Xanthopenthes tamilensis, Platia & Pulvirenti, 2023

Xanthopenthes tamilensis n. sp.

( Fig. 16, 38, 75)

ZooBank:http://zoobank.org/ 238BD6D3-602E-47D3-8D5E-90ADA42F5CD1

Holotype, ♂, India, Tamil Nadu, Ainamalai Hills, Topslip , 2500 ft., V. 1977 ( CPG).

Diagnosi s. – A small species of the X. birmanicus -group sensu Schimmel, 1999, similar to X. modestus (Candèze, 1859) fromIndia but easily separated for the longer antennae and male genitalia.

Description. – Male.

Moderately shiny.

Coloration. – Entirely brownish with antennae and legs lighter, yellow-ferruginous; covered with dense, recumbent, yellow-fulvous pubescence.

Head. – Frons moderately convex, just impressed before the anterior margin, the latter thickened, arcuate, directed downwards and just protruding above the clypeus; frontal-clypeal space, not constricted with a vestige of mid-longitudinal carina; punctures umbilicate, contiguous or with shortest intervals. – Antennae exceeding by three articles the apices of the posterior angles of pronotum, slightly serrated from the third article, second article sub-cylindrical, long as wide, third sub-conical, 2.1x longer than the second; second and third, taken together, as long as the fourth; articles fourth-tenth sub-triangular gradually slenderer, longitudinally carinate, on average 2.1x longer than wide, last a little longer and sub-ellipsoidal.(Fig. 38).

Pronotum. – Long as wide, widest at the apices of the posterior angles, very convex on the disk, abruptly sloping at the sides, vertically sloping at base with a deep, short mid-longitudinal impression on the basal slope; sides nearly regularly tapering from the base to the apices, posterior angles long, acuminate, not divergent, bicarinate; carinae at the same level, the inner shorter, the outer longer and slightly diverging from the lateral margins, the latter very fine, complete and just visible in the first third on a dorsal view; punctuation very dense and uniformly distributed, punctures umbilicate, with shortest, shagreened intervals.

Scutellum . – Very declivous, tongue-shaped, slightly convex, densely punctured.

Elytra. – 2.7x longer than pronotum and 2.7x longer than wide, convex, rather flattened on the central part of the disk, sides perfectly parallel from the base to the middle, then regularly tapering to the apices, the latter entire, regularly rounded; striae regularly.

Prosternal process. – Just bent behind the procoxal cavities and running horizontal after the middle with apex not emarginate.

Aedeagus. – As in the Fig. 16 (length 1.3 mm).

Size. – Length 8.4mm, width 2.09 mm.

Female. – Unknown.

Etymology. – The name is derived from Tamil Nadu, the Indian state where the species was collected.