Afroplectus turneri Hlaváč & Baňař 2022, sp. nov.

Afroplectus (s.str.) turneri sp. nov.

Figs 13 – 14

Material studied: Holotype, ♁: SÃO TOMÉ, with three labels „ SÃO TOMÉ, 1324m / Antenna, Bom Successo / 00°16′31′′N, 06°36′14′′E / (21–29). x.2016, FIT“ [white, printed], “ Turner, C. R., Tasane, T., leg. / BMNH (E) 2017- 11 / TripRef: ST-001 (ANHRT 21)” [white printed], “QR code / NHMUK010584419 ” [white printed] (BMNH).

Diagnosis. Pronotum with antero-median, deep fovea, with well-defined median and lateral antebasal foveae connected by transverse antebasal sulcus; each elytron with 4 basal foveae, discal stria short, sutural entire; median basal impression of the first visible abdominal tergite (IV) transverse, setose, lacking discal striae; aedeagus elongate, more than 4 times as long as widest part of symmetrical basal capsule of median lobe, basale capsule lacking diaphragm; distal portion of aedeagus strongly asymmetrical bearing three elongate projections; endophalous lacking sclerites.

Description. Body (Fig. 13) reddish-brown, maxillary palpi and legs slightly lighter; whole shiny, with fine, dense setae. Body length 1.36 mm, maximum width 0.38 mm.

Head transverse, 1.25 times as wide as long; rostrum narrow, short and wide, supraantennal tubercules welldeveloped; with two large, setose, well-separated dorsal tentorial pits connected by U-shaped, well-defined sulcus, tentorial pits located in median line of eyes, distance between them equal to distance from pit to lateral margin of eye; eyes large, slightly proturberant, about as long as temples.

Antennae 0.41 mm long, with eleven antennomeres, antennal club trimerous, weakly demarcated, scape about 1.8 times as long as pedicel and about twice as long as wide; pedicel slightly longer than wide and about 2.5 times as long as antennomere 3 which is quadrate and shortest, antennomeres 4 – 9 transverse, subequal in length, 7 1.75 times as wide as long, 9 2.5 times as long as wide, 10 twice as long as IX and 1.5 as wide as long, antennomere 11 about as long as scape, 1.5 times as long as wide, 2.25 times as long as 10, pointed to apex.

Pronotum slightly transverse, widest in mid length, 1.05 times as wide as long, 1.2 times as long as head, smooth, lacking microsculpture. Median and lateral antebasal foveae well-defined, connected by deep transverse antebasal sulcus, with deep antero-median fovea. Lateral sides of posterior margin with transverse impression.

Elytra with even, dense setation, with dense setae on posterior elytral margin, with four basal foveae, two inner foveae confluent, discal striae born on posterior margin of third inner fovea, short, not reaching half of elytral length, sutural striae entire. Hind wings developed.

First visible abdominal tergite (IV) with larger, transversal basal fovea, discal carinae indiscernible, about as long as second (V) and third (VI) visible tergites, forth visible tergite (VII) 1.57 times as long as third (VI).

Legs short and slender, all femora clavate, tibiae and tarsi slender; tarsi longer than half length of tibiae.

Aedeagus (Fig. 14) elongate, about 0.3 mm long, more than 4 times as long as widest part of symmetrical basal capsule of median lobe, basale capsule lacking diaphragm; distal portion of aedeagus demarcated by distinct constriction, strongly asymmetrical bearing three elongate projections, left most projection with a row of setae, single left projection wide distaly, right projections slender; endophallus lacking sclerites.

Sexual dimorphism. Female unknown.

Distribution. São Tomé.

Natural History. The only known specimen was collected by a flight intercept trap. No other details concerning the ecology of the species is known.

Etymology. Named after Clive R. Turner, one of collectors of the holotype.

Remarks. Afroplectus Jeannel, 1952 is one of the largest pselaphine genera with 222 valid species names, and is exclusively distributed in subsaharan Africa. The genus was devided by Jeannel into four subgenera, the nominal subgenus, Afroplectidius Jeannel, 1952, Afroplectodes Jeannel, 1952, and Afroplectaulax Jeannel, 1959 based on differences in the structure of the aedeagus. The genus was revised by Jeannel (1952) and since then another 148 species have been described. The majority of Afroplectus species are from Congo Basin and East Africa, two species are known from Madagascar, 5 species from the Republic of South Africa and only 2 species are known from West Africa (Sierra Leone). Afroplectus turneri, due to the structure of its aedeagus, is placed in the nominal subgenus. Here it can be separated by having 1) two large, setose, well-separated dorsal tentorial pits located in median line of eyes and connected by the U-shaped sulcus, distance between them equal to the distance from the tentorial pit to the lateral margin of eye; eyes about as long as temples, 2) the characteristic length and the shape of antennomeres, see the description above, 3) each elytron with four basal foveae, and 4) the shape of the aedeagus.