The Ceratocanthinae of Ulu Gombak : high species richness at a single site , with descriptions of three new species and an annotated checklist of the Ceratocanthinae of Western Malaysia and Singapore ( Coleoptera , Scarabaeoidea , Hybosoridae )

Th e remarkable species richness of Ceratocanthinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Hybosoridae) found at Ulu Gombak (Selangor, West Malaysia), a secondary rainforest research station, is discussed. Eighteen species have been collected, mainly in nests of termites (Isoptera) and bess beetles (Coleoptera: Passalidae). Among them at least seven are new species, three of them here described: Madrasostes hashimi sp. n., Madrasostes mirifi cum sp. n., and Pterorthochaetes tsurui sp. n. Four other species (Madrasostes agostii Paulian, Madrasostes clypeale Paulian, Madrasostes depressum Paulian, and Madrasostes simplex Paulian) are recorded for the fi rst time for West Malaysia and three for new states within West Malaysia (Pterorthochaetes insularis Gestro, Madrasostes malayanum Paulian and Madrasostes sculpturatum Paulian). A checklist of the 34 Ceratocanthinae recorded so far from West Malaysia and Singapore is provided with taxonomic, distributional and morphological remarks on some species. ZooKeys 34: 77–104 (2010) doi: 10.3897/zookeys.34.268 www.pensoftonline.net/zookeys Copyright A. Ballerio, M. Maruyama. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. RESEARCH ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity research A peer-reviewed open-access journal


Introduction
Th e feeding habits of the Ceratocanthinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Hybosoridae) are still unknown.Because many species are found in termite nests or in leaf litter, they have been supposed to feed on fungi (Scholtz and Grebennikov 2005) or to feed on termitaria (Iwata et al. 1992), although up to now no evidence has been obtained to support these hypotheses.Th e increasing information on the diversity of their mouthparts morphology and, to a lesser extent, of their life histories (e.g.Ballerio 2008, Ballerio 2009, Ballerio and Wagner 2005) however makes reasonable to expect a diversity in feeding habits too.Because of this lack of knowledge any ecological approach to the Ceratocanthinae diversity is very diffi cult and merely speculative.Th e aim of this paper is to shed some more light on Ceratocanthinae natural history by briefl y discussing a massive fi nding of several Ceratocanthinae species at a single site in West Malaysia.We describe also three new species found at that site and take the occasion to provide an annotated checklist of the species so far recorded for West Malaysia and Singapore.

Methods and acronyms
We refer to Ballerio (2000aBallerio ( , 2000bBallerio ( , 2008Ballerio ( , 2009) ) for methods and terminological conventions.In giving label data author's comments are in square brackets, while depository collection acronyms are in parenthesis.
Micrographs were obtained with a Zeiss EVO 40 XVP Scanning Electron Microscope at the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali (Trento, Italy), after gold coating.
Habitus photographs were taken with Microptic System and mounted with the automontage software CombineZM, or obtained with a Canon PowerShot S80 connected to a Leica MZ 12.5 stereomiscroscope and then mounted with the automontage software Syncroscopy.
Habitus photographs of living individuals were taken in the fi eld using Nikon D70 and Tamron 1:2.8 macro lens, with Konica Minolta Twin Flash 2400.
In the descriptions for ocellate punctures we refer to the defi nitions given by Howden and Gill (2003)

The Ceratocanthinae of Ulu Gombak
From 2003 onwards, the second author conducted fi eld work at the University of Malaya Ulu Gombak Studies Centre (West Malaysia, Selangor, 3°19'N 101°45'E, 250 m a.s.l.), for research on various groups of termitophilous and myrmecophilous insects.Th e area is mostly covered with advanced secondary forest of the lowland dipterocarp type.Th e topography is rough, mostly steep hillsides and narrow valley bottoms (Wiedemann 1969).
