Protoconnus minusculus, Jałoszyński, 2018

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2018, Revision of the Neotropical genus Protoconnus Franz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4392 (1), pp. 41-82 : 71-72

Protoconnus minusculus sp. n.

( Figs 63 , 74–75 , 101 )

Type material. Holotype: COSTA RICA (Limón Province): ♂, two labels: " COSTA RICA [CR2013-09] / Limon Province: Rd. Manzanillo> / Punta Uva, 9°37'30''-38'18''N, / 82°39'41''-41'39''W, 0-10 m, degraded / costal rain forest, car net, 1.XII.2013, leg. M. Schülke & B. Grünberg" [white, printed], " PROTOCONNUS / minusculus m. / P. JAŁOSZYŃSKI, 2018 / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] (cMS).

Diagnosis. BL 0.73 mm; body stout, elytra 1.76 times as broad as moderately transverse pronotum; frons in male between supraantennal tubercles narrow but not impressed; vertex weakly convex, its posterior margin straight in its median portion; pronotal base with distinct groove but with barely discernible pits; lateral pronotal carinae distinct in posterior third; humeral carinae distinct; aedeagus in ventral view with basal capsule indistinctly delimited from distal region, nearly gradually narrowed distad, but with rapidly narrowed short apical portion which has its very apex slender and pointed; parameres slightly broadened in submedian region.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 63 ) moderately convex, brown, covered with setae distinctly lighter than cuticle; BL 0.73 mm.

Head broadest at extremely large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.13 mm, HW 0.15 mm; tempora barely discernible; vertex weakly convex, posterior margin straight in its median portion; frons between large supraantennal tubercles narrow but flat. Punctures on frons and vertex inconspicuous; setae short, sparse and suberect. Antennae slender, AnL 0.30 mm, shorter than half BL, club distinctly delimited; antennomeres I–II each nearly twice as long as broad, III–X each distinctly transverse, XI indistinctly longer than X, as long as broad.

Pronotum moderately transverse, subtrapezoidal, broadest near middle but indistinctly narrowed posteriorly; PL 0.18 mm, PW 0.21 mm. Anterior and posterior margins very weakly convex, lateral margins distinctly rounded; lateral carinae distinct in posterior third; transverse antebasal groove distinct, antebasal pits barely discernible. Punctures on pronotal disc inconspicuous; setae sparse, short, suberect.

Elytra much more convex than pronotum, oval, broadest in front of middle; EL 0.43 mm, EW 0.38 mm, EI 1.13; humeral carinae distinct, but not very sharp. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotum.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 74–75 ) slender; AeL 0.11 mm; in ventral view basal capsule about as long as half of distal region, distinctly narrowed distad; distal region laterally confluent with sides of basal capsule, slender, approximately arrow-shaped, with shallow subapical constriction which delimits flame-like apical portion with pointed apex, in lateral view distal half nearly straight; in lateral view area above parameral bases forming a short subtriangular projection; parameres strongly divergent distad, each with one long apical and one very short subapical seta.

Female unknown.

Distribution. Eastern Costa Rica ( Fig. 101 ).

Etymology. The name minusculus (Latin "rather short") refers to the small body of this species.

Remarks. Protoconnus minusculus is most similar to P. acutus ; differences were listed in remarks for the latter species.

Figures

FIGURE 101. Distribution of nominal Protoconnus species.

FIGURES 62–67. Dorsal habitus of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus acutus sp. n. (62); P. minusculus sp. n. (63); P. costaricanus sp. n. (64); P. tunarianus sp. n. (65); P. magnus sp. n. (66); P. apaapa sp. n. (67).

FIGURES 68–75. Aedeagi of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus angustus sp. n. (68–69); P. maximus sp. n. (70–71); P. acutus sp. n. (72–73); P. minusculus sp. n. (74–75).