Baeocera vintercepta Löbl, 2021

Löbl, Ivan, Leschen, Richard A. B. & Warner, William B., 2021, Scaphisomatini of Arizona (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scaphidiinae) collected by V-Flight Intercept Traps, Revue suisse de Zoologie 128 (1), pp. 173-185 : 178

Baeocera vintercepta Löbl , sp. nov.

Figs 9, 10

Material examined:

Holotype: MHNG (# MHNG-ENTO-86103); male; USA: AZ: Gila Co. along Tonto Ck. , 0.2 mi. S of Gisela; elev. 2845 ft.; 34.0862°, - 111.2874°; July 6-21, 2018, V-flight intercept trap; W.B. Warner.

Paratypes: MHNG; 3 males, 2 females; USA: AZ: Santa Cruz Co. Duquesne Rd. , 2.3 rd. mi E jct. Hwy 82; Santa Cruz R. ; 31.3757°, - 110.8406° Aug. 3-14. 2018; V-flight intercept trap; W.B. Warner. – MHNG; 1 male; USA: AZ: Santa Cruz Co. Palo Prado Rd. , east side Santa Cruz R.; 31.531°, 111.016°; July 11-16, 2018; V-flight intercept trap; W.B. Warner ( MHNG); – WBWC; 1 male; USA: AZ: Maricopa Co. along Sycamore Creek at Sunflower; 33.8651°, - 111.4657°; Jul.16-Aug.4.2019; V-flight intercept trap; W.B. Warner.

Etymology: The species epithet is a Latin adjective referring to the mode of collection, the v-flight intercept traps providing remarkable results.

Diagnosis: The species is defined by the following characters in combination: body length about 1.10- 1.25 mm, body dark brown, lateral margins of pronotum and elytra separately arcuate, elytron with basal stria broadly separated from lateral stria, lateral parts of metaventrite with hardly visible punctation, ventrite I with basal striae, aedeagus as Figs 9, 10 , symmetrical and narrow, median lobe tapering in lateral view, with obtuse tip in dorsal view, parameres abruptly narrowed near apices, internal sac with complex sclerites.

Description: Length 1.10-1.23 mm, width 0.77- 0.80 mm. Body dark brown. Legs lighter, reddish to yellowish, tibiae and tarsi lighter than femora. Antennomeres I to VI about as light as tarsi. Antennomere II about twice as long as antennomere III. Length/width ratios of antennomeres as: III 12/7: IV 17/6: V 18/6: VI 18/6: VII 24/9: VIII 19/10: IX 26/13: X 28/14: XI 40/16. Pronotum and elytra separately arcuate, pronotum with punctation fine, hardly visible at 50 times magnification, pronotal microsculpture indistinct, elytra not microsculptured. Marginal carinae of pronotum not visible in dorsal view. Point of scutellum exposed. Elytron weakly narrowed apically, with lateral margin rounded near base and apex, oblique in middle third, adsutural area flat and narrow, sutural stria impunctate, curved along base to form basal stria extended slightly outward basal half of elytral width and broadly separated from lateral stria, somewhat approximate to basal margin; lateral stria appearing impunctate. Discal punctation less fine that that on pronotum, distinct at 50 times magnification. Hypomeron impunctate. Mesepimeron hardly three times as long as wide and about 1.5 times as long as distance to coxa. Median part of metaventrite flattened, with distinct, dense punctation laterally centre. Remaining punctation on metaventrite hardly visible at 100 times magnification. Submesocoxal lines convex, with row of small, not elongate pits, not extended laterally. Submesocoxal areas 0.04-0.05 mm long, nearly as half of shortest distance to metacoxae. Exposed part of metanepisternum flat, 0.05-0.07 mm wide, suture of metanepisternum deep, impunctate, straight. Tibiae straight. Abdominal punctation as fine as that on elytra, microsculpture punctulate, distinct. Ventrite I with basal row of fine pits interrupted at middle and extended by fine, 0.08-0.12 mm long striae. Aedeagus ( Figs 3, 4 ) 0.39-0.42 mm long, weakly sclerotized.

Distribution: USA, Arizona.

Type locality: Arizona, Gila Co. along Tonto Ck., 0.2 mi. S of Gisela, 34.0862°N, 111.2874°W, 2845 ft.

Remarks: This new species is clearly a member of the B. picea group (see Löbl & Stephan, 1993). The median lobe and parameres are similar with those in B. scylla ( Cornell, 1967) , while the shape of the sclerites of the internal sac are distinctive, and the presence of a proximal subtriangular plate is diagnostic for this new species. Baeocera vintercepta is readily distinguished from B. scylla by the longitudinal striae at the base of the ventrite I. It may be separated also by the comparatively shorter antennomere XI which is in B. scylla nearly twice as long as the antennomere X, the submesocoxal lines being not parabolic and having the submesocoxal areas much shorter. The new species falls in the key to the North American Baeocera ( Löbl & Stephan, 1993) under the couplet 5, to B. elongata Löbl & Stephan, 1993 , as B. arizonensis . These two species possess very distinctive aedeagi, in addition B. vintercepta may be easily distinguished by the uniformly dark body and the antennomeres XI larger, more than twice as long as wide.

Figures

Figs 3-10. Aedeagi in Baeocera. (3 - 4) B. arizonensis Löbl, sp. nov., in dorsal and lateral views, scale = 0.1 mm. (5) Ditto, paramere in ventral view, scale = 0.1 mm. (6-7) B. obscura Löbl, sp. nov., in dorsal and lateral views, scale = 0.1 mm (basal bulb deformed, tip of apical process broken). (8.) Ditto, paramere in ventral view, scale = 0.05 mm. (9-10) B. vintercepta Löbl, sp. nov., in dorsal and lateral views, scale = 0.1 mm.