Th e total number of Ceratocanthinae collected at Ulu Gombak from 2003 to 2009, scores respectively 600 specimens and 18 species, although the majority of them (500 specimens representing 16 species) were collected in an one-month stay in 2007 (from April 5 to May 7).
Th e number of species recorded is particularly remarkable.Eighteen species represent about half the number of the species known from West Malaysia and appears to be a high number for a single secondary forest site.Interestingly no fl ightless species of Ceratocanthinae have been collected and this could be due to the circumstance that Ulu Gombak is a secondary forest, which after its re-growth has never been connected to any primary forest.Th e second author samplings from the area did not yield any fl ightless beetle species.
Currently the knowledge of the alpha diversity of Ceratocanthinae for a single site is limited to two contributions: Ballerio and Wagner (2005) listed fi ve species occurring in the Budongo forest (Uganda) and Erwin et al. (2005) and Erwin and Geraci (2009) listed eleven morphospecies (no identifi cations were made) from the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador.Both lists resulted from mainly canopy fogging surveys, hence with an underestimated representation of the leaf litter fauna (often made of fl ightless species).Th e number of species collected in Ulu Gombak reveals therefore the highest species richness recorded for a single site.

Biological notes on the Ceratocanthinae of Ulu Gombak
All the Madrasostes species found in Ulu Gombak were associated with termites (Isoptera).Almost all the specimens and all species but M. boucomonti were collected from the nests of Coptotermes sp.Th e termites nested in dead standing trees, whose surface was covered by a muddy wall made by the termites.Both larvae and adults of Madrasostes beetles were found inside the wall (which is about 1-1.5 cm thick, allowing the digging of tunnels inside).Madrasostes boucomonti were only (with the sole exception of one specimen that was attracted at light) collected in the foraging galleries of Macrotermes sp.(not in the nest), which were wet and soft clayey, or by sifting the soil where the host termites were foraging.Th e Madrasostes species observed remained concealed under the surface of the nest material in the daytime, while they were walking and mating on the surface of the nest at night.Some specimens of M. variolosum (the most abundant species) were obtained also by fl ight interception traps.
Pterorthochaetes species were collected from the surface of nests of Coptotermes termites at night, but the condition of the nest was diff erent from the ones where Madrasostes species were found: it was not wet and not muddy, and with more wood debris (the fi rst author in 1999 collected several Pterorthochaetes species inside dead logs occupied by termites in various localities of Perak, Pahang and Kelantan).Pterorthochaetes were also abundant in the galleries of Passalidae (e.g.Leptaulax sp.): both larvae and adults were found in the wood debris of the galleries.Association with Passalidae has already been reported for some New World species of Ceratocanthinae by Ohaus (1909) and Woodruff (1973).A single specimen of Pterorthochaetes was found in the arboreal nest of Hospitalitermes sp.
Eusphaeropeltis and Ebbrittoniella were usually collected by net sweeping of bushes in the daytime, or by fl ight interception traps (the genus Eusphaeropeltis elsewhere has also been collected by canopy fogging, Ballerio and Wagner 2005), but Eusphaeropeltis sp.b was collected inside a mound of Dicuspiditermes sp.termites.
Cyphopisthes sp. were collected in similar condition as Madrasostes species, but preferred more clayey nest material.Once the termite nest was excavated, specimens of Cyphopisthes sp.fl ew attracted to the nest material at night (interestingly this behaviour was not observed in Madrasostes), a similar behaviour is reported by Howden and Gill (2000) for the Neotropical genus Astaenomoechus Martínez and Pereira, 1959, Cyphopisthes sp. were also collected by net sweeping of bush in the daytime.

