Hemipeplus monteithi 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 : 77-79

Hemipeplus monteithi KC & Pollock , sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:A294B9DD-DC9A-4BB5-895C-40C81C5A550B

(Figs 35, 64)

Type Material. Holotype, male, right specimen of the two specimens on same pin, labeled: ‘ F.W. Lake, 10 ml. N. of Rocky R., Via Coen, N. Qld. 17.xii.1964. G. Monteith / [light green label] U.Q.I.C. Loan 797 / [dark green label] ♂ / [red label] HOLOTYPE ♂ Hemipeplus monteithi right specimen KC & Pollock’, in UQIC. Twenty-one paratypes: 1 specimen, male, labeled same as holotype, on the left on the same pin, in UQIC; 1 specimen, male, labeled: ‘ 11.45S 142.35E QLD Heathlands nr. gravel pit 9Dec.1992 W. Dressler, P. Zborowski, at light’, in ANIC; 2 specimens, sex unknown, labeled: ‘ 11.43S 142.41E 12km EbyN Heathlands, QLD 15-26 Jan. 1992 I. D. Naumann, T. A. Weir rainforest’, in ANIC; 1 specimen, sex unknown, labeled: ‘ 11.41S 142.42E 15km NEbyN Heathlands QLD 15-26 Jan. 1992 I. Naumann, T. A. Weir / rainforest and rainforest margin’ in ANIC; 1 specimen, sex unknown, labeled: ‘ 11.41S 142.42E 14km ENE Heathlands, 7Dec.1992 W. Dressier P. Zborowski, beating rainforest / HEMIPEPLUS AUSTRALICUS ARROW det. JF Lawrence’, in ANIC; 1 specimen, sex unknown, labeled: ‘ 12.44S 143.14E, QLD 3 km ENE Mt. Tozer, 28June—4July 1986 J.C. Cardale ex ethanol’, in ANIC; 12 specimens, sex unknown, labeled: ‘ F.W. Lake, 10 ml. N. of Rocky R., Via Coen N. Qld. 17.xii.1964. G. Monteith’, in UQIC; 2 specimens, sex unknown, labeled: ‘ F.W. Lake, 10 ml. N. of Rocky R., Via Coen, N. Qld. 17.xii.1964. G. Monteith / EX BASES OF LOMANDRA / On loan from Ent. Dept. U. of Qld. ’, in ANIC .

Derivation of Specific Epithet. The specific name (noun in the genitive case) is given in allusion to Geoff Monteith who collected the holotype in 1964.

Diagnosis. Hemipeplus monteithi sp. nov. resembles H. australicus (Figs 39.1, 39.2) with which it might be sympatric, but it is wider and shorter in appearance. Hemipeplus monteithi sp. nov. has the following diagnostic features: temples absent; scape moniliform; eyes large (longer than scape + pedicel), moderately wide and moderately convex; pronotum subcordiform, wide and flat; anterior emargination broad and shallow; anterior half much wider than posterior half; pronotal pad distinct, wide with profuse setae; pronotal angles rounded; pronotal lobe indistinct without median notch; body short and elongate; elytra more or less flat; color uniformly pale and shiny; distribution: Australia (Queensland) .

Description. Measurements (in mm)—GHW: 0.50–0.55; HL: 0.45–0.52; AL: 0.80–0.88; GPW: 0.60–0.67; PL: 0.45–0.50; GEW: 0.65–0.75, EL: 2.23–2.43; TL: 3.13–3.45.

Head (Fig. 35B) wide, (GHW/HL: 1.06–1.11); eyes large (longer than scape + pedicel), moderately wide and moderately convex; temples absent; occiput with raised areas; antennae shorter than head and pronotum length combined; antennal scape short and moniliform; pedicel small moniliform; antennomere III more elongate and apically dilated; IV short and moniliform; V slightly larger, apically dilated; VI–X subtriangular or bowl shaped, each wider than the next; XI subpyriform with apex narrowed after notch; lateral mandibular tooth very small. Pronotum (Fig. 35B) wide (GPW/PL: 1.33–1.34); anterior margin with broad shallow emargination; anterolateral angles rounded, produced; lateral margins weakly sinuate; posterior half much more contracted than anterior half; posterolateral angles obtusely rounded; pronotal lobe truncate without median notch; pronotal pad (Fig. 35C) broad and distinct; pronotal pits moderately developed with moderate grooves. Scutellar shield subhexagonal, transverse, nearly twice as wide as long. Elytra (Fig. 35A) short (EL/GEW: 3.24–3.43) and flat; vestiture short and dense; apical patch long and only slightly darker than elytra. Ventral surface. Prosternal process short, not extending posterior of procoxae; hypomeral edges widely separated; mesosternal process narrow and linear. Color uniformly light brown/pale, shiny.

Male Genitalia (Figs 35D–F). (Tegmen length = 0.26 mm (n = 1)) Lobe of basale moderately long, slender with blunt apex; shoulders with small degree of slant, rectangular; apicale and basale with distinct suture; parameres arcuate with apices thick and blunt, as if cut; penis much longer than tegmen. Note: the parameres of H. monteithi sp. nov. are similar to those of H. australicus but less curved. It should be noted that all Australian species have very similar male genitalia only varying in the degree of curvedness of the parameres, suggesting possible common ancestry.

FIGURE 35. Hemipeplus monteithi sp. nov. (Holotype). A. Dorsal habitus (with scale bar); B. Dorsal head and prothorax; C. Lateral view of head and prothorax; D. Male genitalia dorsal view without spiculum gastrale; E. Tegmen dorsal view (with scale bar) F. Tegmen lateral view with one paramere removed.

Geographical Distribution (Fig. 64). Australia (Queensland) .

Natural History. According to specimen label data, H. monteithi sp. nov. is associated with Lomandra Labill. ( Asparagaceae ) and adults have been collected from light and beating rainforest.