Malthinus (s.str.) melniki Kazantsev, 2025

Malthinus (s.str.) melniki Kazantsev , sp.n.

Figs 1, 2 View Figs 1–2 , 11, 12, 20–22.

MATERIAL. Holotype, ♂, ‘ Dagestan, Derbent , 42°03'06" N 48°16'27" E (180 m) — 42°02'51" N 48°15'36" E (320 m), 17.V.2022, I. Melnik leg.’ ( ICM); paratypes: 3 ♂♂ and 1 ♀, same label ( ICM). GoogleMaps

DESCRIPTION. Male. Brown to dark brown to black; head in front of eyes, basal palpomeres, pro- and mesosterna, sides of metasternum whitish yellow; antennomeres 1 and partly 2, pronotal hind angles, legs, except partly middle and hind femurs, tibiae, except basally, and hind coxae proximally, testaceous; elytral apices sulphur yellow ( Fig 1 View Figs 1–2 ).

Head transverse, without eyes slightly wider than pronotum. Eyes small, spherical, interocular distance ca 2.3 times greater than eye diameter in dorsal view. Vertex in rough dense punctures. Ultimate maxillary and labial palpomeres narrow, noticeably longer than wide. Antennae filiform, attaining to apices of folded wings; antennomere 3 ca 1.25 times longer than pedicel (antennomere 2) and ca 1.3 times shorter than antennomere 4; antennal pubescence relatively short and sub-erect ( Fig. 1 View Figs 1–2 ).

Pronotum transverse, ca 1.1 times wider than long, widest in anterior third, roundly narrowed anteriorly, noticeably concave before acute hind angles, convex at anterior margin and indistinctly bisinuate posteriorly; in rough dense punctation ( Fig. 1 View Figs 1–2 ).

Elytra elongate, ca 2.7 times longer than wide at humeri, parallel-sided, independently narrowed and rounded at apex, leaving ca posterior twelfth of folded wings uncovered; longitudinal ribs indistinct, more noticeable near suture; elytral pubescence uniform, short and sub-erect. Scutellum relatively small, narrowing distally, with noticeably concave at sides, slightly medially emarginate at apex ( Fig. 1 View Figs 1–2 ).

Legs long and slender; femurs subequal in length to tibiae, straight and narrow; posterior trochanter elongate, elliptical ( Fig. 1 View Figs 1–2 ). Figs 11–19. Malthinus , males, aedeagus: 11, 12 — M. melniki sp.n.; 13–15 — M. caucasicus ; 16, 17 — M. biguttatus ; 18, 19 — M. kaszabi ; 11, 13, 16, 18 — dorsally; 12, 15, 17, 19 — laterally; 14 — dorsolaterally. Scale bars — 0.5 mm.

Рис. 11–19. Malthinus , самцы, Эдеагус: 11, 12 — M. melniki sp.n.; 13–15 — M. caucasicus ; 16, 17 — M. biguttatus ; 18, 19 — M. kaszabi ; 11, 13, 16, 18 — сверху; 12, 15, 17, 19 — сбоку; 14 — сверху и сбоку. Масштабные линейки — 0,5 мм.

Ultimate sternite elongate, abruptly bent before apical third and deeply incised distally, with tips bent outwards; ultimate tergite transverse, outwardly bent distally in lateral view; both similar to those of M. caucasicus ( Figs 8, 9 View Figs 7–10 ).

Aedeagus elongate, distinctly widened in the middle third, with conspicuously emarginate distally dorsal plate, bearing a pair of minute teeth laterally, broadly explanate parameres, reaching beyond the contour of dorsal plate and dentate distally and elongate median piece, almost attaining to the distal margin of dorsal plate (Figs 11, 12).

Body length: 5.2–5.3 mm; width (at humeri): 1.0– 1.05 mm.

FEMALE. Similar to male, but antennae shorter, attaining only to elytral three fifths. Ultimate ventrite transverse, with W-shaped emargination medially, distal part of coxites long and narrow, in lateral view with blunt triangular ventral process ( Figs 2 View Figs 1–2 , 20–22). Body length: 5.6 mm; width (at humeri): 1.1 mm.

ETYMOLOGY. The new species is named after the collector of the type series, Cleridae specialist Mr. Igor Melnik (Moscow) .

DIAGNOSIS. Malthinus melniki sp.n. externally resembles M. biguttatus , differing in the distinctly differently structured male ultimate ventrite, aedeagus and female genitalia (Figs 11, 12, 20–22), and is separable from M. caucasicus Wittmer, 1974 , with a similar structure of the male ultimate ventrite, aedeagus and female genitalia, by the the more emarginate distally dorsal plate of the aedeagus, bearing a pair of minute teeth laterally, broadly explanate parameres, reaching beyond the contour of the dorsal plate and more dentate distally, longer median piece, almost as long as the dorsal plate (Figs 11, 12) vs shallowly emarginate distally dorsal plate, not reaching beyond the contour of the dorsal plate and less dentate distally parameres, and shorter median piece, attaining only to the middle of the apical constriction of the dorsal plate (Figs 13–15).

REMARKS. The anterior pronotal margin varies in M. melniki sp.n. from slightly to strongly convex.