Phelister blairoides, Caterino & Tishechkin, 2020

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2020, Recognition and revision of the Phelister blairi group (Histeridae, Histerinae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 1001, pp. 1-154 : 1

56. Phelister blairoides sp. nov. Figs 36E, F , 39A, B , Map 18

Type material.

Holotype male: " Ecuador: Napo Prov., Estación Cientifica Yasuní 00°40'28"S, 76°50'50"W [-0.6744, -76.6472], IX-5-10-1999, 215 m, Coll. E. G. Riley" / "flight intercept trap, primary forest" / "Caterino/Tishechkin Exosternini Voucher EXO-00356" (TAMU); Paratypes (39): same data as type (TAMU, 11ex.); Ecuador: Orellana, Est. Biodiv. Tiputini (-0.6376, -76.1499), 6/4/11-6/9/11, FIT, M. Caterino & A. Tishechkin, EXO-00705 (MSCC, 1ex.); Orellana, Est. Cientifica Yasuní, mid. Rio Tiputini (-0.675, -76.4), 7/26/99-7/30/99, FIT, A. Tishechkin, LSAM 0045163 (LSAM, 1ex.); Orellana, Est. Biodiv. Tiputini (-0.64, -76.15), 7/28/08-7/31/08, FIT, A.K.Tishechkin (AKTC, 2ex.); Orellana, Est. Biodiv. Tiputini (-0.64, -76.15), 8/3/08-8/6/08, FIT, LSAM Team (LSAM, 3ex.); Orellana, Est. Cientifica Yasuní (-0.675, -76.4), 7/11/08-7/24/08, FIT, A. Tishechkin (AKTC, CHND & LSAM, 12ex.); Colombia: Vaupes, Est. Biol. Caparu, Rio Apoporis (-1.1, -69.5), 9/27/95-12/1/95, FIT, Black-water terrace forest on sandy soils, B. Gill, EXO-03436 (AKTC, 1ex.); Vaupes, Perco. Nac. Mosiro-Itajura (Caparu), Centro Ambiental (-1.0667, -69.5167), 60 m, 1/20/03-1/30/03, FIT, D. Arias & M. Sharkey, EXO-03437 (8ex.).

Other material.

