Platyparadonus marleyi Etzler and Ivie, 2019

Etzler, Frank E. & Ivie, Michael A., 2019, Platyparadonus, A New Circum-Caribbean Genus Of Sand-Associated Negastriinae (Coleoptera: Elateridae), Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 121 (1), pp. 15-25 : 22-23

Platyparadonus marleyi Etzler and Ivie , new species

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D0E65DC2-40F9-4201-A4A2-6FCC094564F7 ( Figs. 1–3 , 7–22 , 24–27)

Diagnosis.—A generally larger size, Ẑ 3mm, a dark brown body with con-

trasting legs and antennae, and an aedeagus that is as long as the abdomen and curved basally, will readily separate this species from the only other known species, P. beckeri .

Description.—Dark brown with legs and antennae amber, contrasting body. Length 3.0– 3.6mm. Antennomeres 3–10 about 2X longer than wide, apical end lighter than basal two-thirds. Aedeagus ( Figs. 25–27 ) relatively long, around 1mm, nearly as long as abdomen, with basal curve, basal struts of median lobe not reach base of parameres, not passing basal curve.

Etymology.— The specific name is named to honor Robert ‘Bob’ Nesta Marley, to recognize his importance in spreading Reggae music throughout the world, and to recognize his connection to Jamaica, where he was born.

Specimens examined.— 11. Holotype: JAMAICA: Port Royal , 21–II– 1908, M. Cameron/ W. I. 150/ M. Cameron Coll., B. M. 1936–555, (male, BMNH). Paratypes: CUBA: Maisi, Oriente , July 17, 1936 / Darlington Collector (1, MCZC). JAMAICA: Port Royal , 21–II–1908, M. Cameron/ W. I. 150/ M. Cameron Coll., B. M. 1936-555. (5, BMNH; 2, WIBF). U. S. VIRGIN IS: St. John, Europa Bay , 22 MAY–27 JUN 1979 / sifted from under wrack and under rocks on beach/ Colr. W. B. Muchmore (1, WIBF 017010 ); St. John, Lameshur Bay , V.I.E.R.S., 15 AUG 1980, at UV light/ M. A. Ivie Colr. (2, WIBF 017008 , WIBF 017009 ).

Discussion and field notes.— To date, this species has only been collected on Cuba, Jamaica, and St. John, in the Greater Antilles. As a geographical note, the Virgin Islands belong to the geologic and biogeographic Greater Antilles ( Donnelly 1988), the Anegada Passage being the divider between the Greater and Lesser Antilles.

The Jamaican series of specimens was collected by Malcolm Cameron (1873– 1954) a specialist on Staphylinidae . He collected in the West Indies while a naval surgeon with the British Royal Navy. During this period, he was particularly interested in coastal Aleocharinae , and produced three major descriptive works on West Indian staphylinids ( Cameron 1913, 1922, 1923). Some hint of the habitat of Cameron’s specimens of P. marleyi can be gained from other species Cameron collected at Port Royal. Blackwelder’s (1943) revision of the West Indian Staphylinidae has two references to Port Royal, Jamaica, both associated with Cameron. First, Cameron described Cafius subtilis Cameron, 1922 , from Jamaica, with no further mention of locality or date. Blackwelder (1943) examined Cameron’s types, and narrowed the type locality to Port Royal, apparently from label data on the types, but without date information. The habitat of C. subtilis is mentioned by Blackwelder (1943: 437) as “I have found it under seaweed and drift on sandy beaches.” A second Port Royal record from Cameron is Cafius bistriatus (Erichson, 1840) ( Blackwelder 1943) . Blackwelder (1943: 438) states about C. bistriatus , “I have found it under seaweed and drift on sandy beaches.” As a last bit of evidence that Cameron’s P. marleyi was found on sand, Port Royal itself is located on a sand spit, so sandy that it is subject to liquification during the periodic earthquakes that have devastated Port Royal as early as 1692 and as recently as 1907.

The Lameshur and Europa Bay collecting localities are on the south–east coast of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. "Lameshur Bay" by itself is used to refer to the Estate of Lameshur Bay, while the bays themselves are Europa, Great Lameshur and Little Lameshur Bays, and all occur next to one another across narrow peninsulas. The acronym "V.I.E.R.S.," refers to a research station (18.322235 N, 64.722873 W) built by the U.S. Navy, in cooperation with other agencies, in 1968 to support Project Tektite, an undersea habitat experiment platform from 1969–1970. Originally called the Virgin Islands Ecological Research Station (including at the time these specimens were collected), in 1992 it was renamed Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station. Both William Breuleux Muchmore (1920–2017) (pers. comm.) and MAI used VIERS as their base of operations when these paratypes were collected. The station is built on an alluvial sand area about 1/ 4 km from the actual beach. MAI’s blacklight was placed to the back of one of the cabins, facing into the forest over sand. Muchmore’s Europa Bay site (18.318483 N, 64.731362 W) is a km south-west of the Station, the wrack taken from the rockstrewn sand beach.

Notebooks for the Darlington specimen collected from Cuba have not been located, but the maps of the area suggest a similar habitat to the above. All of these factors point towards P. marleyi as occurring on or in sandy substrates.

Figures

Figs. 1–6. Habitus photos, lines each equal 1mm. 1, Dorsal habitus, Platyparadonus marleyi, Holotype. 2, Lateral habitus, P. marleyi, Holotype. 3, Ventral habitus, P. marleyi, Paratype, female, Jamaica. 4, Dorsal habitus, Platyparadonus beckeri, Holotype. 5, Dorsal habitus, Paradonus obliquatulus (Melsheimer, 1845), USA. 6, Dorsal habitus, Quasimus sp., Malaysia.

Figs. 7–23. Morphological characters. All figures on same scale. Line on left is 1mm. All are P. marleyi, unless noted otherwise. 7, Right maxilla, dorsal view. 8, Right mandible, dorsal view. 9, Left antenna, dorsal view, setae not illustrated. 10, Head, dorsal view. Punctures and most setae not illustrated. 11, Head, lateral view. 12, Head, ventral view. 13, Pronotum, dorsal view. Punctures and setae not illustrated. 14, Pronotum, three-quarter lateral view. 15, Pronotum, ventral view. 16, Right proleg. Some setae not illustrated. 17, Right elytron. Punctures (open circles) not visible dorsally. Dotted Pattern to illustrate microreticulation. 18, Scutellum. 19, Mesoventrite. 20, Right metaleg. Setae not illustrated. 21, Ovipositor and internal female genitalia. bc = bursa copulatrix (?), u = uterus, v = vagina. 22, Terminal ventrite, female. Usually not visible. 23, Terminal ventrite, male, P. beckeri. Usually not visible.

Figs. 25–29. Hind wing and aedeagi. Lines below wing and left of aedeagi are 1mm. All aedeagi on same scale. 24, Right hind wing, P. marleyi, dorsal view. 25, P. marleyi, dorsal view. 26, P. marleyi, lateral view. 27, P. marleyi, ventral view. 28, P. beckeri, dorsal view. 29, P. beckeri, ventral view.