Sinacrulia monticola, Shavrin, 2025

Sinacrulia monticola sp. nov.

( Figs 1 View FIGURES 1–2 , 3–9 View FIGURES 3–9 , 14 View FIGURE 14 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: NEPAL: ♂ ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–2 ; dissected): ‘ NEPAL Khandbari | Distr. Induwa Khola | Valley 2000 m 16.IV. | [19]84 [A.] Smetana & [I.] Löbl’ <printed>, ‘HOLOTYPE | Sinacrulia | monticola sp.n. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2025’ <red, printed> ( CNC) .

PARATYPE: NEPAL: 1 ♀ (dissected; left antennomeres 10–11 missing): same data as the holotype, with additional printed red label: ‘PARATYPE | Sinacrulia | monticola sp. nov. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2025’ <red, printed> ( CNC).

Description. Measurements: HW 0.38–0.40; HL 0.27; OL 0.10; TL 0.03–0.05; AL ( holotype) 0.58; PL 0.30–0.34; PWmax 0.50–0.51; PWmin 0.46–0.47; ESL 0.60–0.62; EW 0.64–0.69; MTbL 0.35 ( holotype); MTrL ( holotype) 0.15 (MTrL 1–4 0.05; MTrL 5 0.10); AW 0.60–0.67; AedL 0.25; BL 1.85 ( holotype)–2.19.

Habitus as in Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–2 . Body brown, with slightly darker head and abdomen (lateral and basal portions of pronotum slightly paler); mouthparts, basal antennomere and antennomeres 7–11, and legs brownish (apex of apical maxillary palpomere paler; paratype with yellowish antennomeres 2–11); antennomeres 2–6 ( holotype) and tarsi yellowish. Frontal and median part of clypeus without distinct punctation, middle portion with dense, large and deep punctation, dorsal portions around eyes with moderately dense and fine punctation; neck without distinct punctures; punctation of pronotum dense, large and deep, sparser in lateral and finer in mediobasal portions; scutellum without punctation; punctation of elytra about as that on pronotum, finer in apical half; abdominal tergites without punctures except of paratergites III–V with fine and dense punctation. Clypeus with dense transverse microsculpture, laterobasal portions of clypeus with dense diagonal and longitudinal meshes, postocular portions with indistinct isodiametric sculpture; neck with dense isodiametric microreticulation; apical and basal portions of pronotum with indistinct isodiametric microsculpture; scutellum with dense isodiametric sculpture; mediobasal portions around scutellum with fine indistinct isodiametric meshes; abdominal tergites with dense microsculpture: isodiametric in middle and subdiagonal in lateral portions.

Head 1.4 times as broad as long, with slightly elevated middle and laterobasal portions. Anteriomedian depression distinct, wide and relatively deep, reaching level of anterior margins of eyes. Nuchal constriction moderately deep. Temples about three times shorter than longitudinal length of eyes, somewhat parallel-sided, with obtuse postocular ridges, each with distance between posterior margin of eye and ridge about as long as diameter of four nearest ommatidia. Each laterobasal portion of supra-antennal elevation with narrow elongate wrinkle diagonally stretching posteriad toward level of anterior third of eyes. Surface between punctures in middle strongly and irregularly elevated, with stronger elevations slightly in front of ocelli; portions around eyes slightly elevated between pucntures. Ocelli large, located at level of postocular ridge; distance between ocelli about as long as distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Eyes large and strongly convex. Apical maxillary palpomere about four times as long as preapical segment. Antenna with elongate antennomeres 1–6, slightly transverse 7, 8 and distinctly transverse 9, 10; basal antennomere oblong, slightly less than twice as long as broad, antennomere 2 distinctly shorter and slightly narrower than basal antennomere, 3 distinctly narrower than 2, 4 and 5 slightly shorter than 3, 6 shorter than 5, 7 longer and about twice broader than 6, 8 broader than 7, 9 and 10 slightly longer and broader than 8, apical antennomere 1.7 times as long as and slightly broader than 10, from about middle gradually narrowed toward rounded apex.

Pronotum strongly convex, 1.5–1.6 times as broad as long, 1.2–1.3 times as broad as head, widest in about middle, distinctly more narrowed posteriad than anteriad; anterior angles widely rounded; posterior angles obtuse; anterior margin widely rounded, slightly shorter than rounded basal margin; lateral margins with irregular and moderately strong thorn-shaped crenulation, finer latero-apically. Disc of pronotum with two oval and moderately deep depressions in mediobasal part and with narrow elongate medioapical depression. Median surface with strong and irregularly elevated parts between punctures, distinctly stronger around depressions; each lateral portion with narrow elongate elevation starting from medioapical part and subdiagonally stretching toward level of median third of pronotum.

Elytra convex, slightly broader than long, 1.8 times to twice as long as pronotum, distinctly depressed mediobasally; hind margins rounded. Surface between punctures elevated (stronger in apical half), but significantly finer than that in middle part of pronotum: portions around scutellum with transverse and longitudinal, and mediolateral and lateral half of elytra with longitudinal elevations. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen convex, slightly narrower than elytra, with a pair of small round tomentose spots in middle of abdominal tergite IV; apical margin of abdominal tergite VII with narrow palisade fringe.

Male. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII somewhat straight ( Fig. 5 View FIGURES 3–9 ). Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII widely concave ( Fig. 6 View FIGURES 3–9 ). Aedeagus ( Fig. 3 View FIGURES 3–9 ) short, with significantly broadened basal part, gradually narrowed toward middle, with elongate and moderately narrow accessory plates, with subacute apices and subtriangular lateromedian portions; median lobe broad, with widely rounded lateral margins in about middle, strongly narrowed toward subacute elongate apex; parameres moderately narrow, long, almost reaching level of apex of median lobe, each with rounded apex and subtriangular tooth slightly below middle on inner margin, with four moderately long apical setae and a row of setae along inner margin, outer margin of each paramere with short seta distinctly above middle; internal sac short and weakly sclerotized, with very long flagellum, spirally folded in basal portion and with broadened elongate structure in the middle. Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 4 View FIGURES 3–9 .

Female. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII somewhat rounded ( Fig. 7 View FIGURES 3–9 ). Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII truncate ( Fig. 8 View FIGURES 3–9 ). Female genital segment as in Fig. 9 View FIGURES 3–9 . Spermatheca not recognized.

Comparative notes. Sinacrulia monticola sp. nov. can be distinguished from all congeners by the transverse antennomere 7, coarser sculpture of the pronotum with significantly elevated portions between punctures around depressions, the presence of the medioapical depression of the pronotum, stronger pronotal crenulation of lateral margins, and significantly longer parameres. Also see the key below.

Distribution. Sinacrulia monticola sp. nov. is known only from the type locality in Koshi, north-eastern Nepal ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin noun monticola , - ae (dweller in the mountains) in apposition. It refers to the occurence of the new species at high elevation.

Bionomics. Specimens were collected at an altitude of 2000 m. Detailed bionomical data remains unavailaible.