Operclipygus shorti, Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013, A systematic revision of Operclipygus Marseul (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 271, pp. 1-401 : 372-374

Operclipygus shorti sp. n. Figs 105 D–E106F–JMap 35

Type locality.

VENEZUELA: Bolívar: 6 km S San Isidro [6.06°N, 61.40°W].

Type material.

Holotype male: "VENEZUELA: Bolívar, 6km S San Iisidro[sic], Km 88, 25.VI.-11.VII.1987" / "FMHD#7-1061, lowland rainforest, S.&J. Peck, P#87-45, FIT, FIELD MUSEUM" / "FMNH-INS 0000 069 175" (FMNH). Paratypes (5): 2: same data as holotype (FMNH); VENEZUELA: Aragua: 1: Henri Pittier NP, Rancho Grande, 1.x.2006, fallen bromeliads, A.E.Z. Short, DNA Extract MSC-1902 (SEMC); 1: Rancho Grande, 1150m, 4. vii– 9.viii.1986, B.D. Gill (BDGC); 1: Miranda, Capaya, 250m, 24.iii.1967, J.L. Garcia, (MHNLS).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 1.97-2.06 mm, width: 1.65-1.84 mm; body rufopiceous, elongate oval; frons very weakly impressed; frontal stria rounded at sides, interrupted over antennal bases, arcuate across front; supraorbital stria fine, more or less complete, but narrowly detached from sides of frontal stria; epistoma weakly convex; labrum about twice as wide as long, weakly, asymmetrically emarginate apically; both mandibles with small, subacute basal tooth; pronotum lacking prescutellar impression, with very fine, inconspicuous ground punctation, lacking coarse lateral punctures; marginal pronotal stria broadly interrupted behind head; submarginal pronotal stria continuous along lateral and anterior margins; median pronotal gland openings simple, about two-thirds pronotal length from anterior margin; elytron with one complete epipleural stria, outer subhumeral stria complete or interrupted at middle, inner subhumeral stria absent, dorsal striae 1-2 complete, 3rd stria present as fine scratch in basal third and as stria in apical third, 4th and 5th striae present in apical fourth, sutural stria present in apical two-thirds; prosternal keel weakly projecting at base, with complete carinal striae connected in rather broad anterior arch; anterior mesoventral margin shallowly emarginate, with complete marginal stria; mesometaventral stria broadly arched forward to near marginal mesoventral, sinuate at sides, continued posterolaterad by lateral metaventral stria, abbreviated apically; 1st abdominal ventrite with single lateral stria abbreviated posteriorly; postmetacoxal fovea small, situated behind inner corner of metacoxa; propygidium with ground punctation fine and sparse, with coarse punctures small, rather deep, and separated by their diameters or slightly more; pygidium with fine, dense ground punctation throughout, lacking coarser punctures except along basal margin; marginal pygidial sulcus very strong and deep, widening slightly to basal corners, but lacking larger basal foveae. Male genitalia (Figs 106 F–J): accessory sclerites present, small; T8 with sides evenly convergent to subtruncate apex, apical emargination narrow, basal emargination narrow and deep, nearly meeting basal membrane attachment line, ventrolateral apodemes well developed basally, narrowed to apex; S8 with sides subparallel, apical guides narrow, evenly developed along sides, halves approximate along most of ventral midline; T9 with sides subparallel, weakly arcuate to narrow, weakly convergent apices; T10 with halves separate; S9 with stem narrow, parallel sided, rounded at base, with narrow apical emargination, apical flanges thin, separate; tegmen narrow, with sides weakly rounded, widest in apical half, with bluntly subacute apex, medioventral process thin, narrowly ‘U’ -shaped, projecting beneath about one-third from base; median lobe about half tegmen length, with proximal apodemes strongly differentiated into thick portion with finer proximal extensions; basal piece just over one-third tegmen length.

Remarks.

The strong pygidial sulcus (Fig. 105E), complete submarginal pronotal stria (Fig. 105D), and position of the median pronotal gland openings would appear to ally this distinctive species with the Operclipygus fossipygus group. However, the male genitalia are much more generalized, lacking all the unusual characters of that group. Externally it can be distinguished by the lack of strong foveae at the base of the pygidial marginal sulcus, the single epipleural stria, bilaterally interrupted frontal stria, and single lateral stria on the first abdominal ventrite.

Etymology.

We name this species for Andrew Short, collector of the first specimen of the species that we were able to study, in recognition of his efforts cataloging the beetle fauna of Venezuela.