Aporrhipis flexilis Pascoe, 1887

Ferreira, Vinicius S., Barclay, Maxwell V. L. & Ivie, Michael A., 2018, Redescription of Aporrhipis Pascoe, 1887 (Coleoptera: Lycidae), with a Discussion of its Tribal Placement, The Coleopterists Bulletin 72 (2), pp. 371-375 : 372-374

Aporrhipis flexilis Pascoe, 1887

( Figs. 1–6 )

Aporrhipis flexilis Pascoe 1887: 18 ; Csiki 1913:25; Crowson 1972: 48; Bocák and Bocákova 1990: 628; Miller 1991: 311; Falin 2003: 228; Batelka and Hájek 2009: 777. Holotype male labeled “Type/ Pascoe; Coll.; 93-60/ Para”, in The Natural History Museum, London, UK.

Differential Diagnosis. Males of A. flexilis can be separated from other Calopterini and Leptolycini with flabellate antennae by the following characters: from Flabellocaenia Pic, 1929 (Leptolycini) by the absence of scaliform setae on the antennae (vs. presence of scaliform setae on the antennae in Flabellocaenia ) and by antennomere III much larger than II (vs. antennomeres II and III small, subequal in size in Flabellocaenia ); from Pseudoacroleptus Pic, 1911 ( Leptolycini ) by the flabellum of antennomere III short, subequal to the length of the main stem (vs. very long, many times longer than the stem in Pseudoacroleptus); from Acroleptus Bourgeois, 1886 ( Calopterini / Acroleptina ) by the convex frons (vs. concave in Acroleptus ) and by the absence of a median longitudinal areola or cell (vs. presence of a median longitudinal areola or cell in Acroleptus chevrolati Bourgeois ); from Leptolycus (Baholycus) Bocák, 2001 by the elytra with four elytral costae, reticulated and non-dehiscent (vs. elytra with two elytral costae, non-reticulated and dehiscent in Baholycus) and by the absence of pronotal stemmata sensu Miller (1991) (vs. four pronotal stemmata in Baholycus).

Redescription. Male. Brown, with humeral portion lighter, yellowish ( Figs. 1, 2 ). Body densely setose, with brown, decumbent pubescence. Length (pronotum + elytra) 4.5–5.0 mm.Width (across humeri) 0.08–0.10 mm. Head: Small, as long as wide, wider behind eyes, with gibbous prominence on anterior portion, frons shallowly concave, posteriorly partially covered by pronotum, hypognathous ( Fig. 4 ). Eyes rounded, moderately large, anterolaterally projecting,coarsely granulate, interocular distance approximately 1.5X eye width. Maxillary palp 4-segmented, palpomere I short, II enlarged, as long as III+IV, III short, IV acuminate, longer than preceding. Labial palp 3-segmented, first 2 palpomeres short, last acuminate and strongly setose. Mandibles not reduced, strongly hooked apically. Anterior margin of epistoma emarginate, broadly oval, labrum short, trapezoidal ( Fig. 4 ). Antennae inserted in gibbous prominence at anterior portion of head ( Figs.1–3 ), 11-segmented, antennomeres III–X flabellate on outer portion; antennomere I subconical, as long as antennomeres III–IV, antennomere II minute, antennomere III subequal in length to IV, both with flabellum subequal to branch, antennomeres V–XI slightly increasing in length, flabellum much longer than branches, about 5X longer. Pronotum: Trapezoidal, transverse,wider posteriorly; margins prominent; anterior angles acute; with a weak, longitudinal carina ( Fig. 3 ); hypomeron concave. Scutellum: Bifurcate posteriorly, posterior margins rounded. Elytra: Elongate, irregularly reticulate, parallel-sided, about 8X longer than pronotum, slightly surpassing abdominal apex, with 4 distinct longitudinal costae ( Figs. 1, 2 ). Venter: Prosternum Yshaped, posterior margin rounded, laterally reaching hypomeron. Mesoventrite trapezoidal, posteriorly reaching anterior margin of metaventrite; mesanepisternum elongate; mesepimeron short and slender, with conspicuous row of setae; mesospiracles not visible.

Distribution. Aporrhipis is known only from Mato Grosso do Sul (Corumbá) and Pará, Brazil.

Notes. Pascoe (1887) states in the original description that he saw only a ‘unique specimen’, and thus this specimen (now in The Natural History Museum) is a holotype. The genitalia drawings herein are of the holotype. The only other known specimen of the genus, from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History , appears to be conspecific. It was dissected and the genitalia removed before it came into our hands. After careful examination of the vial attached to the specimen, we did not find the genitalia, and they must be considered lost. Therefore, its conspecificity cannot be established with certainty .

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Aporrhipis flexilis. 1) Holotype (deposited at the Natural History Museum), dorsal habitus; 2) Specimen deposited at the Carnegie Museum dorsal habitus; 3) Pronotum and dorsal view of head (specimen deposited at the Carnegie Museum); 4) Head, frontal view (specimen deposited at the Carnegie Museum).

Figs. 5–6. Aporrhipis flexilis, holotype genitalia. 5) Ventral view; 6) Dorsal view.