A new genus and species of false darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Melandryidae) of the tribe Orchesiini Mulsant, 1856 from Australia

Abstract

The new genus and species of false darkling beetles (Melandriidae, Orchesiini), Austrolederia abdurakhmanovi gen. et sp. n. is described from the Lamington National Park, Australia. The new genus is the most similar to the subgenus Macrolederia Nikitsky et Belov, 1982 of the genus Lederia Reitter, 1880 from Chile, from which it differs in the less directed forward metacoxae, the maxillar palpomere 3 visibly narrower (2 and more times narrower than palpomere 4), not expressed suture of metepisterna (this suture is variable in Macrolederia but always presented even if its contours are not very clear), spurs of metatibiae visibly shorter than metatarsomere 1 and fundamentally different structure of aedeagus.

Keywords

• Coleoptera
• Melandryidae
• Orchesiini
• new genus
• new species
• Australia