Parygrus lengua Barr and Shepard, 2020

Barr, Cheryl B. & Shepard, William D., 2020, Hiding in plain sight: rediscovery and review of Parygrus Erichson, 1847, with description of five new species from the Neotropics (Coleoptera: Byrrhoidea Dryopidae), Zootaxa 4755 (1), pp. 99-128 : 117-119

Parygrus lengua Barr and Shepard , new species

(Figs 3, 16, 17)

http://zoobank.org/ 8995529C-3873-46EC-B9F1-E030A1A07509

Type material. Holotype male. PARAGUAY. “ PARAGUAY: Alto Paraguay / Puerto La Esperanza / 2 XII 2006 / Carlos Aguilar Julio // HOLOTYPE / Parygrus lengua / Barr & Shepard [red label, handwritten] // EMEC49557” ( EMEC) . Paratypes (10 M). PARAGUAY. PARAGUAY: Alto Paraguay / Puerto La Esperanza / 2 XII 2006 / Carlos Aguilar Julio (6 M, EMEC; 1 M, LSAM; 1 M, NHMUK; 1 M, USNM); PARAGUAY: Pdte. [Presidente] Hayes / Cruce los Pioneros / 20 I 1996 // Purchased from / Alfredo Ugarte (1 M, EMEC). All paratypes also have the following final label : PARATYPE / Parygrus lengua / Barr & Shepard [yellow label, printed].

Additional specimens examined (18; 3 M, 15 F). ARGENTINA. ARGENTINA: Entre Rios / Federacion / XII 2006 / Zubaron Gaston, leg. (3 M; EMEC) . PARAGUAY. PARAGUAY: Alto Paraguay / Puerto La Esperanza / 2 XII 2006 / Carlos Aguilar Julio (10 F, EMEC; 2 F, FSCA; 1 F, LSAM; 1 F, NHMUK; 1 F, USNM) .

Diagnosis. The male genitalia of Parygrus lengua n. sp. are distinctive (Fig. 17); none of the other species (for which the genitalia are known) have parameres both with inner ridges and without teeth. An external character not seen in other species is that the scutellum is weakly depressed at the anterior half and convex near the posterior angle. The females were assigned to this species due to their association with the males, their similar scutellar morphology, and body size; they are not designated as paratypes.

Description. Holotype male. Cuticle brown, legs, antennae and mouthparts lighter; elongate, subcylindrical; length 4.35 mm (pronotum + elytra), width 1.60 mm; body covered with erect and semi-erect, long, golden setae and much shorter, recumbent setae ( Fig. 16 ).

Head dark brown; punctuation fine, dense, punctures separated by at least 1x puncture diameter; setae moderately long; vertex with moderately deep median depression; frons raised and protruding slightly forward between antennal bases, anterior margin arcuate, distance between antennal bases less than length of antennomere 1. Antenna with antennomeres 1 and 2 light brown, setose, antennomeres 3–11 yellow, densely setose; antennomere 1 nearly as long as antennomere 2; antennomere 2 covering antennomeres 3–5. Clypeus densely setose, coarsely punctate, barely emarginate. Maxillary palpus with terminal palpomere elongate, subcylindrical, weakly curved. Labrum emarginate, densely setose, border fringed with long setae. Labial palpus with terminal palpomere subrectangular, slightly flattened; length about 2/3 that of terminal maxillary palpomere.

Pronotum dark brown; weakly convex, disc weakly flattened at center; dark brown; length 0.90 mm, width 1.25 mm, widest at basal 1/3. Anterior margin straight except at strongly acute, depressed, anterolateral angles; lateral margins weakly arcuate, barely sinuate at lateral angles, narrowly margined, fringed with erect setae; posterolateral angles acute, explanate; posterior border trisinuate. Disc punctuation slightly coarser than on head; setae moderately long. Scutellum dark brown; subcordate, wider than long; anterior margin weakly arcuate between two anterolateral notches; disc weakly depressed at anterior 1/2, convex near posterior angle; punctation very fine.

Elytron red-brown; length 3.45 mm, width 0.80 mm; convex; narrowest at basal 1/3, widest at apical 1/3. Base depressed near margin; humeral angle rounded; lateral margin widened at basal 1/3, narrowly margined; apex acute. Disc strongly punctate and striate with deep, closely spaced punctures distinct from near base to apex, intervals weakly convex; setae slightly shorter than on pronotum, semi-erect and recumbent, uniformly distributed. Hind wing: macropterous.

Legs. Profemur red-brown, covered with fine, evenly spaced punctures and long, recumbent golden setae; protibia yellow-brown, mostly bare and shiny, dorsal surface with sparse, very long setae, ventral surface with dense row of short, stiff setae, weakly arcuate with narrow spines at ventral apex; protarsus yellow-brown, shiny, dorsal surface with sparse, very long setae, ventral surface with row of shorter, semi-erect setae, protarsomeres 4 and 5 each with a few much-longer dorsal setae. Mesofemur similar to profemur, mesotibia yellow-brown, ventral setae much longer than those of protibia, weakly arcuate with spinose ventral apex; mesotarsus similar to protarsus except ventral setae much longer. Metafemur and metatarsus similar to those of mesoleg, metatibia straight with spines at ventral apex.

Venter red-brown; heavily setose; finely to coarsely punctate. Prosternum with anterior border narrowly margined; prosternal process wide between procoxae, swollen over coxal bases, lateral margins weakly arcuate; process with median longitudinal carina terminating in a low, elongate protuberance near apex. Metaventrite with anterior process margined and depressed between mesocoxae; posterior disc depressed at junction of sulcate metakatepisternal suture and metathoracic discrimen. Abdomen with some setae longer than on rest of body except legs; ventrite 1 with triangular intercoxal process weakly depressed, margined laterally; ventrites 2–4 of equal length, finely and evenly punctate at center of disc, coarser laterally, aligned with faint, transverse strigae; ventrite 5 longest, disc coarsely punctate, covered with long setae prominent at margins.

Genitalia. Aedeagus moderately elongate (Fig. 17). Phallobase same length as parameres and same width as paramere bases together. Parameres each blade-like, inner surface concave; in dorsal view narrow, lateral margins nearly straight with a slight inward curve at midlength; in dorsolateral view sclerotized inner dorsal margin with short parallel ridges nearly perpendicular to margin; in lateral view each paramere wide, dorsal and ventral surfaces broadly arcuate, paramere tip acuminate and angled ventrally. Penis nearly as long as parameres, bottle-shaped, base constricted, basal 1/3–1/2 bulbous, apical 1/2 evenly tapered to narrowly rounded apex.

Intraspecific variation. The males from Paraguay vary from 3.85–4.45 mm long (n=5); females from 4.50– 4.70 mm long (n=4). The three male specimens from Argentina are much larger (4.95–5.20 mm long), as are their genitalia, but otherwise differences between the groups are minor. Nevertheless, they have not been designated as paratypes. The morphology of the prosternal process is somewhat variable among all of the males examined. Some have the process swollen over coxal bases and not margined; others are not swollen, but margined and have the longitudinal carina bordered laterally by shallow sulci. Among males, the degree to which the protibiae are curved varies.

Distribution. Known from three localities in Argentina and Paraguay (Fig. 3).

Etymology. This new species is named in honor of the Lengua, one of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the Gran Chaco of northern Paraguay.

Figures

FIGURE 16. Parygrus lengua n. sp., male holotype; 4.35 mm long, 1.65 mm wide: a) dorsal habitus; b) lateral habitus. FIGURE 17. Parygrus lengua n. sp., male genitalia: a) dorsal view; b) lateral view; c) ventral view.