Lycocerus albovacca Kazantsev & Perkovsky, 2024

Lycocerus albovacca Kazantsev & Perkovsky sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:7FFA918E-9B4B-45B0-8BB2-8B810A387295

( Fig. 1 View Figure 1 )

Type material: Holotype, female, SIZK Be-71, Belokorovichi, Zhitomir Oblast , Rovno amber, Priabonian.

Description. Adult female. Dark brown to black; elytral margins light brown. Head transverse. Eye small, eye diameter ca 2 times shorter than interocular distance. Ultimate maxillary palpomere prominent, elongate and securiform, about as long as penultimate palpomere. Antennae noticeably dentate, attaining to approximately elytral two thirds, scapus only slightly wider than pedicel, antennomeres 1–9 conspicuously noticeably widened distally, antennomeres almost 10–11 filiform; antennomere 3 ca. 1.4 times longer than antennomere 2 and ca. 1.2 times shorter than antennomere 4; length ratio of antennomeres 2: 1: 1.4: 1.7: 1.7: 1.7: 1.7: 1.7: 1.7: 1.7: 2.6 ( Figs 1a,b,c,e View Figure 1 ).

Pronotum slightly elongate, ca 1.1 times longer than wide, with strongly concave sides, almost straight anterior and slightly convex posterior margins, with small acute posterior angles; with a pair of obscure sickle-shaped posterior swellings. Scutellum elongate, triangular, rounded at apex ( Fig. 1a View Figure 1 ).

Elytra long, ca 3.5 times longer than wide at humeri, noticeably widening posteriorly, finely punctate, with moderately long semi-erect pubescence ( Fig. 1a View Figure 1 ).

Legs long, slender; femurs and tibiae narrow, straight, tibiae ca 1.1 times longer than femurs; tarsomeres 2-4 conspicuously widened; hind tarsomere 1 ca. 1.6 times longer than tarsomere 2; all claws simple, with small blunt tooth at base ( Fig. 1e View Figure 1 ).

Ultimate ventrite broad, trapezoidal, medially semi-circularly emarginate; styli long and narrow, coxites strongly widened proximally ( Figs 1c,d,f View Figure 1 ).

Length: 5.0 mm. Width (at elytral humeri): 1.1 mm.

Male. Unknown.

Syninclusions. SIZK Be-71 – SIZK Be-79: Aranei, 6 Acari ( Anystidae and 5 Glaesacarus rhombeus (Koch & Berendt, 1854) , 2 Hemiptera Coccinea (male and female), 11 Diptera (2 Cecydomyiidae, 3 Sciaridae , 2 Psychodidae , Limoniidae , Chironomidae , 2 Nematocera indet.), numerous stellate hairs, mycelium.

Comparison. Lycocerus albovacca sp. n., resembling in general appearance L. dentantennatus Kazantsev, 2018 , the only other amber Lycocerus with dentate antennae, may be distinguished from it by the elongate pronotum with noticeably concave sides, as well as by the dark brown head and legs and light brown elytral margins ( Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ), vs subquadrate pronotum and light brown to yellow head and legs and uniformly dark brown elytra in L. dentantennatus ( Kazantsev 2018) . Besides, the new species appears to be the only known fossil member of the genus with dentate antennae in female, as the L. dentantennatus specimen, also with dentate antennae, is a male – it should be noted, however, that in most amber Lycocerus species females are just not known.

Etymology. The name of the new species is derived from the latinised form of ‘Belokorovichi’ (‘white cows’), the locality in Zhitomir Oblast where the specimen was found.

Distribution. Priabonian Rovno amber.

Remarks. The specimen was found in a relatively large piece of amber (14.39 g after primary treatment).