Allecula sundukovi, Nabozhenko, 2025

Allecula sundukovi sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ 1EC8CA22-30E0-4DBA-9568-9840651B6824

Figs 36–42 View Figs 36–42

TYPE MATERIAL. Holotype – ♂ ( ZIN): Russia: Khabarovsky Krai , Anyuysky National Park, mouth of Bogbasu River, 49°22ʹ32.1ʺN, 137°43ʹ15.3ʺE, 20.VII 2024 ( Yu.N. Sundukov, L.A. Sundukova). GoogleMaps

DESCRIPTION. Body large (length 11 mm, width 3.5 mm), slender, black and shiny, gently convex, densely covered by dark-brown recumbent and subrecumbent setae. Anterior margin of epistome slightly rounded. Lateral margin of genae straightly converging to epistome, shortly subparallel at base; lateral margin of head between gena and epistome with obtuse emargination. Eyes large and convex, OI = 30.5. Puncturation of head dense and coarse, puncture diameter near two times as long as interpuncture space; middle of frons with small unpunctured area. Ventral side of head smooth and shiny, only temples with coarse and dense puncturation. Maxillary palpomeres 1–2 asymmetrical, 1st palpomere 2 times as long as 2nd one; apical palpomere strongly asymmetrical, securiform, 1.46 times as wide as interocular distance. Antennae thin, filiform, reaching elytral middle, when directed backward; antennomeres 3 and 4 long, subequal in length; antennomeres 5–11 slightly shorter.

Prothorax. PI = 73.9. Pronotum narrow, trapezoid, strongly converging from base to anterior margin, 1.28 times as wide as head; lateral margins almost straight, only near middle slightly shortly rounded; anterior margin straight, base slightly trisinuate. Anterior margin and base finely emarginated; laterial margins emarginated only from base to middle. Anterior and posterior angles obtuse (posterior ones obtuse, because base rounded near angles). Disc flattened in middle and strongly convex laterally, with two median round depressions in middle and one transverse median depression in basal third. Puncturation of disc coarse and dense, puncture diameter 2–3 times as long as interpuncture space; punctures slightly sparser on sides from middle. Prohypomera and prothoracic sternite coarsely and very densely punctured, but punctures smaller than on pronotum. Prosternal process protruded in apical portion.

Pterothorax. Scutellum triangle, with acute apex, densely punctured. Elytra 2.15 times as long as wide, widest slightly behind the middle, 2.1 times as wide as head, 1.6 times as wide and 4.75 times as long as pronotum. Lateral margins of elytra slightly widely emarginated in basal half. Striae consist of coarse and dense round punctures, in basal half merging in entire furrow; interstriae with moderately dense and coarse puncturation, punctures only slightly smaller than strial ones. Epipleura coarsely and densely puncturated, almost reaching suture angle. Mesoventrite with very dense and coarse rugose puncturation; intercoxal process strongly longitudinally impressed in middle. Metaventrite moderately punctured, punctures small, raduliform, diameter slightly lesser than interpuncture space. Sclerites of meso- and metathorax coarsely and densely punctured by simple rounded punctures.

Legs long and slender, mesotibiae slightly curved. Tarsi narrow, pro-and mesotarsomeres 3–4 lobed, slightly widened, metatarsomer 4 also lobate, but longer and narrower. Ultimate protarsomere slightly longer than first one. First tarsomere longest in meso- and metatarsi. Each tarsal claw with six teeth.

Abdomen. Intercoxal process of the first abdominal ventrite strongly depressed and located below the level of the rest surface. Puncturation of ventrites fine and sparse; ventrite 5 without depressions. Inner sternite VIII with very wide and deep emargination medially, large and wide rounded apices, folded on inner side, covered with short and sparse recumbent setae. Spiculum gastrale with securiform blades (outer portion slightly larger than inner) and with long and straight common stem. Aedeagus wide, parameres comparatively wide, triangle in dorso-ventral position and thickened in lateral position.

COMPARATIVE DIAGNOSIS. The new species differs from all known Old world Allecula (s. str.) spp. in the unusual shape of the trapezoid pronotum, very similar to those in Lagria Fabricius, 1775 , having lateral edges margined only from the base to the middle; coarsely and densely punctured interstriae also distinguish this species from other congeners. The new species is also different in the structure of the male inner sternite VIII, with very wide, deep emargination and very wide, rounded lateral apices with short sparse recumbent setation (other Allecula spp. have male inner sternite VIII with triangle emargination and acute, pointed lateral angulations with dense erected long hairs). The aedeagus and spiculum gastrale is also different from those in all known species. The new species is one of the largest representative of the genus (s. str.) together with several taxa from Taiwan ( Masumoto et al., 2019), having body length 11 mm and more. See additional differences in a key below.

ETYMOLOGY. The species is named in honour of Yuri Sundukov (Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia), known specialist on the Far Eastern Carabidae and one of the collectors of a new species.