Saprositellus peruanus Stebnicka, 2003

Stebnicka, Zdzisława Teresa, 2003, The Genus Saprositellus Balthasar, with Descriptions of Three New Neotropical Species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Odontolochini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 57 (4), pp. 451-457 : 455

Saprositellus peruanus Stebnicka , new species

( Figs. 4 , 8 )

Description of Male. Length 3.2 mm, greatest width 1.2 mm. Form ( Fig. 4 ) elongate oval, distinctly widened at apical third of elytra; color piceous black, legs dark brown, surface microreticulate. Clypeus very shallowly emarginate anteriorly, edge on each side with 5–7 denticles; clypeal surface just above emargination shining and here minutely transversely granulate, punctures above wrinkles up to frontal suture very fine and shallow, slightly elongate, separated by about one diameter; vertex with band of round, close punctures separated by less than one diameter; frontal suture marked by slightly thickened line; gena small rounded. Pronotum strongly convex, diverging posteriorly, side straight toward acutely prominent lateral tooth, posterior angle excised, base margined, sinuate and lobed medially, edge finely crenate; pronotal surface with small fovea laterally, without longitudinal furrow, punctures rather shallow, everywhere close, separated by less than one diameter, fine punctures along anterior margin increase in size toward base, those on sides medium-sized, closer. Elytra distinctly arcuate, apex with minute setae visible under high magnification; base as wide as pronotal base, humeral denticle small, acute; striae moderately deep with moderate punctures crenating inner margins of intervals, punctures separate each other by about ½ diameter; intervals twice as wide as striae, flat on disc, convex laterally and apically, surface microreliculate, minute punctures scattered. Ventral sclerites alutaceous, surface punctate; punctures of mesosternum and metasternum same size as those of pronotal disc, separated by one diameter; disc of metasternum concave in posterior half, midline slightly impressed, lateral metasternal triangle marked by very shallow concavity; abdominal sternites arcuate, very finely fluted along sutures, punctate from side to side, punctures two times smaller than those on mesosternum, disc of pygidium with fine punctures same size as those on penultimate sternite. Profemur wide, perimarginal groove deep, surface shagreened, punctures same size as those of abdominal sternites but denser; meso- and metafemora slender, posterior femoral lines complete, posterior edge lobed at middle ( Fig. 8 ); meso- and metatibiae as long as femora, slightly sinuate, punctate and minutely, scarcely setigerous; metatibia with fine external spine and seta-like apical spurs, tarsus short, segments subquadrate; basal tarsomere of metatarsus only slightly shorter than upper tibial spur and longer than second tarsomere. Female unknown.

Affinity. The species is very distinct and may be easily distinguished from all other species in the genus by its size, trapezoid pronotum and wide, flattened elytral intervals.

Type Material. Holotype male ( CMN): ‘‘ Peru, Madre de Dios, Rio Tambopata Res. 30 mi SW Pto Maldonado, 290 m, 2–5.XI.1979, subtropical moist forest, J.B. Heppner. ’’

Etymology. Derived from the name of terra typica.

Figures

Figs. 1–4. 1) Saprositellus denticulatus Balthasar, habitus; 2–4) left half of body; 2) S. ariquemes n. sp.; 3) S. santaritae n. sp. 4) S. peruanus n. sp.

Figs. 5–8. Saprositellus denticulatus Balthasar, right posterior leg; 6–7) S. ariquemes n. sp.;