUK 013663794 . Paratypes ( NHML), 1♂ and 2 ♀♀ with the same labels but different numbers of museum labels: NHMUK 013663796 (♀), NHMUK 013663795 (♂), NHMUK 013663797 (♂).

Description. Male ( Fig. 50A ). Body robust, convex, opaque, 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 coarsely and moderately densely punctured by round punctures in middle of frons and rasp-like elongate punctures on lateral sides of frons; puncturation of epistoma anteriorly coarser and denser, punctures circular. Eye dorsally with subequal length and width. Head ventrally with dense granulation in basal area to submentum and large rasp-like punctured around mouthparts laterally and eyes.

Prothorax. Pronotum transverse (1.67–1.68 times as wide as long), widest at middle, 1.6–1.62 times as wide as head, strongly converging from anterior third to anterior margin and slightly roundely converging from widest portion to base; ratio width of pronotum at base, widest portion and anterior angles: 17: 17.6: 11.5. Anterior edge widely deeply emarginated. Lateral edges weakly rounded at basal third, stronger rounded from widest portion to anterior quarter and straight in anterior quarter. Base bisinuate, rounded in middle, median portion slightly protruded backwards. Anterior angles right or slightly acute, projected, tip narrowly rounded, posterior angles slightly obtuse, tip narrowly rounded. Lateral edges margined, margin of anterior edge shortly interrupted in middle, base entirely margined. Disc of pronotum entirely evenly convex, coarsely and sparsely punctured by circular punctures in middle (interpuncture space near 1.5 times as long as puncture diameter), coarser and denser punctured by elongate ellipsoid punctures on lateral sides (interpuncture spaces subequal to puncture diameter); with poorly visible smooth 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. Inclined surface of prohypomera gradually, without sharp bend, transforms into external flattened portion. Prosternum with strongly flattened granules and rasp-like punctures bearing recumbent short setae. Prosternal process slightly convex, slightly protruded beyond procoxae.

Pterothorax. Elytra elongate, with slightly rounded lateral margins, widest at middle (1.33–1.39 times as long as wide), 1.76–1.8 times as wide as head, 1.06–1.1 times as wide and 2.48–2.52 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. Strial punctures moderately coarse, round, dense, slightly larger than interstrial ones; interstrial puncturation comparatively coarse, sparse; interstriae flat. Epipleuron in apical portion 2 times as wide as metepisternum in widest portion. Ventral side of pterothorax sparsely pubescent with recumbent setae. Mesoventrite densely rugosely 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; metepistrerna sparsely granulated.

Abdomen. Abdominal ventrites 1–2 slightly depressed in middle. Ventrites 1–3 sparsely and finely granulated on sides and sparsely and finely punctured with rasp-like punctures in middle; ventrites 4 and 5 with sparse simple puncturation; ventrite 5 entirely finely margined apically. Genitalia ( Figs 51A–C ). Inner sternite VIII widely deeply roundly emarginated, with narrowly rounded lateral angulations. Spiculum gastrale with thickened, slightly Sshaped rods and moderately elongated blades widest at middle; blades with angular outer margin at base, narrowed from widest portion to angular apex. Parameres S-shaped, acute apically, lateral margins bisinuated. Basal piece 2.3 times as long as parameres.

Legs. Profemora reaching margin of pronotum; mesofemora slightly and metafemora far extending beyond elytral margin. Protibiae moderately widened, apical width of protibia subequal to maximum width of profemur. Lateral margin of protibiae simple, not obliquely truncated near apex. Protarsi with combined length of 3 proximal tarsomeres subequal to apical width of protibia.

Body length 11–12 mm, width 5–5.5 mm.

Female ( Figs 50B, C ). Body more robust. Pronotum more transverse, 1.7–1.73 times as wide as long. Elitral lateral margins more rounded. Mesofemora shorter, reaching elytral margin. Body length 11.5–12.5 mm, width 5.8– 6 mm. Ovipositor with widely rounede coxite lobes IV, gonostyli short, comparatively wide, barrel-shape; valvifer long, strongly converging from outer to inner sides, baculi of valvifer do not bend inward. Baculi of paraproct straight, slightly widened to apex.

Variability. One paratype (male) has coarser puncturation in the middle of the pronotum and circular (not elongate) punctures on lateral sides of the pronotum.

Etymology. The name is noun in the nominative case, means Bam—the type locality of this new species.

Notes. The type locality (or locality of the paratypes) “Bam” for three close species, P. bam sp. nov., P. kermanicus sp. nov. and P. telnovi sp. nov. probably means that these species were collected in different wide areas around the city of Bam, because the type series for each species have a different number of locality on labels and a different collection date.

Comparative diagnosis. The three above mentioned species are very similar and belong to the subgroup with the entirely finely margined abdominal ventrite 5. Differences are indicated in a key below from thesis 34 to the end of the table. These species also distinctly differ in the shape of parameres (compare figs 51A, 58A and 68A) and the ovipositor (compare figs 51D, E, 58D, E and 68D, E).

Figures

FIGURE 50. Penthicus (Stonavus) bam sp. nov., habitus, details. A = male dorsally; B = male ventrally; C = female dorsally; D = head and pronotum dorsally; E = ditto, dorso-laterally; F = prohypomeron; G = puncturation of elytron; H = anterior angle of pronotum.

FIGURE 51. Penthicus (Stonavus) bam sp. nov., genitalia. A = aedeagus ventrally; B = male inner sternite VIII; C = spiculum gastrale; D = ovipositor ventrally; E = ovipositor dorsally.