Venezolanoconnus ecuadoranus, Jałoszyński, 2020

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2020, Five new species of the Neotropical genus Venezolanoconnus Franz (Coleoptera Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4858 (2), pp. 274-284 : 280-282

Venezolanoconnus ecuadoranus sp. n.

( Figs 4 , 12, 13 , 28–31 )

Material studied. Holotype: ♂ ( ECUADOR, Napo province): two labels: “ Ecuador: Napo, Baeza / 12-22.II.1983 / leg. L. Huggert ” [white, printed], “ VENEZOLANOCONNUS / ecuadoranus m. / P. JAŁOSZYŃSKI, 2020 / HOLOTYPUS” [red, printed] ( MHNG) . Paratypes: 2 ♂♂, same data as for holotype (cPJ, MHNG) .

Diagnosis. Male: BL 1.2–1.4 mm; antennomeres 3, 5 and 6 each about as long as broad, 4 indistinctly elongate, 7–10 each transverse (7 indistinctly so); humeral line 0.4 EL; eyes large, so that post-ocular portion of head is as long as eye, posterior emargination of eye sharp-angled; pronotum lacking antebasal pits, with barely discernible short transverse antebasal groove; aedeagus suboval with broadly rounded apical projection, subapical C-shaped flagellum, and elongate, obliquely situated subrectangular plate with angulate apical region, with several acute teeth on its left portion (in ventral view), and finely microserrate right portion, and each paramere with a group of 3 short setae near apex and several much shorter dorsal subapical setae.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 4 ) stout, strongly convex, BL 1.21–1.38 mm (mean 1.30 mm); cuticle glossy, pigmentation uniformly light brown, vestiture of setae yellowish.

Head ( Figs 12–13 ) short, broadest at eyes, HL 0.25–0.28 mm (mean 0.26 mm), HW 0.28–0.30 mm (mean 0.29 mm); tempora in dorsal view ( Fig. 12 ) strongly and evenly convergent posteriorly and confluent with posterior margin of vertex; post-ocular portion of head as long as eye; vertex and frons confluent and distinctly convex; supraantennal tubercles small and feebly elevated. Eyes large, bean-shaped, strongly emarginate posteriorly, emargination forms a sharp angle, eyes strongly projecting laterally and coarsely faceted ( Fig. 13 ). Punctures on vertex and frons fine and superficial, barely discernible; setae short and sparse, suberect.Antennae slender, weakly thickening distad, AnL 0.58–0.60 (mean 0.59 mm); scape and pedicel elongate, 3, 5 and 6 each about as long as broad, 4 indistinctly elongate, 7–10 each transverse (7 indistinctly so), 11 indistinctly shorter than 9 and 10 combined, about 1.8 × as long as broad.

Pronotum broadest near posterior 1/3 and weakly narrowing anterad, PL 0.26–0.28 mm (mean 0.27 mm), PW 0.38–0.40 mm (mean 0.39 mm); lacking antebasal pits, with weakly marked, short transverse antebasal groove, covered with barely discernible, fine and shallow punctures, and with dense, suberect setae, sides also with dense, thick bristles.

Elytra together oval, broadest distinctly behind middle, EL 0.70–0.83 mm (mean 0.77 mm), EW 0.63–0.70 mm (mean 0.68 mm), EI 1.11–1.18; humeral calli prominent, elongate; humeral and post-humeral region demarcated by sharply marked carinate subhumeral line as long as 0.4 EL; punctures inconspicuous; setae dense, short, suberect.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 28–31 ) stout and in ventral view suboval, AeL 0.18 mm; with broadly rounded apical region; endophallic structures with distinct C-shaped flagellum looped in its proximal region, and with elongate, obliquely situated subrectangular plate with angulate apical region, with several acute teeth on its left portion (in ventral view), and finely microserrated right portion; parameres in lateral view with subtriangular apices, each with a group of 3 short setae near apex and several much shorter dorsal subapical setae.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 36 ). North-central Ecuador.

Etymology. Named after the country.

Remarks. Venezolanoconnus colombianus belongs to a group of species characterized by the presence of an elongate, obliquely oriented plate in the distal half of the aedeagus, well-visible in ventral view. This variously shaped, but approximately rectangular plate with indistinct proximal margin can be found in the aedeagus of V. andinus , V. sreeae , V. asserculatus , V. meridanus , V. colombianus , and V. ecuadoranus . Only in V. colombianus the plate bears several acute denticles on the left (in ventral view) half of its apical margin, and fine microserrations on the right half.

Figures

FIGURE 36. Distribution of Venezolanoconnus.

FIGURES 1–5. Dorsal habitus of male. Venezolanoconnus meridanus sp. n. (1); V. minimus sp. n. (2); V. colombianus sp. n. (3); V. ecuadoranus sp. n. (4); V. bejumanus sp. n. (5).

FIGURES 6–15. Head of male in dorsal (top) and lateral (bottom) views. Venezolanoconnus meridanus sp. n. (6–7); V. minimus sp. n. (8–9); V. colombianus sp. n. (10–11); V. ecuadoranus sp. n. (12–13); V. bejumanus sp. n. (14–15).

FIGURES 28–35. Aedeagus in ventral (28, 30, 32, 34) and lateral (29, 31, 33, 35) views. Venezolanoconnus ecuadoranus sp. n. (28–31); V. bejumanus sp. n. (32–35).