Venezolanoconnus colombianus, Jałoszyński, 2020

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2020, Five new species of the Neotropical genus Venezolanoconnus Franz (Coleoptera Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4858 (2), pp. 274-284 : 278-280

Venezolanoconnus colombianus sp. n.

( Figs 3 , 10, 11 , 24–27)

Material studied. Holotype: ♂ ( COLOMBIA, Valle del Cauca department): three labels: “COLOMBIA: 6 mi. / W.of Cali. Valle / III-20-55, 1630 m.” [white, printed], “ E.I. Schlinger / & E.S. Ross / collectors” [white, printed], “ VENEZOLANOCONNUS / colombianus m. / P. JAŁOSZYŃSKI, 2020 / HOLOTYPUS ” [red, printed] ( MHNG).

FIGURES 16–27. Aedeagus in ventral (16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26) and lateral (17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27) views. Venezolanoconnus meridanus sp. n. (16–19); V. minimus sp. n. (20–23); V. colombianus sp. n. (24–27).

Diagnosis. Male: BL around 1.3 mm; antennomeres 3–5 each weakly elongate, 6 and 7 each about as long as broad, and 8–10 each weakly transverse; humeral line 0.3 EL; eyes conspicuously large, so that post-ocular portion of head is clearly shorter than eye, posterior emargination of eye sharp-angled; pronotum with two pairs of tiny, shallow, barely discernible antebasal pits, lacking groove; aedeagus suboval with broadly rounded apical projection, subapical C-shaped flagellum, and elongate, obliquely situated subrectangular plate with three asymmetrically distributed subtriangular projections at apex (two small and approximate and one larger, distant from smaller ones), and each paramere with a group of 2–3 short setae near apex.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 3 ) stout, strongly convex, BL 1.33 mm; cuticle glossy, pigmentation uniformly light brown, vestiture of setae yellowish.

Head ( Figs 10–11 ) short, broadest at eyes, HL 0.23, HW 0.28 mm; tempora in dorsal view ( Fig. 10 ) weakly convergent posteriorly just behind eyes and then rapidly bent mesad; post-ocular portion of head distinctly shorter than eye; vertex and frons confluent and distinctly convex; supraantennal tubercles small and feebly elevated. Eyes conspicuously large, bean-shaped, strongly emarginate posteriorly, emargination forms a sharp angle, eyes strongly projecting laterally and coarsely faceted ( Fig. 11 ). Punctures on vertex and frons fine and superficial, barely discernible; setae short and sparse, suberect. Antennae slender, weakly thickening distad, AnL 0.70 mm; antennomeres 1–5 elongate (3–5 weakly so), 6 and 7 each about as long as broad, 8–10 each indistinctly transverse, 11 slightly shorter than 9 and 10 combined, about 1.7 × as long as broad.

Pronotum broadest near posterior 1/3 and weakly narrowing anterad, PL 0.33 mm, PW 0.38 mm; with two pairs of small and barely discernible ante-basal pits, lacking transverse 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 in front of middle, EL 0.78 mm, EW 0.65 mm, EI 1.19; humeral calli prominent, elongate; humeral and post-humeral region demarcated by sharply marked, carinate subhumeral line as long as 0.3 EL; punctures inconspicuous; setae dense, short, suberect.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus (Figs 24–27) stout and in ventral view suboval, AeL 0.15 mm; with broadly rounded apical region; endophallic structures with distinct C-shaped flagellum looped in its proximal region, and with elongate oblique plate truncated at apex, with three asymmetrically distributed subtriangular projections (in ventral view two small ones on the left and one slightly larger and the right side); parameres in lateral view with subtriangular apices, each with 2–3 short apical setae and additionally with several much shorter setae unevenly distributed below parameral apices on dorsal surface of each paramere.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 36 ). Western-central Colombia.

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 plate can be found in the aedeagus of V. andinus , V. sreeae , V. asserculatus , V. meridanus , V. colombianus , and V. ecuadoranus . Only in V. colombianus and V. sreeae the apex of this plate is trilobed, with three subtriangular projections. In V. colombianus the projections are asymmetrical, in ventral view two small ones are situated on the left side, and one slightly larger and distant from them is situated on the right side. In V. sreeae , the projections are almost equally large (each larger than any of those found in V. colombianus ) and distributed symmetrically. Moreover, the subhumeral lines in V. colombianus are distinctly longer, reaching nearly 1/3 of each elytron, whereas those in V. sreeae do not reach basal 1/4; and V. colombianus has distinctly smaller adults, with BL about 1.3 mm, while those of V. sreeae reach 1.65–1.80 mm.

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).