Hemipeplus manusicus KC & Pollock, 2025

Kc, Sajan & Pollock, Darren A., 2025, Review of the Hemipeplinae (Coleoptera: Mycteridae) fauna of the world with descriptions of twenty-nine new species, Zootaxa 5574 (1), pp. 1-140 : 84

Hemipeplus manusicus KC & Pollock , sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:99AF4F3C-2E80-4F3E-AA65-11A247C2BD16

(Figs 38, 64)

Type Material. Holotype, female, labeled: ‘ BISMARCK ARCH: MANUS I., Lorengau nr. sea level Dec. 15-29, 1959 / SAGO PALM / T. C. Maa Collector BISHOP / [blue label] ♀ / [red label] HOLOTYPE ♀ Hemipeplus manusicus KC & Pollock’, in BPBM .

Derivation of Specific Epithet. The specific name (adjective in the nominative case, in gender agreement with substantive) is given in allusion to this species’ type locality, i.e., Manus Island in Papua New Guinea .

Diagnosis. Hemipeplus manusicus sp. nov. can be distinguished from the similar-appearing H. gressitti sp. nov. (Fig. 36) by its relatively smaller eyes and darker color. Hemipeplus manusicus sp. nov. has the following diagnostic features: temples absent; scape submoniliform, slightly elongate, apically dilated; eyes large (longer than scape + pedicel), wide and convex; pronotum subcordiform; anterior emargination weak; anterior half much wider than posterior half; pronotal pad distinct; pronotal angles rounded; pronotal lobe indistinct with faint median notch; body long; elytra slightly convex; color dark brown, dull, head and pronotum rufopiceous, darker than the elytra; distribution: Papua New Guinea (Manus Island).

Description. Measurements (in mm)—GHW: 0.60; HL: 0.60; AL: 0.87; GPW: 0.68; PL: 0.58; GEW: 0.80, EL: 2.95; TL: 4.13.

Head (Fig. 38B) about as long as wide (GHW/HL: 1.00); eyes large (longer than scape + pedicel), wide and convex; temples absent; occiput with strongly raised areas; antennae shorter than head and pronotum length combined; antennal scape submoniliform, slightly elongate, apically dilated; pedicel small moniliform; antennomere III more elongate and apically dilated; IV short and moniliform, apically dilated; V broader, apically dilated; VI–X subtriangular or bowl shaped, each wider than the next; XI subpyriform with apex narrowed; lateral mandibular tooth absent. Pronotum (Fig. 38B) wide (GPW/PL: 1.17); anterior margin with slight emargination; anterolateral angles rounded, produced; posterior half much more contracted than anterior half; posterolateral margins subparallel; posterolateral angles obtusely rounded; pronotal lobe truncate with a slight median notch; pronotal pad (Fig. 38C) distinct; pronotal pits shallow with faint grooves. Scutellar shield subpentagonal, transverse, less than twice as wide as long. Elytra (Fig. 38A) long (EL/GEW: 3.69) and slightly convex; vestiture short and dense; apical patch long and much darker than elytra. Ventral surface. Prosternal process short, not extending posterior of procoxae; hypomeral edges narrowly separated, very close to each other; mesosternal process narrow and linear. Color dull, dark brown with head and pronotum darker than elytra; ventrally about uniformly rufous; inner edges of pro- and mesosternum (including hypomeral edges) darker; tarsi, palpi, glossal sclerite, and galea paler.

Geographical Distribution (Fig. 64). Papua New Guinea (Manus Island).

Natural History. According to specimen label data, H. manusicus sp. nov. is associated with Sago Palm.