Sanaungulus ruicheni (Hsiao Huang, 2018) n. comb. with the differential diagnosis of genera Sanaungulus Fanti, Damgaard Ellenberger, 2018 and Ornatomalthinus Poinar Fanti, 2016
- PMID: 30486210
- DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4514.3.11
Sanaungulus ruicheni (Hsiao Huang, 2018) n. comb. with the differential diagnosis of genera Sanaungulus Fanti, Damgaard Ellenberger, 2018 and Ornatomalthinus Poinar Fanti, 2016
Abstract
Recently, Hsiao Huang (2018) presented a taxonomical revision of Ornatomalthinus Poinar Fanti, 2016 based on the discovery of a new species (O. ruicheni) from the Cretaceous Burmese amber of the Hukawng Valley (Myanmar). According to the authors, this species shows many differences in respect to O. elvirae Poinar Fanti, 2016. I propose that due to these morphological divergences the new species cannot belong to the genus Ornatomalthinus (type-species O. elvirae) as indicated by Hsiao Huang (2018). The appearance is in fact identical to Sanaungulus Fanti, Damgaard Ellenberger, 2018 (Poinar Fanti, 2016; Fanti et al., 2018). Additionally, Ornatomalthinus should remain in the subfamily Cantharinae. In this note the common characters of O. ruicheni and the criticalities of attribution to Ornatomalthinus are highlighted, a new combination is proposed and higher classification is discussed.
Keywords: Coleoptera.