Omalium intermedium, Shavrin, 2025

Omalium intermedium sp. nov.

( Figs 4 View FIGURES 4–7 , 8–9 View FIGURES 8–15 , 16 View FIGURE 16 )

Type material. Holotype ♂ (dissected): ‘ NEPAL Lalitpur | Distr. Phulcoki | 2650m 13.X.83 | Smetana & Löbl’ <printed>, ‘ HOLOTYPE | Omalium | intermedium sp.n. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2025’ <red, printed> ( CNC). Paratypes: 1 ♂ (dissected; left antennomeres 9–11 missing): same data as the holotype ( CNC); 1 ♂ ( Fig. 4 View FIGURES 4–7 ; dissected): ‘ NEPAL Lalitpur | Distr. Phulcoki | 2550m 14.X.1983 | Smetana & Löbl’ <printed> (cSh). All paratypes with red printed label: ‘ PARATYPE | Omalium | intermedium sp.n. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2025’.

Description. Measurements (n=3): HW: 0.50–0.56; HL: 0.37–0.42; OL: 0.15–0.17; TL: 0.06–0.07; AL ( holotype): 0.91; PL: 0.50–0.52; PWmax: 0.66–0.77; PWmin: 0.62–0.66; ESL: 0.82–0.92; EW: 0.90–0.97; MTbL ( holotype): 0.47; MTrL ( holotype): 0.26 (MTrL 1–4: 0.06; MTrL 5: 0.18); AW: 0.82–0.99; AedL: 0.50–0.55; BL: 2.65–3.40 ( holotype: 3.04).

Habitus as in Fig. 4 View FIGURES 4–7 . Body reddish-brown, with slightly darker head and pronotum, paler basal, lateral and basal margins of pronotum (mediobasal part of elytra slightly darker in holotype and one paratype); antennomeres 6–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–5, legs, paratergites and intersegmental membranes of abdomen yellow-brown; tarsi yellow. Punctation of head dense, moderately large and deep, larger in middle ( one paratype with sparser median punctation); punctation of neck sparse and relatively large; punctation of pronotum dense, about as that in middle part of head, slightly finer in middle and sparser in mediobasal portion, interspaces between punctures in middle about as diameter of one nearest puncture or slighty larger; punctation of elytra dense, about as that on pronotum, but slightly sparser and finer in middle; abdominal tergites with indistinct fine punctation, more visible on tergites IV–V. Anterior part of clypeus with fine transverse microreticulation, supra-antennal elevations with fine subdiagonal meshes; neck, pronotum and elytra without microsculpture; middle part of scutellum with fine transverse sculpture; abdomen with dense isodiametric microsculpture. Anterior part of head with several elongate erect setae, each apical part of anteriomedian depression with long erect seta; lateral portions of pronotum and elytra with dense and short setation; posterior margin of elytra with short erect setae; abdominal tergites with sparse and short setae; anterior margin of pronotum with row of moderately long cuticular fringe.

Head 1.3 times as broad as long, with broad clypeus and distinctly elevated middle and infraorbital portions, with relatively wide and deep anteriomedian depressions, reaching level of anterior margins of eyes; posteriolateral margins of clypeus slightly narrowed posteriad and reaching level of anterior third of eyes. Dorsal surface with strong elevations between punctures: diagonal in laterobasal parts of clypeus, and longitudinal in middle and infraorbital portions. Anteocellar foveae wide and deep, convergent latero-apicad and reaching level of posterior third of eyes. Temples more than twice shorter than longitudinal length of eyes, each with subacute posteriolateral angle distinctly protruded basad. Apical part of neck widely and deeply depressed, with several short and narrow elevations; each lateral margin with small obtuse projections, slightly protruded laterad. Eyes large and convex. Ocelli large, located significantly behind level of posterior margins of eyes; distance between ocelli 1.7–1.8 times as long as distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Maxillary palpi long, apical palpomere distinctly more than three times as long as small and transverse penultimate segment, from widest basal portion gradually narrowed toward acute apex. Antenna reaching basal margin of elytra when reclined, with slightly elongate antennomeres 6–7 and transverse 8–10; antennomere 3 distinctly narrower than 2, 4 slightly less than twice as long as 3, 5 slightly longer and broader than 4, 6 indistinctly longer and broader than 5, 7 slightly longer and broader than 6, 8 distinctly broader than 7, 9 slightly broader than 8, 10 slightly longer than 9, apical antennomere 1.3 times as long as 10, from apical third strongly narrowed toward rounded apex.

Pronotum 1.3–1.4 times as broad as long, 1.3 times as broad as head, from widest anterior portion distinctly more narrowed posteriad than anteriad. Anterior angles obtuse, slightly protruded anteriad. Anterior margin widely rounded, not or slightly concave in middle. Posterior angles obtuse. Lateral portions widely impressed, broader in laterobasal portions. Lateral margins narrowly marginated. Surface of disc with two moderately deep ( holotype) or shallow, long and wide longitudinal depressions, broadened basad, and with indistinct narrow depression in medioapical portion. Surface between all pronotal depressions slightly elevated. Middle part with irregular longitudinal elevations between punctures. Each lateroapical part with rounded narrow elevation, reaching about middle.

Elytra slightly broader than long, 1.6–1.7 times as long as long as pronotum, somewhat subparallel; lateral margins narrowly impressed and marginated; hind margins rounded. Dorsal surface of each elytron with strong irregular diagonal elevations between punctures (except portion along suture). Hind wings fully developed.

Metatarsi 1.8 times as long as metatibia.

Abdomen convex, narrower than elytra, with intersegmental membranes between abdominal tergites III–VI or III–VII, with two small transverse wing-folding patches in middle of tergite IV and distinct narrow palisade fringe on apical margin of tergite VII.

Male. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII truncate. Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII widely sinuate. Aedeagus broad, short, with widely rounded latero-apical parts; median lobe short and narrow, from widest preapical part gradually narrowed toward rounded apex; mediolateral portions with narrow elongate accessory plates rounded apically; parameres wide, each from widest preapical portion narrowed toward relatively narrow and rounded apex, with two relatively short apical setae; internal sac wide and long ( Fig. 8 View FIGURES 8–15 ). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 9 View FIGURES 8–15 .

Female unknown.

Comparative notes. Based on the shape of the body and the significantly broadened aedeagus, O. intermedium sp. nov. is similar to two species of the amplissimum group, O. amplissimum Shavrin, 2023 and O. bilobum Shavrin, 2023 , which were recently described from Nepal ( Shavrin 2023a). The new species can be distinguished from them by the shape of the postocular portion of the head with subacute angles distinctly protruded basad (as that in species of the acutangulum group), the shape of the pronotum broadest in apical third and with apical angles protruded anteriad (the pronotum of O. amplissimum is widest in apical third, but apical angles not protruded anteriad, and the pronotum of O. bilobum is widest slightly above middle and with anterior angles protruded anteriad), the shape of short apical part of the median lobe, different shape of the parameres and morphology of the internal sac.

Distribution. Omalium intermedium sp. nov. is known only from the type locality in Bagmati, central Nepal ( Fig. 16 View FIGURE 16 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective intermedius, - a, - um (intermediate). It refers to the intermediate shape of the pronotum if compared to related species.

Bionomics. Specimens were collected at elevations from 2550 to 2650 m a.s.l. Detailed bionomical data are unknown.