Dyscolus ravidus Moret sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 8449EDAE-130C-468E-A1F3-78EE6FB86649

Figs 30–31

Etymology

Latin adjective meaning ‘dark’.

Type material

Holotype

ECUADOR • ♂; Loja Province, Cajanuma, Refugio Parque Nacional Podocarpus; 4°6′58.4″ S, 79°10′18.6″ W; 2850 m a.s.l.; 17 Mar. 2015; P. Moret and C. Ruiz leg.; QCAZ.

Paratypes (7 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀)

ECUADOR – Loja Province • 1 ♂; same collection data as for holotype; CPM • 1 ♂; same collection data as for holotype; QCAZ • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Cajanuma, Refugio Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Waypoint 166; 4.11617º S, 79.17204º W; 2840 m; 2 Aug. 2016; P. Moret leg.; CPM • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; MNHN • 1 ♂; Valladolid, Límite del Parque Jocotoco y Podocarpus; 6 Jan. 2001; I.G. Tapia leg.; QCAZ • 1 ♀; Parque Nacional Podocarpus; 2800 m a.s.l.; 12 Feb. 1994; G. Onore leg.; QCAZ • 1 ♀; Mamanuma; 2700 m a.s.l.; 28 Dec. 1994; G. Onore leg.; CISEC • 1 ♂; Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Cajanuma, Waypoint 397; 4°7′2.4″ S, 79°10′6.3″ S; 2970 m a.s.l.; 17 Mar. 2015; P. Moret and C. Ruiz leg.; COI voucher PM397-02, BOLD sequence SUM058-18; CPM • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; COI voucher PM397-03, BOLD sequence SUM249-18; CPM • 1 ♀; km 10 vía Saraguro–Loja; 2850 m a.s.l.; 21 Jul. 1988; P. Moret leg.; CPM .

Diagnostic description

Habitus: Fig. 30. Wingless. Body length: 9.5–10.8 mm. Body colour from reddish brown to brunneous; legs, antennae and mouthparts reddish brown. Elytral microsculpture transverse. Head elongate, markedly constricted basally, eyes moderately convex, genae flat. Pronotum subcordiform; sides arcuate anterad, sinuate posterad before the hind angles which are sharp and right angled. Elytra slightly convex; striae entire but narrow and shallowly impressed, intervals flat; third interval without discal setae. Last visible abdominal ventrite with one pair (♂) or two pairs (♀) of setae along its apical margin. Legs: tarsi smooth dorsally, metatarsomeres 1–3 bisulcate, fourth metatarsomere with one pair of dorsolateral subapical setae, apical lobes moderately long, the external lobe> 2 times longer than the inner lobe; fifth metatarsomere asetose ventrally. Male genitalia: Fig. 31. Ventral side of the median lobe bisinuate in lateral view; apical blade elongate; endophallus with a dense squamose area. Female genitalia: unstudied.

Comparisons

According to the currently available molecular data, Dyscolus ravidus Moret sp. nov. belongs to the same clade as D. crespoae Moret sp. nov. (see above in the description of the latter for the morphological differences between them). However, by its external characters, D. ravidus Moret sp. nov. has a closer resemblance to D. marini Moret sp. nov., which belongs to a different clade. Dyscolus ravidus Moret sp. nov. differs from D. marini Moret sp. nov. by the following characters: elytra brownish in contrast with a black or piceous black pronotum; eyes less convex; hind angles of the pronotum sharper, right angled; elytral striae narrower and more shallowly impressed; third interval without discal setae; elytral microsculpture transverse; male genitalia: apical blade of the median lobe two times as long as in D. marini Moret sp. nov.

Habitat

Upper montane forest on the Eastern slope of the Andes, between 2700 and 2900 m a.s.l. Active at the beginning of the night (7.30–9 pm) on the ground and in leaf axils of epiphytic bromeliads.

Geographic distribution

Only known from the Parque Nacional Podocarpus in Southern Ecuador. Probably microendemic.