Saprosites halmaheiraensis Minkina & Skelley, 2025

Saprosites halmaheiraensis Minkina & Skelley , new species

( Figs 3A–F View FIGURES 3 )

Type locality. Indonesia: NW Halmahera NW, W slope at Mount Ibu ; 1°24’09’’N, 127°30’46’’E.

Type material. Holotype, male: Indonesia: Halmaheira NW | W slope at Mt. Ibu | 1°24’09’’N, 127°30’46’’E | 400–900m, 25.i.2006 | leg. A. Skale (UWP) [ NHMW] GoogleMaps . Paratypes (8 unsexed specimens): the same data as holotype [5 specimens in NHMW, 2 specimens in ISEA, 1specimen in FSCA] GoogleMaps .

Description of the holotype (male). Dorsum ( Fig. 3A View FIGURES 3 ). Length: 3.5 mm; maximum width: 1.20 mm. Dark brownish; antennae, tarsomeres and mouth parts brown. Glabrous.

Head ( Fig. 3B View FIGURES 3 ) distinctly convex, shiny, with trace of microreticulation; transversely trapezoidal; clypeus anteriorly widely, weakly but distinctly sinuate; sides widely rounded, truncate, weakly notched before genae, which are obtusely rounded and very distinctly exceeding eyes. Fronto–clypeal suture absent. Punctures on clypeus regular in size, shape and distribution, moderately coarse, dense.

Epipharynx ( Fig. 3E View FIGURES 3 ) transverse, with sides rounded, anterior margin truncate, with not so distinctly produced corypha bearing no celtes at apex.Acanthopariae, acropariae, prophobae without chaetae.Chaetopariae, adelochaetae, chaetopediae with dense belts of long, thick chaetae. Epitorma somewhat drop–shaped, shortened basaly. Tormae quite long.

Pronotum distinctly convex, distinctly transverse, somewhat wider than base of elytra, widest in the middle, shiny, without microreticulation. Anterior angles rounded, somewhat right-angled; sides nearly parallel, not distinctly visible from above, very weakly sinuate before posterior angles. Anterior margin not bordered, sides distinctly bordered, basal margin very distinctly bordered. Punctation double; smaller punctures eight to ten times smaller than larger, dense, fine, quite regularly distributed, regular in size; larger punctures dense, quite regularly distributed, somewhat irregular in size, posteriorly larger.

Scutellum small, triangular, elongate, shiny, without microreticulation, without punctation.

Base of elytra not bordered, with small but distinct humeral denticles. Elytra elongate, distinctly convex, paralel sided. Elytra with ten striae and ten interstriae. Interstriae distinctly convex, shiny, without microreticulation, with sparse, irregularly distributed, very fine punctures. Striae shiny, with distinct, very coarse, quite dense punctation; punctures of striae distinctly encroaching on interstriae; striae variably connected before apex.

Pygidium with similar structure as abdominal ventrites.

Legs ( Figs 3A–C View FIGURES 3 ) all femora quite shiny, with weak microreticulation; with simple, very fine and sparse puncatation. Profemora distinctly bordered anteriorly and posteriorly; meso- and metafemora anteriorly and posteriorly not bordered. Protibiae distinctly tridentate laterally, proximally with few serrations; dorsal side smooth; apical spur outwardly curved before apex, somewhat downwardly bent. Metatibiae superior apical spur distinctly longer than basal metatarsomere, latter nearly as long as following two tarsomeres combined. Claws very short, thin, quite weakly arcuate.

Macropterous.

Venter ( Fig. 3B View FIGURES 3 ). Metaventral plate shiny, without microreticulation, very weakly convex, medially quite distinctly concave; with distinct, narrow, quite deep longitudinal line in the middle; with very fine, moderately dense punctation. Abdominal ventrites shiny, with a trace of microreticulation; anterior margins narrowly, but distinctly fluted, except the last one which is not fluted, only deeply bordered; with distinct, quite sparse, very fine punctation.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 3F View FIGURES 3 ). Parameres the same length as phallobase, weakly downwardly curved before apex, which is regularly rounded in lateral view.

Variation. Length from 3.4 to 3.5 mm. Punctation of pronotum slightly variable in density.

Female. Metaventral plate of females with less distinct median concavity and apical spur of protibiae less distinctly curved and less downwardly bent.

Etymology. Toponymic; an adjective derived from the Indonesian name of Halmahera Island: Halmaheira, where is the origin of the new species.

Differential diagnosis. Known Indonesian species of Saprosites are revised by Stebnicka (2012) with only one species being more recently described ( Minkina & Jákl 2024). When identifying S. halmaheiraensis Minkina & Skelley , new species, using the key of Stebnicka (2012), there is a problem at couplet 14, where S. hamaheraensis posesses a mixture of the characters discussed. Due to the sharply protruding genae and sides of pronotum laterally distinctly, deeply bordered, we should proceed to couplet 19, where we can easily continue to couplet 20. At this point, S. halmaheraensis Minkina & Skelley , new species appears externally similar to the widely distributed S. narae Lewis, 1895 . Saprosites halmaheraensis Minkina & Skelley , new species can be distinguished from S. narae (as well as from many other Saprosites species from this region) by characters pointed in the key below.