A New Genus and Species of Soft-Winged Flower Beetles (Coleoptera, Malachiidae) in Baltic Amber.

A new genus and species of soft-winged flower beetles (Coleoptera, Malachiidae), Aliattalus intercalaris gen. et sp. nov., are described in the Late Eocene Baltic amber. The new genus is assigned to the tribe Palpattalini because the male possesses specific structures: an elongated, ventrally curved, domed pygidium with an elongated and bilaciniate apical sternite is combined with large palps, in which the second and third segments are closely adjacent to each other and enlarged. This species in appearance is similar to the genus Palpattalusinus Tshernyshev, 2020, also known in amber: both have similarly fused and enlarged palps with a small cup-shaped first segment, but the apical palpomere in the new species is curved inward and rounded at the apex, rather than elongated to form a tube. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]