Cladocalon, Nascimento & Bocakova, 2022

Nascimento, Elynton Alves Do & Bocakova, Milada, 2022, Cladocalon, a new genus of net-winged beetles from Central America and Mexico (Coleoptera: Lycidae), Zootaxa 5124 (5), pp. 577-584 : 578

Cladocalon gen. nov.

Type species: Calocladon chiriquense Gorham, 1884

Diagnosis. Cladocalon gen. nov. can be distinguished from other Eurrhacini by a combination of the following features: eyes medium to large (small in Haplobothris ), pronotum as long as wide and almost parallel-sided (characteristically longer than wide and posteriorly widened in Calocladon ), median longitudinal areola fusiform, present at basal 3/4 of pronotum (almost lenticular with apical half widened and present at basal 2/ 3 in Calocladon ), each elytron with nine longitudinal costae (four costae in Haplobothris ), abdominal sternum 9 slender and elongate (shorter and wider in Calocladon ), male genitalia significantly different from all other described Eurrhacini and Calopterini : phallus with a series of folding structures, parameres flattened, slight tortuous ribbon-shaped with hook-like and/or pointed projections, widely distant in ventral view, L–shaped in lateral view ( Figs. 6–15 ).

Description. Eyes big to medium-sized, eye diameter 1.3–1.9× longer than interocular distance. Antennomere 1 stout, 2 small, 4 about 1.2–1.5× longer than 3 ( Fig. 1 ), antennomeres 4–10 of almost equal length, 11 twice longer than 4–10. Male antennae pectinate, reaching elytral midlength, branches of antennomeres 3–5 1.6–3× longer than antennomere length. Mandibles stout, arcuate to hooked. Labial palpi short, 3-segmented, terminal palpomere rounded. Maxillary palpi elongate, 4-segmented, palpomere 2 elongate, 4 rounded or constricted distally ( Fig. 2 ). Labrum with distal median emargination. Anterior thoracic spiracles short. Pronotum trapezoidal ( Figs. 3–4 ), almost as wide as long medially, almost parallel-sided, with anterior angles rounded, posterior angles produced posteriorly. Pronotum presenting median longitudinal carina with fusiform areola at basal 3/4, posterior margin of pronotum bisinuate. Scutellum rectangular, presenting apical median emargination. Elytra elongate, 4.1–4.9× longer than humeral width. Each elytron with 9 longitudinal costae, primary costae stronger, costae 2 and 4 more elevated, with mostly irregular small subsquare cells. Prosternum trapezoidal, mesosternum transverse, trapezoidal. Male abdominal sternum 8 with shallow median emargination distally, sternum 9 slender, elongate and pointed proximally, rounded distally. Trochanters elongate, conical, as long as 1/3–1/4 of femur length, tibiae as long as femur. Male genitalia slightly asymmetrical, with phallus elongate, constricted at 2/3 or at 3/4, broad medially being narrower than phallobase or as wide as phallobase in ventral view, with a series of folding structures, rounded to pointed apically, constricted at apical 1/3, basal third straight, attached to parameres proximally. Each paramere L-shaped in lateral view, flattened, slight tortuous ribbon-shaped with median/subapical/apical hook-like and/or pointed projections, widely distant in ventral view ( Figs. 6–15 ). Phallobase in form of deep spoon. Female antennae serrate. Body length: 5.5–7.0 mm, humeral width: 1.2–1.7 mm.

Etymology: the name of the new genus is an anagram of Calocladon Gorham, 1881 .

Distribution: Mexico, Guatemala and Panama.

Composition: The genus described here comprises five species: Cladocalon chiriquense comb. nov., C. histrionicum comb. nov., C. bugabense sp. nov., C. mexicanus sp. nov., and C. guatemalense sp. nov.

Comments: We found that none of syntypes of Calocladon histrionicum and C. chiriquense belong to Calocladon . In this way, two new genera should be raised to accommodate these specimens, one of them described above. The other lineage will be treated in a forthcoming article.

Figures

FIGURES 1–15. 1. male antennae of Cladocalon mexicanus sp. nov. 2. Terminal maxillary palpi of C. histrionicum comb. nov. 3–4: Pronotum. 3. C. chiriquense comb. nov., 4. C. histrionicum. 5. Male abdominal sternum 9 of C. chiriquense. 6-15: Male genitalia (lateral and ventral views, respectively). 6–7. C. chiriquense. 8–9. C. bugabense sp. nov.10–11. C. histrionicum.12–13. C. mexicanus sp. nov. 14–15. C. guatemalense sp. nov. Scales: 0.25 mm (Fig. 2), 0.5 mm (Figs. 1, 3-15).