Ohanlonella Rifkind

Rifkind, Jacques, 2008, Ohanlonella, a new clerid genus from Mexico (Coleoptera: Cleridae: Clerinae), Zootaxa 1848, pp. 66-68 : 66-68

Ohanlonella Rifkind , new genus

( Figs. 1–3 )

Type species: Ohanlonella esperanzae Rifkind (present designation).

Clerinae; medium sized; body extremely elongate (elytral length = 3x maximum elytral width), subparallel. Head: eyes medium sized, finely faceted, shallowly, triangularly emarginate behind antennal base; clypeal suture distinctly incised; frons depressed on either side of a large, distinct, triangular frontal umbo; antennae narrow, elongate, composed of 11 antennomeres, of which the terminal three are enlarged and form a loose club ( Fig. 3); last maxillary palpomere subconical; last labial palpomere expanded, securiform; gular process broad, rectangulate and flattened. Pronotum: elongate (ratio of length to width 28:25), constricted behind anterior margin, broadly expanded at middle, subparallel at broad basal collar; anterior and posterior margins sinuate; transverse impression distinct, broadly U-shaped at middle; disk moderately convex, bearing a closely grouped pair of distinct but shallow foveae on each side; basal collar very deeply incised, cristate anteriorly, coarsely rugose-punctate. Scutellum medium sized, narrowly rounded apically. Elytra: very elongate (3x as long as wide), only slightly wider than maximum width of pronotum, subparallel to posterior 1/3, then gradually narrowed to apices; posterior 1/2 bilaterally compressed (elytral posterior 1/3 nearly perpendicular at sides); apices deeply dehiscent, with separation beginning at about posterior 1/5; anterior margin sinuate; humeral angles oblique; epipleural fold broad, nearly complete to apex; lateral margins broadly bisinuate in lateral view; dorsum concavely bowed, more elevated in anterior portion and apices than at middle, imparting a “swaybacked” appearance in lateral aspect (Fig. 2); surface shining, with a slight metallic iridescence ( Fig. 3); post-basal tumescences rounded, feebly elevated; disk sculpted with a series of troughs and gibbosities that impart an unusual waved or rippled aspect ( Fig. 3), arranged as follows (in order from anterior to posterior): a shallow post-basal, roughly heart-shaped trough; then, on each elytron, a small, low, rounded gibba set on either side of the suture; a deeply incised, slightly oblique depression; a prominent, irregular transverse-oblique gibbous ridge at elytral median (ridge obsolete laterally); followed by a shallow depression and finally, a slight swelling at posterior 1/3. Legs: including femora, slender; tibiae without carinae; tarsi with well developed pulvilli; all tarsal claws with a robust, triangular tooth at base. Venter: metasternum convex, globoid posteriorly; abdominal ventrites shining.

Diagnosis. The type species, with its elongate form and shining, iridescent, swaybacked and deeply dehiscent elytra, is unique among clerines, and the new genus is therefore proposed to accommodate this distinct combination of features. This genus is unlikely to be confused with any of the described New World Clerinae, although its flattened, rectangulate gular process and loosely clubbed, moderately elongate antennae suggest a phyletic relationship with Colyphus Spinola.

Etymology. I take pleasure in naming this unusual new genus for the writer Redmond O’Hanlon, whose books have for many years inspired and entertained me with their rare combination of humor, insight and always impeccable natural history.

Remarks. The Sierra de Juárez of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca is an area of biological species diversity and endemism. High degrees of endemism have been reported in the region for, among others, reptiles and amphibians ( Flores-Villela 1993; Hanken & Wake 1994), Papilionidae ( Lorente-Bousquets & Luis-Martínez 1993) and weevils ( Anderson & O’Brien 1996). In Mexican Cleridae , endemism at the species level is not uncommon, particularly in montane areas. The tilline genus Cymatodera , for example, includes a dozen or more distinct, often brachypterous or apterous species, which appear to have distributions narrowly restricted to small mountain ranges, or even a single peak or volcano. The present description, however, presents one of the few known cases in Mexico of clerid endemism at the generic level.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of Ohanlonella esperanzae Rifkind new species (holotype female). FIGURE 2. Lateral view of same, showing swaybacked elytra.