Annotated checklist of the Ceratocanthinae of West Malaysia and Singapore with description of three new species from Ulu Gombak
An alphabetic list of the Ceratocanthinae currently recorded for West Malaysia and Singapore is provided below, based on published records plus the new species hereinafter described and the new records from Ulu Gombak.For each species the known distribution is recorded ("Known distribution"), limited to the country (or to the state if within West Malaysia) and the original bibliographical source is added in brackets.West Malaysia is simply indicated for old records from "Malacca", since this name in ancient literature had a broader meaning than in present days (being now the name of a small coastal state south of Negeri Sembilan)."New material examined" refers only to unpublished data extending the known distribution to West Malaysia or to new state records within West Malaysia (the Ulu Gombak material, being already listed above, is not reported).Some taxonomic and morphological remarks on various species are added.Th e record of Madrasostes feae (Gestro, 1899) (sub Pterorthochaetes feae) for "Malacca" found in Paulian (1978) is erroneous as demonstrated by Ballerio (1999).
With the three news species hereinafter described, the number of species known to occur in West Malaysia increases to 34 (about the 10% of all know Ceratocanthinae species worldwide and the 60% of the species recorded from South East Asia).Th is fi gure is however far from being complete: the fi rst author has examined at least 10 further undescribed species occurring in West Malaysia and it is reasonable to think that other species, especially fl ightless members of the Perignamptus genus group, could occur in the primary rainforests still present in the area, so that the fi nal fi gure could be well over 50 species, making the Malay Peninsula a hot spot of Ceratocanthine diversity.
Remarks.Th is is a fl ightless species known up to now by the type series only.Examination of the type series revealed that this species does not belong to Besuchetostes Paulian, 1972 (see below, under B. jaccoudi, for more details).
Remarks.Th is is another fl ightless species known up to now by the holotype (in the collection of the Museum National d'Histoire naturelle, Paris) and a few further specimens from the type locality (MHNG, ABCB).Examination of all available material revealed that this species does not belong to Besuchetostes.Paulian placed this species in the genus Besuchetostes mainly because of the lack of genal canthus/ dorsal ocular area, a character to which he gave much importance.However, according to a preliminary analysis carried out by the fi rst author, the presence/absence of a genal canthus seems often the result of the fusion of the genal canthus with the occipital area of the head surface, a character that could be related to an adaptation to live in dark environments (leaf litter, dead logs), so it is highly homoplastic in the group and not particularly reliable for defi ning genera.Based on the aforesaid analysis the genus Besuchetostes is now characterized by a combination of characters involving mouthparts morphology, pronotum posteriorly swollen and protruding backwards, male genitalia and, above all, the shape of antennal scape and pedicellus.In Besuchetostes the antennal scape is regularly gradually swollen proximad and the pedicellus is very large (about as wide as the apical portion of scape), whereas in B. jaccoudi the scape is securiform, with pedicellus smaller than the apical portion of the scape.Th e overall morphology of B. jaccoudi would suggest its placement in the Perignamptus genus group, as defi ned by Ballerio (2009), although currently it is not possible to assign it to any given genus, due to the messy systematics of the genera belonging to the group.

Madrasostes boucomonti
Paulian, 1978 (Fig. 2B) Known distribution: West Malaysia (Selangor) (Paulian 1978), Indonesia (Sumatra) (Paulian 1992).Paulian, 1993 (Fig. 2D, Fig. 6C, D) Known distribution: Indonesia (Sumatra) (Paulian 1993).New material examined: West Malaysia, Perak, 25 km NE of Ipoh, Banjaran Titi Wangsa Mounts, Gunung Korbu, 1400-1800 mt., 11-31.I.1999, leg.P. Cechovsky (ABCB); West Malaysia, Pearak, Penang Island, above botanical garden, 250 mt., 12.XI.1999,#4a, leg.Cuccodoro & Loebl, sifting forest leaf litter (MHNG, ABCB).Remarks.First record for West Malaysia (Perak and Selangor).Th e amazing sexual dimorphism of this species has already been described (Ballerio 2006).An examination of the microsculpturing of pronotum through scanning electron microscopy re-vealed that the pronotal punctures bottom surface is areolate (Fig. 5A, B).Th e larger punctures of females have the areolate surface limited to a portion of the bottom and slightly raised (Fig. 5C, D, E).Each puncture is often preceded by a short fi ne seta.It was not possible to detect any pore inside the punctures, so that the dirt which usually fi lls the punctures comes probably from outside.Th e species closest to M. clypeale is Madrasostes thai Paulian, 1987, known only by the male holotype from Th ailand (Chanthaburi province, well north of the isthmus of Kra, which is the boundary between the Sundaland and Indochinese subregions, see Corlett 2009).Both M. clypeale and M. thai represent a distinctive group within Madrasostes and their current generic placement in the genus Madrasostes must be regarded as provisional in the framework of a revision of the Perignamptus generic group.

