Limbodessus elit, Balke & Villastrigo & Hájek & Surbakti & Panjaitan & Hendrich, 2025

Balke, Michael, Villastrigo, Adrián, Hájek, Jiří, Surbakti, Suriani, Panjaitan, Rawati & Hendrich, Lars, 2025, A review of Limbodessus Guignot, 1939 from New Guinea, with description of eight new tropical-alpine species (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Bidessini), Alpine Entomology 9, pp. 5-28 : 5-28

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.9.147831
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:15F39A4A-E56E-41F1-860B-90B05ABF06E8
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15602643
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/4DB4A5C7-5632-581F-868E-A2B373DBC329
treatment provided by	Alpine Entomology by Pensoft
scientific name	Limbodessus elit
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Limbodessus elit sp. nov.

Figs 1 D View Figure 1 , 7 B View Figure 7 , 10 D View Figure 10 , 11 B View Figure 11 , 13 C View Figure 13 , 14 View Figure 14 , 17 A – D View Figure 17

Type locality.

Mossy puddles in Alpine grassland, Mt. Elit area, Angguruk-Baliem, 3,400 m [139°17'E, 04°14'S], Papua, Indonesia.

Type material.

Holotype, male. “ IRIAN JAYA: Angguruk-Baliem, 10. - 11. 10. 1993, Mt. Elit , ca. 139°17'E 04°14'S, 3400 m, leg. M. Balke (33) ”, “ Holotype Limbodessus elit sp. nov. Balke et al. 2025 ” [red printed label] ( NHMW). GoogleMaps

Paratypes (30): 30 exs. with the same label data as the holotype ( NHMW, KSP, ZSM) GoogleMaps . All paratypes are provided with a red printed paratype label.

Measurements.

Holotype: TL = 1.80 mm; TL-H = 1.60 mm; MW = 0.80 mm. Paratypes: TL 1.70–1.85 mm; TL-H = 1.60–1.70 mm; MW = 0.80–0.85 mm.

Description.

Rather small, body elongate-oval, with distinct discontinuity in lateral outline between pronotum and elytron. Cervical or sutural line absent. Pronotal and elytral stria present and distinct (Fig. 1 D View Figure 1 ).

Color. Body dark-brown to blackish. Clypeus anteriorly, pronotum medially and laterally slightly paler: dark ferruginous to castaneous brown. Antennomeres 1–4 dark ferruginous, 5–11 darker, blackish. Legs dark brown; metatibiae and metatarsi blackish, metafemora castaneous (Fig. 1 D View Figure 1 ). Ventral side chiefly black. Prosternum, epipleura and sternite 7 ferruginous.

Sculpture. Head moderately densely punctate; punctation on clypeus and apically sparse; with distinct microreticulation. Size of the punctures corresponds with diameter of meshes. Pronotum with moderately dense punctation along fore-margin; other parts with sparse punctation; microreticulation only medially expanded as far laterally as level of striae. Size of punctures as on head, laterally smaller. Elytron with moderately dense and evenly distributed punctation; between punctures with almost invisible larger polygonal meshes; punctures slightly larger than on head and pronotum. Ventral side with few punctures, shiny; only sternite 7 with distinct microreticulation.

Structures. Metacoxal lines anteriorly diverging and not reaching posterior margin of metaventrite.

Male. Elytron shiny, without microreticulation between punctures. Antenna stout. Median lobe as in Fig. 7 B View Figure 7 and parameres as in Fig. 10 D, B View Figure 10 .

Female. Elytron shiny, without microreticulation between punctures. Antenna stout but without conspicuous modifications (Fig. 13 C View Figure 13 ).

Etymology.

Named after the type locality, Mount Elit, a two-days walk from Wamena in the direction to Pronggoli. The name is a noun in the nominative standing in apposition.

Distribution.

Only known from Mount Elit (Fig. 17 A View Figure 17 ), in the Central Highlands of Papua (Fig. 14 View Figure 14 ).

Differential diagnosis.

Limbodessus elit sp. nov. belongs to a group of smaller (TL = 1.55–1.90 mm) and almost blackish high alpine species. The new species is close to L. aipo sp. nov., L. aldente sp. nov. and L. wilhelmina sp. nov. but can be separated from them by the form of the female antennae, which is stout without any conspicuous modifications (Fig. 13 C View Figure 13 ), the form of the median lobe (Fig. 7 B View Figure 7 ), and the form of the parameres (Figs 10 D View Figure 10 , 11 B View Figure 11 ).