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| Clavicornaltica mataikanensis Otani, Bertoli, Lucchini, Boin, Ellis, Friedrich, Jacquot, Kountouras, Lim, Nigro, Otani, Syafi’ie, Tan, Grafe, Cicuzza, Njunjić & Schilthuizen, in Otani, Bertoli, Lucchini, Beuken, Boin, Ellis, Friedrich, Jacquot, Kountouras, Lim, Nigro, Su’eif, Tan, Grafe, Cicuzza, Delledonne, Njunjić et Schilthuizen, 2024 |
Abstract
Background: The genus Clavicornaltica Scherer 1974 consists of very small, soil-dwelling flea beetles in South, Southeast and East Asia. Due to their diminutive size and morphological similarities, very little is known about their ecology and taxonomical diversity. It is likely that further studies will reveal this genus to be much more speciose than the 30 species currently recognised.
New information: A new species of Clavicornaltica from Brunei Darussalam is described, C. mataikanensis Otani et al., sp. nov. This is the second species of this genus recorded from Ulu Temburong National Park.
Keywords: Lowland Dipterocarp rainforest, citizen science, new species, humicole beetles, taxonomy tourism
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| Clavicornaltica mataikanensis sp. nov., holotype (UBDM.3.06346), habitus in dorsal (a), lateral (b) and frontal (c) views. |
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| The type locality of Clavicornaltica mataikanensis sp. nov. the stream bed of the Mata Ikan. The specimens were sieved from leaf litter just off the banks of the stream. |
Clavicornaltica mataikanensis Otani, Bertoli, Lucchini, Boin, Ellis, Friedrich, Jacquot, Kountouras, Lim, Nigro, Otani, Syafi’ie, Tan, Grafe, Cicuzza, Njunjić & Schilthuizen sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Body dark reddish-brown, large, length ca. 2.0 mm, width ca. 1.8 mm, ovoid and convex, nearly hemispherical. Antennae and visible parts of legs yellowish-brown when viewed dorsally. Head slightly lighter than pronotum and elytra. Eyes ca. 1/7 the width of the head in dorsal view. Scutellum small, triangular. Elytra with punctate rows, deeper laterally becoming shallower dorsally (Figs 2, 3). Spermatheca of characteristic shape (Fig. 4). Male unknown.
Etymology: As is customary on our Taxon Expeditions, the name for the new species was decided during a voting session on the last night of the expedition. The proposal which won the most votes was to name it after the stream that runs through the small ravine where the specimens were found, namely Sungai (stream) Mata Ikan. We therefore decided to name it Clavicornaltica mataikanensis sp. nov. Due to the large number of authors, following Recommendation 51C of the Code (ICZN 1999), the species can be referred to as Clavicornaltica mataikanensis Otani et al., 2024, provided the full citation of this publication appears in the bibliography or elsewhere in the referring work.
Sean Otani, Luca Bertoli, Filippo Lucchini, Tom P. G. van den Beuken, Desanne Boin, Lehman Ellis, Holm Friedrich, Brittany Jacquot, Sotiris Kountouras, Sarah Yu Rou Lim, Eleonora Nigro, Syafi’ie Su’eif, Wei Harn Tan, Ulmar Grafe, Daniele Cicuzza, Massimo Delledonne, Iva Njunjić and Menno Schilthuizen. 2024. A New, unusually large, Clavicornaltica Scherer, 1974 flea beetle from Borneo, described and sequenced in the field by citizen scientists (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae). Biodiversity Data Journal. 12: e119481. DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e119481