Madrasostes clypeale
Madrasostes depressum Paulian, 1992 (Fig. 2A) Known distribution: Indonesia (Sumatra) (Paulian, 1992).Remarks.First record for West Malaysia (Selangor).Th is species has two distinctive paired thick sclerites in the internal sac of aedeagus.Th e shape of these sclerites in the Ulu Gombak material is slightly diff erent from the shape of the sclerites of the holotype, however, due also to the circumstance that the Sumatran population is known by the type only, we were unable to fi nd further diff erences that could allow a taxonomic separation of the Sumatran populations from Peninsular Malaysian specimens.Paulian, 1979 (Fig. 2E) Known distribution: West Malaysia (Pahang).

Madrasostes malayanum
Remarks.First record for Selangor.Th is species was known only by its type series, which consists only on females.Th e overall morphology suggests a close similarity to Madrasostes parcepunctatum Paulian, 1989 from Borneo (Sabah).
Pronotum: subrectangular, wider than long (W/L ratio = 1.25), wider than elytra; fore margin feebly bisinuate; fore angles gently subtruncate at apex; fore edge continuously fi nely margined, edges of sides without any visible margin (dorsal view), base continuously strongly margined; base at middle not protruding backwards; pronotal surface regularly convex without paradiscal depressions.Shiny, smooth, with dense impressed horseshoe-shaped punctures, with opening centrifugally oriented, their distance from each other being inferior than their diameter, two smooth areas with sparser puncturation near base at each side of disc.Each puncture bearing in the middle a short erect simple seta, about as long as the puncture diameter.
Scutellum: about as wide as long, sides proximally subparallel and distinctly notched by elytral articular process, then convergent to form a triangle with elongate acute apex and sides slightly curved inward.Surface slightly depressed in the middle, covered by dense impressed horseshoe-shaped punctures, with opening dierected backwards.Apical portion of mesepisterna visible from above.
Elytra: longer than wide (W/L ratio = 0.81), apical fourth regularly rounded (dorsal view), apex slightly re-entering inward (lateral view); elytra regularly convex, although slightly fl attened at disc; elytral suture not or very fi nely raised; inferior sutural stria present, ending just before humeral area; marginal area with sparse irregualr puncturation, articular area with striation, not visible in lateral view; humeral callus small; elytral articular process large, smooth and shiny.Elytra smooth, shiny, with four longitudinal, weakly raised, blunt carinae, the fi rst carina corresponding to the sutural stria, starting at medial third, the second one more raised apically, starting near elytral base, the third and fourth ones starting at apical third.Elytral puncturation made of irregular longitudinal rows of medium sized impressed elongate horseshoe-shaped punctures (each one bearing in the middle a simple erect seta), with opening backwards, their distance from each other being inferior to their diameter, mixed with simple impressed punctures.Between sutural carina and the second carina in the distal third of elytra punctures often merging into three longitudinal impressed lines.
