Hemipeplus antennatus 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 : 75-77

Hemipeplus antennatus KC & Pollock , sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B49507C0-1C7A-4842-BAF8-BC4CAEE194CC

(Figs 34, 64)

Type Material. Holotype, male, labeled: ‘SOLOMON IS. BOUGAINVILLE (S.) Kokure , 690 m. June 9, 1956 / E. J. Ford. Jr. Collector / [green label] ♂ / [red label] HOLOTYPE ♂ Hemipeplus antennatus 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 the species’ distinctive subcylindrical apical antennomeres, differing from the semi-triangular antennomeres characteristic of its congeners.

Diagnosis. Hemipeplus antennatus sp. nov. is the only known species in Hemipeplinae with subcylindrical apical antennomeres. Hemipeplus antennatus sp. nov. has the following diagnostic features: temples absent; antennomeres V to basal half of XII subcylindrical; eyes large (almost as long as antennomeres I+II+III), wide and strongly convex; pronotum subcordiform and rufopiceous; anterior emargination moderate; anterior half wider than posterior half; pronotal pad distinct; pronotal angles broadly rounded; pronotal lobe indistinct without median notch; body elongate; elytra more or less flat; color piceous with shades of lighter brown; distribution: Solomon Islands (Bougainville).

Description. Measurements (in mm)—GHW: 0.68; HL: 0.65; AL: 1.13; GPW: 0.70; PL: 0.61; GEW: 0.76; EL: 3.16; TL: 4.42.

Head (Fig. 34B) wide, (GHW/HL: 1.05); eyes large (almost as long as antennomeres I+II+III), wide and strongly convex; temples absent; occiput with raised areas; antennae shorter than head and pronotum length combined; antennal scape submoniliform, apically dilated; pedicel small moniliform; antennomere III more elongate and apically dilated; IV short and moniliform; V–X subcylindrical, each larger than the next; XI subcylindrical with apex narrowed after median notch; lateral mandibular tooth absent in the specimen. Pronotum (Fig. 34B) relatively wide (GPW/PL: 1.15); anterior margin with moderate emargination; anterolateral angles broadly rounded and moderately produced; lateral margins sinuate; posterior half much more contracted than apical half; posterolateral angles obtuse and rounded; pronotal lobe truncate without median notch; pronotal pad (Fig. 34C) distinctly present; pronotal pits shallow with moderate grooves. Scutellar shield convex, transverse, not twice as wide as long. Elytra (Fig. 34A) elongate (EL/GEW: 4.16) and more or less flat; vestiture short and moderate; apical patch cannot be viewed because of the condition of the specimen. Ventral surface. Prosternal process short, not extending posterior of procoxae; hypomeral edges appear well separated in the specimen but cannot be sure because of the condition of the specimen. Color dull, head and pronotum rufopiceous; labrum, clypeus lighter; elytra piceous with shades of lighter brown; ventrally head and prothorax darker, palpi lighter.

FIGURE 34. Hemipeplus antennatus sp. nov. (Holotype). A. Dorsal habitus (with scale bar); B. Dorsal head and prothorax; C. Lateral view of head and prothorax; D. Male genitalia tegmen left side.

Male Genitalia (Figs 34D). (Tegmen length not available (lost before measurement was done)) Lobe of basale moderately long and slender; shoulders sharply acute, pointed upward; apicale and basale with distinct suture; parameres short and arcuate at the apices; apices of parameres narrower than the bases with sharp thin tips; length of penis not known.

Geographical Distribution (Fig. 64). Solomon Islands (Bougainville).