Typhlocharis santschii Normand, 1915

Pérez-González, Sergio & Zaballos, Juan P., 2012, Re-description of two species of Typhlocharis (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Anillini) and revision of the models of female genitalia within the genus, Zootaxa 3279, pp. 46-62 : 51-53

Typhlocharis santschii Normand, 1915

(fig. 4)

Material. 2 Ƥ Ƥ Tunisia, Sousse, Coll. Guy Babault, 1930 ( MNHNP); 1 3, 2 Ƥ Ƥ Tunisia, Sousse, Dr. Normand ( MNHNP); 1 Ƥ Tunisia, Sousse, Coll. Chobaut ( MNHNP); 1 3, 1 Ƥ, Tunisia, Sousse, Dr. Normand, Coll. A. Sicard, 1930 ( MNHNP); 1 3, 1 Ƥ Tunisia, Sousse, Dr. Normand, 1922 ( MNHNP); 1 Ƥ Tunisia, Sousse. Coll. Bedel, 1922. COTYPE ( MNHNP); 1 3 Tunisia, Sousse, Dr. Normand, Coll. Zaballos ( UCM); 1 Ƥ Tunisia, Kairouan, Catalogue number 74551 ( MNCN); 1 Ƥ Tunisia, Sousse, Catalogue number 74552 ( MNCN); 1 3 Tunisia, Kairouan, ( MFNB).

Diagnosis. Anopthtalmous, small endogean beetle. Parallel body, narrow and subrectangular with pale brown, microreticulated tegument and scattered pubescence. Pedicel of third antennomere very elongate. Semilunar notch with a cuticular protuberance (fig. 4). Vertex with pars stridens. Very long, rectangular pronotum aproximately 1.3 times longer than wide. Apical edge of elytra with medium sized lateral tooth at the end of the 7th stria. Umbilicate series with seven setae (4+3), one pair of scutellar setae and three pairs of discal setae. Abdominal sternum II with slight foveae in both sexes and a pair of lateral teeth in the last ventrite (fig. 4). Smoothly recurved aedeagus, with apex very wide and rounded in dorsal view (fig. 5) and very elongated parameres. Female genitalia with short, tubular gonocoxites with a lateral seta and subcylindric spermatheca (fig. 5).

Description. Length: 1.25–1.41 mm (males), 1.22–1.46 mm (females).

Head wider (0.26–0.31 mm) than long (0.22–0.26 mm), with subhexagonal microreticulation over the entire surface. Stridulatory organ (pars stridens) present in the vertex region, in both sexes. Posterolateral region of the head with a semilunar notch associated to a cuticular protuberance (fig. 2a). Labrum subrectangular, with rounded edges, a triangle-shaped region and a subcircular button of thicker cuticle. Clypeus with straight anterior margin. Moniliform antennae, with 11 antennomeres progresively more square-shaped, except the last one, pyriform. The pedicel of the third antennomere is very elongate, as long as or slightly longer than the rest of the antenommere length.

Mandibles without teeth along the internal margin. Labium with no special features. Ligula with a low rounded middle lobe and short paraglossae. Gula is twice longer than wide. Cephalic chaetotaxy: 5 pairs of labral setae (s-lm-s-m / m-s-m-l-s), 2 pairs of clypeal setae (l-s / s-l), 1 pair of frontal setae, 2 pairs of supraocular setae (anterior and posterior), 1 pair of supra-antennal setae, 3 pairs of occipital setae and 1 pair of genal setae, as well as scattered pubescence. Labium with a pair of setae near the base of the middle tooth, a pair of long setae near the base of the epilobes and two pairs of very short setae near the posterior suture. Prebasilar with two or three pairs of setae near the anterior margin (the lateral pair much longer), a pair of long setae in the mid region and a pair of medium setae in the posterior region.

Rectangular pronotum, clearly longer (0.35–0.45 mm) than wide (0.29–0.35 mm), narrowed in the posterior region. Anterior margin almost straight, slightly crenulated, with medial hiatus, approximately as wide as three adjacent intersetae spaces (fig. 2b, fig.4). Lateral margins with 3–4 very low, smooth denticles, preceding the posterior angles. Surface covered with subhexagonal microreticulation. Flattened disc, with a medial line and a pair of faint lateral sulci. Chaetotaxy: 1 pair of long setae in the first third of the lateral margins, 1 pair of long setae in the posterior angles, a row of 6–7 pairs of setae [l-(l)-l-l-l-l-l / l-l-l-l-l-(l)-l] parallel to the anterior margin, 4 pairs of setae parallel to the posterior margin (s-s-l-l / l-l-s-s), a row of small, thin and regularly placed setae in anterior and posterior margins and lateral margins with a row of short setae. Disc covered by approximately 10 longitudinal rows of pubescence in the disc.

Proepisternal suture slightly marked, visible by transparency. Prosternal apophysis rounded. Anterior margin of prosternum with a row of long and thin setae and 6–7 pairs of short setae parallel to it [s-(s)-s-s-s-s-s / s-s-s-s-s- (s)-s]. Prosternum covered with scattered pubescence, absent in the proepisternum.

Elytra are approximately 2.2 times longer (0.65–0.78 mm) than wide (0.28–0.36 mm), parallel and subrectangular in shape. Lateral margins with 20–25 denticles, extremely faint and progressively smoother towards posterior. Apical margin with two medium-sized lateral teeth, associated to the end of the 7th stria. There are no sutural teeth. Disc flattened, with a longitudinal carinae associated to the 7th stria, typical in the genus. Surface covered with subhexagonal to irregular microreticulation. Scutellar and disc region not punctured. Transverse scutellar organ and a pair of “buttonholes” are present. Chaetotaxy: umbilicate series composed by an anterior group of 4 setae and a posterior group of 3 setae (fig. 4). There is a pair of scutellar setae and 3 pairs of discal setae, clearly longer and different from the surrounding pubescence, which is distributed in 5–6 irregular longitudinal rows. There is one pair of apical setae near the end of the 7th stria. There are three pairs of pubescence setae bordering the apical margin. A short seta is associated to every denticle forming a row in the lateral margins.

Legs are similar in both sexes. Wide intermetacoxal space. Inner edge of metafemora slightly angular. Rounded metatrochanters. Metatibia with dilated distal region.

Abdomen with irregular pattern of microreticulation, except the last segment, with a “belt” of faint, scaly and serrate microsculpture. First ventrite (sternum II) with slight posterolateral foveae in both sexes. Last ventrite with a pair of lateral teeth associated with a notch and 6–7 pairs of setae in the posterior margin, with sexual dimorphism: l-(s)-s-s-l-s-s / s-l-(s)-l-s-s-l (fig. 4).

Median lobe of aedeagus (length: 0.18 mm) recurved apically in lateral view (fig. 5b). Apex broad and rounded, slightly bent to the right (anatomically oriented) in dorsal view. Internal sac with irregular, “stick-shaped” sclerite. Both parameres are slender and very elongated, ending in two very short apical setae (fig. 5b).

Female genitalia agree with the model described by Vigna-Taglianti (1972). Short, tubular gonocoxites with two fused apical setae and a short setae near the apical region. Short gonoduct with two different regions: a proximal, thin region (diameter: 0.003 mm) and a distal and thick region (diameter: 0.008 mm) connected with the spermatheca, which is subcylindrical (0.018 x 0.011 mm). Spermathecal gland tubular to conical in shape (length: 0.016 mm) sclerotized in the distal region (fig. 5c).

Habitat. Normand (1915) indicated that this species inhabits saline soils, captured by soil washing from samples taken near Salsolaceae plants.