Clypeopleuron short and transversely slightly grooved at each side.Apex of head forming a thick protrudent process, more developed in males.Labrum wide and short, semicircular, bearing six long semierect setae and distally fringed by long fi ne setae directed forward.Distal epipharynx (Fig. 5G) semicircular, longitudinally divided by a strong anterior median process; pariae distinctly raised with respect to the haptolachus; median brush and corypha absent; apical fringe made of long fi ne setae, absent in the middle.Mentum (Fig. 5F) ventrally fl at, widely emarginated in the middle, emargination regularly wide-U-shaped; labial palpi (including palpiger) two jointed, fi rst joint short and transverse, joint two longer and plumper than preceeding one, joint four fl attened, apically bearing some short sensilla, all joints, apart from the last one, fringed with long setae.Maxillae (Fig. 5J) with an elongate single membranous lacinia, covered with fi ne long setae, monolobed galea proximally sclerotized and distally clothed with very coarse long fi ne setae with distinctive comb-like tip (galeal brush) (Fig. 5I), maxillary palpi (including palpiger) four jointed, palpiger very small, joint two wide and relatively short, joint three relatively short, joint four long and subconical, about as long as preceding two together, apically bearing some short sensilla.Mandibles (Fig. 5H) short, regularly curved, apicalis with very short and blunt apical tooth, not protruding over mesal brush, lateral sclerite of apicalis bearing a distinct large pore, conjunctive present, mesal brush wide and well developed, basalis with molar lobe relatively strong.Antennae 10-segmented, scape long (about half the total length of antenna), distally securiform, pedicellus plump and rounded, fl agellum short and thin, distinctly wider than long short articles, antennal club with three articles, articles uniformly setose.
Ventral areas of prothorax slightly alutaceous, setigerously punctured, with setae fi ne and long.Procoxae transversely oriented, apices nearly touching each other; fore trochanters relatively wide, with fore tips bearing a tuft of long setae; profemora slender, fore margin slightly curved inwards, surface almost smooth with few recumbent setae; protibiae straight, sexually dimorphic, apical spur relatively long, sharp, distally curved downward, protarsi with fi rst article longer than the following three articles together, articles two to four relatively plump, article fi ve slightly longer than four, bearing two short curved claws, each tarsomere, except tarsomere fi ve, ventrally bearing a tuft of fi ne setae.Mesosternum narrow, short and plump.Mesocoxae large, almost adjacent to each other, transversely oriented.Trochanters narrow, with hind tip acute.Mesofemora slender, surface smooth, with hind edge emarginated at distal third.Mesotibiae slender, thick, inner angle of apex with one straight apical spur, mesotarsi inserted near the inner angle of apical edge, slightly longer than apical edge of tibia, with fi rst four articles plump and subequal, fi fth slightly longer than the preceding one, bearing two small curved claws; each tarsomere, except the last one, ventrally bearing a tuft of coarse setae; trochanters of metafemora narrow, with hind tip acute, metafemora plumper than mesofemora, surface hairy, hind edge distally with a small emargination, metatibiae triangular, elongate, fl at, inner side not sinuated, ending with two straight and sharp fi ne spurs paired at the inner angle of the tibia, metatarsi almost as long as the apical edge of tibia, fi rst article almost as long as the following two together, articles two to four short and plump, fi fth longer than the fourth, wich ends with two claws small and feebly curved; each tarsomere, with the exception of the last one, ventrally bearing a tuft of coarse setae.Outer face of meso-and metatibiae with longitudinal striae along inner margin.
Sexual dimorphism: males with strongly modifi ed head and pro-and mesotibiae.Male head with distal portion, before fore margin, lowered compared to median and proxinal portions of head, tip truncated swollen (nose-like) and directed upwards, overall head shape more subrectangular than subpentagonal.Male protibiae thicker than female protibiae, twisted, median and distal third disaligned compared to basal third, median and distal third arched in lateral view, outer margin ending with two strong teeth, other three outer teeth present medially and basally, protibia ending with an apical spur plumper than in females and with distal third more dramatically bent downwards, ventral side fringed by rows of thick setae.Male mesotibiae ending with a straight apical spur and with the inner apical angle with an acute expansion (false spur) replacing the hooked apical spur usually present in other genera of Ceratocanthinae.Females with head normally shaped (Fig. 2H) protibiae normally developed, with two apical teeth and a row of four denticles, apical spur of protibiae slender and more gently bent downwards, mesotibiae ending with a straight apical spur, lacking any false transverse spur.
