Chlaenius (Epomis) ismaeli, Sciaky & Facchini & Anichtchenko, 2024

Chlaenius (Epomis) ismaeli n. sp.

https://zoobank.org/58f385a2-db60-48c1- 9423-81916e01a491

145 Type material. Holotypus, male: “The Philippines, E Luzon / Sierra Madre, Aurora prov. / Dingalan , V.2015 ” (RSc). Paratypes : 1 ♀: “The Philippines / E Luzon, Sierra Madre / Aurora prov., VI.2010 ” (RSc) ; 1 ♀: “The Philippines, E Luzon / Sierra Madre, Aurora prov. / Dingalan , I.2018 ” (SFc) ; 1 ♀: “The Philippines, E Luzon / Sierra Madre, Aurora prov. / Dingalan , IV.2019 ” (RSc) .

Type-locality: The Philippines, E Luzon, Sierra Madre, Aurora prov., Dingalan.

Description. An Epomis of very large size (24-26 mm), with completely purple elytra, except for narrow yellowish margin near the apices; epipleura, seen by the side, slightly paler than the rest of elytra. Buccal parts, antennae and legs yellowish ( Fig. 6 View Fig ).

Head 0.74 times as wide as pronotum; completely metallic, except the labrum, that is yellowish, densely punctate throughout, except a small area on the vertex. Labrum with anterior margin rectilinear, clypeus slightly concave; mandibles rather short and narrow, all palps with long hairs (as typical for the subgenus Epomis ), the last segment of maxillary palps slightly securiform in the male, less dilated at apex in the female. Antennae reddish, not extremely long but very thin, posteriorly reaching the anterior fifth of the elytral length; antennomere 3 almost twice as long as 4. Antennomeres 1 and 2 almost smooth, 3 with some sparse setae throughout, 4-12 densely pubescent. Eyes very large and convex, markedly longer than tempora.

Pronotum 0.91 times as long as wide; without microsculpture, but sparsely punctate on all its surface, with sides very slightly constricted towards base, but distinctly sinuate. Anterior angles not protruding forward, posterior angles rights and obtuse at tip. Basal foveae rather short, less than one third of the pronotal length, and very deep. Posterior pronotal setae not

146 inserted in the posterior angle, but advanced in relation to it; no lateral setae.

Elytra 1.69 times as long as wide; much wider than pronotum, dilated towards apex; point of maximum width at two thirds of the length. Striae deep and minutely punctate, intervals very convex, almost carinate, each one with two-three rows of points all along, but leaving a central area smooth; these points bring each a seta, so small to be visible only at high magnification. Shoulders rounded, the lateral margin forms an obtuse angle with the basal margin.

Legs long and slender, completely yellowish, except coxae and trochanters, that are reddish brown. Fore femur of male without tooth on the inferior side, all tarsi superiorly pubescent, onychium inferiorly with a double series of spinae, in the metatarsi onychium hardly longer than tarsomere 4, pro-tarsomeres 1-3 of the male with dense setae inferiorly.

Median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 7 View Fig ) of medium size, slender; in lateral view with preapical portion almost rectilinear, just slightly bent downwards at tip; in dorsal view with apex wide and rounded.

punctate and shows a yellowish elytral margin. The other four species diffused in South-West Asia, C. (E.) nigricans Wiedemann, 1821 , C. (E.) kenyerii Kirschenhofer, 2003 , C. (E.) louwerensi Andrewes, 1936 and C. (E.) vientianensis Kirschenhofer, 2009 , are all strictly related to each other and are very distant from the species here described. On the other hand, the lack of yellowish margin can be observed in several african species, such as C. (E.) violaceipennis Chaudoir, 1876 , C. (E.) immunitus Murray, 1858 , C. (E.) simba Alluaud, 1929 , etc., but all of these are markedly different for other reasons.

Affinities. It is not easy to assess some precise relationships of this species with the other Asian species of this subgenus: the species of Epomis Bonelli, 1810 known from Asia are only six, all of them markedly different from the new one and all of them with a yellowish margin at elytra. The overall aspect and the large size could suggest a relationship with C. (E.) duvaucelii (Dejean, 1831) , from India, but this species has the elytral intervals densely

147

Etymology. This beautiful species is cordially dedicated to its discoverer, Ismael

Lumawig, who keeps exploring the Philippines islands allowing the entomological community to perform many new discoveries.

Distribution. This species seems limited to the southernmost section of the Sierra Madre mountain range, in the Aurora province.