Baconia viridis, Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013, A systematic revision of Baconia Lewis (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 343, pp. 1-297 : 260-261

Baconia viridis sp. n. Figs 80C81GMap 22

Type locality.

MEXICO: Jalisco: Chamela Biological Station [19.49°N, 105.04°W].

Type material.

Holotype male: "MEXICO:Jalisco: Chamela Biol. Stn., 14 July 1989, Robert W. Brooks #035 ex. flight intercept trap" / "SEMC0903649 KUNHM-ENT" (SEMC). Paratypes (2): MEXICO: Jalisco: 1: San Cristobal de la Barranca, Rancho el Tablon, 21°3'36"N, 103°25'50"W, 850 m, 31.vii.2004, FIT, F. Vaz-de-Mello (AKTC); 1: Guerrero: 2 mi. N. Cacahuamilpa, 5300 ft., 4.vii.1987, P. Kovarik (CHPWK).

Other material.

1: MEXICO: Chiapas: El Aguacero, 16 km W Ocozocoautla, 680 m, 5-13.vi.1990, FIT, H. & A. Howden (CMNC).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 2.1-2.2mm, width: 1.8-1.9mm; body elongate oval, only weakly depressed, glabrous; dorsum metallic blue to faintly greenish-blue, head and pronotum appearing very slightly greener than elytra, pygidia rather faintly metallic, venter rufobrunneus to rufopiceous; frons weakly elevated over antennal bases, depressed along antero-posterior midline, ground punctation rather conspicuous, with few, very small secondary punctures at middle of frontal disk and near vertex, frontal stria present along inner margin of eye, curving mediad, interrupted over antennal bases, continuous across middle, supraorbital stria absent or very faintly indicated; epistoma slightly convex anterad frontal stria, but shallowly depressed at middle, with irregular series of small, very shallow depressions along anterior margin; labrum about 3 ×wider than long, emarginate along apical margin, coarsely microsculptured; basal tooth of right mandible blunt, tooth of left mandible acute; antennal scape short, club rounded; pronotal sides weakly, evenly arcuate to apex, not depressed in anterior corners, marginal stria complete along lateral and anterior margins, slightly crenulate in front, lateral submarginal stria absent, ground punctation of pronotal disk fine, with conspicuous secondary punctures in lateral thirds, denser toward sides; elytra with two to three epipleural striae, the outermost may be abbreviated apically, outer subhumeral stria absent, inner subhumeral stria present in basal fifth, dorsal striae 1-3 more or less complete, the 3rd stria often abbreviated from apex, 4th stria more distinctly abbreviated from apex, present in about basal two-thirds, 5th and sutural striae absent, elytral disk with few coarse punctures in apical fourth; prosternum rather narrow, weakly convex, keel weakly emarginate at base, carinal striae complete, convergent between coxae, otherwise subparallel, separate throughout; prosternal lobe about one-half keel length, apical margin bluntly rounded, marginal stria obsolete at sides; mesoventrite weakly produced, marginal stria complete, mesometaventral stria absent; lateral metaventral stria extending from near mesocoxa posterolaterad toward middle of metacoxa, more or less complete, outer lateral metaventral stria parallel to inner for half to two-thirds its length, metaventral disk impunctate at middle; abdominal ventrite 1 with inner lateral stria slightly abbreviated, outer stria absent, middle portion of disk impunctate; protibia 4-5 dentate, basal denticles weak, outer margin serrulate between teeth; mesotibia with one marginal spine and short series of very weak submarginal spines toward base; outer metatibial margin smooth; propygidium without basal stria, discal punctures ocellate, rather large at middle, smaller and sparser posterad and laterad; propygidial gland openings evident about one-third from anterior margin and one-fourth from lateral margins, immediately surrounding disk impunctate; pygidium with ground punctation fairly fine, secondary punctures very small and restricted to near basal margin. Male genitalia very similar in most respects to that of Baconia nayarita , above (Fig. 81), but with the tegmen slightly shorter, and the sides more evenly, weakly convergent to the base, less sinuate (Fig. 81G).

Remarks.

This species is extremely similar to Baconia nayarita , above, but can be distinguished by its slightly smaller size, complete lack of sutural stria, and generally more greenish-blue coloration (Fig. 80C). The faint sculpturing of the apical region of the epistoma and microsculptured labrum are also distinctive. The single specimen from Chiapas is a female, and lacking confirming male genitalic characters we exclude it from the type series.

Etymology.

This species is named for its greenish-blue dorsal coloration.