Variability.Th e type series shows a strong variability in the development of the smooth areas near the base of pronotum as well as in the microsculpturing of elytra, especially in the shape and density of punctures between carinae and in the development of the longitudinal striae.
Identifi cation.Easily identifi able among all other Madrasostes because of the very thick pro-and mesotibiae and the sexually dimorphic characters (male shape of protibia and nose-like process on head head), which are unique among all other known Ceratocanthidae.
Etymology.Mirifi cum, Latin adjective meaning wonderful, due to the striking morphological features that characterize this species.
Distribution and habitat.Th is species occurs in Perak and Selangor in both lowland and submontane rainforest.Th e paratypes from Gunung Korbu were collected in a termite nest (Petr Checovsky, pers. comm.).For more details on the Ulu Gombak series see the introductory paragraphs.
Remarks.Madrasostes mirifi cum sp.n. displays a series of unique characters (most of which likely to be autoapomorphic), which place this species in a very isolated position within the genus Madrasostes and which would represent good points for the erection of a distinct genus in the framwork of a complete revision of the Perignamptus genus group: a) male's apex of head modifi ed, b) male protibiae shaped as in Fig. 2I, J,  d) mesotibiae thick, e) male mesotibiae ending with only one apical spur.
Remarks.An enigmatic species.Th e holotype only is known, most probably a female.Th is species shows an unusual morphology and its placement in Madrasostes must be regarded as doubtful.
Pronotum: subtrapezoidal, wider than long (W/L ratio = 2.66), almost as wide as elytra; fore margin feebly bisinuate; fore angles slightly, but distinctly protrudent forward, broadly subtruncate at apex, outer apex of truncation acute and distinctly protruding, a distinct sinuature at the outer side of the apex; fore edge continuously fi nely margined, edges of sides without any visible margin (dorsal view), base strongly margined; base at middle very slightly protruding backwards, basal edge neither swollen nor raised; pronotal surface regularly convex with one shallow depression at each side of disc (paradiscal depressions).Surface shiny, smooth, with dense strong irregular puncturation; punctures deep, ocellate, their distance being less than their diameter, intervals between punctures irregularly raised, giving a granulose appearance to pronotal sculpturing, punctures bearing often a fi ne short seta.Scutellum: wider than long, sides proximally subparallel and distinctly notched by elytral articular process, then convergent to form a triangle with elongate acute apex and sides slightly curved inward.Surface slightly depressed in the middle.Apical portion of mesepisterna visible from above.Scutellum uniformly densely punctured; punctures about as large and shaped as on head.
Elytra: slightly longer than wide (W/L ratio = 0.98), apical fourth regularly rounded (dorsal view), apex slightly re-entering inward (lateral view); elytra regularly convex, although slightly fl attened at disc; elytral suture very fi nely raised; inferior sutural stria present, ending just before humeral area, delimiting a small marginal elytral area; marginal area poorly developed, smooth, articular area with striation, visible in lateral view; humeral callus small; elytral articular process small, smooth and shiny.Elytra strongly densely punctured, basal and median third covered by a mix of horseshoeshaped impressed punctures, their distance from each other being shorter than their diameter, each one bearing a very short fi ne seta and simple impressed puncures, distal third covered by dense ocellate punctures, discal surface with sparse longitudinal short carinae, distal third and sides with sparse, short tubercles.Wings present.
Clypeopleuron very short and transversely slightly grooved at each side.Labrum wide and short, semicircular, distally fringed by long fi ne setae directed forward.Distal epipharynx semicircular, longitudinally divided by a strong anterior median process; pariae distinctly raised with respect to the haptolachus; median brush and corypha absent; apical fringe made of long fi ne setae, absent in the middle.Mentum ventrally fl at, widely emarginated in the middle, emargination regularly wide-U-shaped; labial palpi (including palpiger) four jointed, fi rst joint very short and transverse, joint two short, joint three longer and plumper than joint two, joint four subconical, apically bearing some short sensilla, all joints, except four, fringed with long setae.Maxillae with an elongate single membranous lacinia, covered with fi ne long setae, monolobed galea proximally sclerotized and distally clothed with very coarse, long, fi ne setae, with distinctive comb-like tip (galeal brush), maxillary palpi (including palpiger) four jointed, palpiger very small, joint two wide and relatively short, joint three relatively short, joint four long and subconical, about as long as two and three together, apically bearing some short sensilla.Mandibles short, regularly curved, apicais with pointed apical tooth short and blunt, not protruding over mesal brush, lateral sclerite of apicalis bearing a distinct large pore, conjunctive present, mesal brush wide and well developed, basalis with molar lobe relatively strong.Antennae 10-segmented, scape long (about half the total length of antenna), securiform, pedicellus plump and rounded, fl agellum short, with articles distinctly wider than long, antennal club with three uniformly setose articles.
Sexual dimorphism: males with protibiae ending with an apical spur plumper than in females and with distal third more dramatically bent downwards, mestotibiae ending with a straight apical spur and an inner apical spur bent inwards at a right angle, almost fused with the apex of mesotibia.Females with apical spur of protibiae slender and more gently bent downwards, mesotibiae ending with two straight apical spurs.Male genitalia: genital segment fairly sclerotized, V-shaped (Fig. 8D).Aedeagus with basal piece twisted, about three times longer than parameres; internal sac relatively small, containing a large very thick asymmetrical spiraliform sclerite (Fig. 8F); parameres asymmetrical (Fig. 8E), laterally fl attened.
Variability.Th e type series shows variability mainly in the development of longitudinal carinae of elytra.
Identifi cation.Madrasostes hashimi sp.n. can be mistaked only with M. thoracicum Paulian, 1989 known from Borneo (Sabah).Th e new species however diff ers from the former because of a) the puncturation of elytra which in M. thoracicum is slightly larger and denser, b) the shape of elytral carinae that in M. hashimi sp.n. are usually longer than in M. thoracicum, c) the sculpturing of pronotum which is much stronger in M. thoracicum, with puncturation deeper and more transverse, and fi nally d) the shape of the sclerite of the internal sac of aedeagus, which in the new species is larger and distinctly spiraliform (Fig. 8F), whereas in M. thoracicum is short and shaped in a diff erent way (Fig. 8G) Etymology.Dedicated to Dr. Rosli Hashim, who always helps Munetoshi Maruyama's research in Malaysia.

Madrasostes simplex Paulian, 1989
Known distribution: East Malaysia (Sabah) (Paulian 1979) (Fig. 1B) Remarks.First record for West Malaysia (Selangor).Madrasostes simplex is extremely similar to M. variolosum and to M. reticulatum (Lansberge, 1887).Madrasostes variolosum is a very common species and has a wide distribution, ranging from Th ailand to Borneo (based on fi rst author's unpublished data) and showing a clinal morphological variation in the sculpturing of elytra, while Madrasostes reticulatum is restricted to Sulawesi and the Philippines (although the Philippine population shows intermediate characters between M. variolosum and M. reticulatum).Madrasostes simplex can be easily distinguished from M. variolosum because of the sculpturing of elytra and pronotum and the shape of parameres.
Remarks.Th e record from Sumatra published by Paulian (1992) seems incorrect.
Remarks.Pterorthochaetes gestroi gestroi and.P. gestroi longisetosus shows diff erences strong enough to warrant their separation at specifi c level.
Remarks.Th e fi rst author began a revision of the genus Pterorthochaetes in the late 90's, the revision is still in progress.Based on the preliminary results of this revision the majority of records of P. haroldi (and P. incertus, which will probably become a junior synonym of P. haroldi) reported by Paulian (1978) (e.g.Java, Th ailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, etc.) are wrong.
Remarks.First record for Perak and Selangor.Based on unpublished data of the senior author, P. insularis is a quite common species with a wide distribution, spanning from Nepal to Borneo, with a strong geographical morphological variation, whose taxonomic meaning still needs to be evaluated.

Pterorthochaetes montanus Ballerio, 1999
Known distribution: West Malaysia (Pahang, Perak).(Ballerio 1999).Head: subrectangular, wider than long, fore margin irregularly sinuated, serrated, tip acute, interocular distance about 9 times the maximum width of dorsal ocular area, dorsal ocular area large, sculpure distally made of very coarse and deep wrinkles and proximally of impressed small dense horseshoe-shaped punctures, each one having a pore in the middle bearing an erect simple seta.
Pronotum: wider than long (W/L ratio= 1.68), fore angles normally shaped, elytral lateral margins fringed with a row of long simple setae, spaced out by an interval about half of their length, the whole pronotal surface covered by medium sized round, shallow, ocellate punctures, each one having a pore in the middle bearing a long simple erect seta; puncturation relatively dense, the distance between punctures being inferior to their diameter, denser on disc and at sides, only at sides the ocellate punctures are replaced by horseshoe-shaped punctures with openings outwards.Pronotal pubescence relatively long, approximately as long as marginal setae.Scutellum: punctures horseshoe-shaped, thick and coarse.Elytra: shape oval, longer than wide (W/L ratio= 0.96); elytral surface covered by medium sized shallow horseshoe-shaped punctures with opening directed backwards, spaced out by an interval inferior to their diameter.Each horseshoe-shaped puncture containing a pore bearing a long erect simple seta.
Male genitalia: parameres about as long as basal piece, slightly asymmetrical (Fig. 7A, B), apex distinctly bent, internal sac armed with longitudinal subrectangular sclerotization about as long as the basal piece with three short distal sclerites (Fig. 7D), genital segment with manubrium long but strongly bent/twisted, so that in dorsal view it appears very short (Fig. 7E).basal piece and with bent apex, e) shape of genital segment of males, with manubrium strongly twisted, f ) shape of female bursal sclerites and, g) head subrectangular, with fore margin somewhat sinuated in a way very unusual for Pterorthochaetes.Perhaps the species closest to it could be Pterorthochaetes brevisetosus, which, however, has pronotal and elytral puncturation much less dense and shorter setae.
Variability.Th e type series shows a strong uniformity as for size, shape, setation and microsculpturing.
Etymology.Dedicated to Mr. Tomoyuki Tsuru, who found the huge termite nest from which the junior author collected more than 400 Ceratocanthinae, among which P. tsurui sp.n.
Distribution and habitat.Th is new species is know only from the type locality.For details on collecting circumstances see the introductory paragraphs.

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. SEM photographs of: A Madrasostes clypeale: male pronotum B detail of male pronotum puncture C female pronotum D detail of female pronotum punctures E and F Madrasostes mirifi cum sp.n. mouthparts: labium G epipharynx H mandibles I detail of galear brush J maxilla.
Female genitalia: bursal sclerites weakly sclerotized and shaped as in Fig. 7C.Identifi cation.Th is species is characterized by the following combination of characters: a) pronotal puncturation made of ocellate, shallow, medium sized punctures, b) lateral margins of pronotum fringed by long, simple setae, setae relatively spaced out, c) elytral puncturation made of medium sized horseshoe-shaped punctures with opening backwards and bearing a long erect seta, d) shape of parameres (about as long as .