Brazil: Distrito Federal, Res. Ecol. do IBGE, Brasília, Armad. Janela, área não queimada (-15.0917, -47.8833), 1/20/98, EXO-03430 (CHND, 1ex.); Distrito Federal, Res. Ecol. do IBGE, Brasília, Armad. janela, área queimada (-15.0917, -47.8833), 1/6/97, EXO-03429 (CHND, 1ex.); Distrito Federal, Res. Ecol. do IBGE, Brasília, Armad. janela, área queimada (-15.0917, -47.8833), 1/20/98, EXO-03431 (CHND, 1ex.); Mato Grosso, Cáceres (-16.1, -57.7), 11/17/84, Buzzi, Mieike, Elias, Casagrande, DZUP 272612 (DZUP, 1ex.); Mato Grosso, Mpio. Cotriguaçu, Fazenda São Nicolau, Mata Norte (-9.8192, -58.26), 12/8/10-12/14/10, FIT, F.Z. Vaz-de-Mello (CEMT, 5ex.); Mato Grosso, Mpio. Cotriguaçu, Fazenda São Nicolau, Matinha (-9.8383, -58.2508), October 2009, FIT, F.Z. Vaz-de-Mello, EXO-03434 (CEMT, 1ex.); Mato Grosso, Mpio. Cuiaba Fazenda Mutuca (-15.3145, -55.9703), 3/13/09, FIT, J.R. Rocha, EXO-03433 (CEMT, 1ex.); Mato Grosso, Mpio. Cuiaba Fazenda Mutuca (-15.3145, -55.9703), 12/6/11-12/20/11, FIT, cerrado, M. Caterino & A. Tishechkin, EXO-00862 (MSCC, 1ex.); Mato Grosso, Mpio. Querencia, Fazenda São Luiz (-12.597, -52.3749), February 2009, FIT, R. Andrade, EXO-03432 (CEMT, 1ex.); French Guiana: Belvédère de Saül, point de vue (3.6228, -53.2094), 12/20/10, FIT, SEAG (CHND, 1ex.); Régina, Rés. Natur. des Nouragues, Camp Inselberg (4.0833, -52.6833), 9/30/10, FIT, SEAG (CHND, 1ex.); Peru: Madre de Dios, CICRA Field Stn., ~ 2 km NW cafeteria res. plot. 12.55236°S, 70.10989°W, 295 m, Flight intrcept. 7-13.vi.2011, Chaboo Team (SEMC 4ex.); Suriname: Sipaliwini, CI-RAP Surv. Camp 3: Wehepai SE Kwamala (2.3629, -56.6977), 237 m, 9/3/10-9/7/10, FIT, Larsen & Short, EXO-03438 (SEMC, 1ex.); Sipaliwini, CI-RAP Surv. Camp 4: on lower Kasikasima River (-2.9773, -55.3850), 200 m, 3/20/12-3/25/12, FIT, T. Larsen (AKTC & SEMC, 4ex.).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 1.81-2.36 mm (avg. 2.11 mm); width: 1.58-1.97 mm (avg. 1.81 mm). Body elongate, only weakly oval, rufescent, with ground punctation moderately conspicuous; frons and epistoma somewhat narrow, deeply depressed along midline, conspicuously punctate; supraorbital stria present, narrowly separated from sides of frontal; frontal stria narrowly interrupted at middle; epistoma raised at sides; labrum weakly emarginate; each mandible with only very small basal tooth; antennal club elongate with conspicuous setose patch on dorsal surface; prescutellar impression of pronotum narrowly oval, about equal in width to scutellum; pronotal disk with numerous small secondary punctures in lateral thirds, sparser toward anterior corner; median pronotal gland openings distinctly annulate, ~ 1/5 behind anterior margin; lateral marginal pronotal stria complete, broken with inner ends recurved briefly behind eyes; submarginal pronotal stria complete along lateral margin, weakly impressed, crenulate, rounding anterior corner, nearly meeting broken ends of anterior marginal stria; elytron with single, complete epipleural stria; outer subhumeral stria present in basal and apical halves, interrupted at middle, inner absent; dorsal striae 1-4 complete, 4th arched to sutural, 5th present in apical 1/2, sutural stria usually complete; propygidium with uniformly dense, small secondary punctures; those of pygidium sparser and much smaller, barely larger than ground punctures; prosternal keel emarginate at base, striae separate or weakly united along base, enclosing a triangle ~ 3/4 length of keel, with secondary striae along basal 1/2; prosternal lobe rounded, with complete marginal stria; mesoventrite produced, with complete marginal stria continued at sides by postmesocoxal stria, ending freely beyond posterior corner of mesocoxa; mesometaventral stria sinuate, angulate at middle, reaching middle of mesoventrite, continued at sides by lateral metaventral stria to inner 1/3 of metacoxa; middle portion of metaventrite impunctate; 1st abdominal ventrite with secondary punctures along anterior third, with nearly complete lateral stria along inner margin of metacoxa; protibia broad, outer margin with fine, sparse marginal spines. Male: T8 with accessory sclerites present, T10 divided, S8 with a couple apical setae, no fringe; aedeagus with basal piece ~ 1/3 tegmen length; tegmen sides parallel in basal 1/3, slightly widened to midpoint, then tapered to narrowly rounded apex; median lobe short, apical.

Etymology.

The name of this species signifies its strong but perhaps convergent similarity to the species P. blairi .

Distribution.

This widespread species is known from Amazonian Ecuador, Colombia, central Brazil, and southern Suriname.

Remarks.

This species is very similar to P. blairi in a number of external characters, although genitalic morphology suggest the two are not closely related. Both have the pronotal gland openings quite far forward, at most 1/4 behind the pronotal margin, and typically have the anterior marginal pronotal stria broken and/or recurved in front of these. Phelister blairoides can be distinguished by its complete (not obsolete basally) lateral submarginal pronotal stria, and its outer subhumeral elytral stria being present basally as well as apically (though interrupted at middle), whereas P. blairi has only the apical portion of the outer subhumeral stria present. It is also considerably larger in overall body size than P. blairi . The most salient differences in male genitalia include the fully divided 10th tergite in P. blairoides (halves fused basally in P. blairi ), and the more distal position of the medioventral process in P. blairoides .

Figures

Map 18. Collecting records for Phelister incertus (black triangles), P. okeefei (white circle), P. blairoides (white squares), and P. pirana (star).

Figure 36. A, B Phelister incertus: A dorsal habitus B ventral habitus C, D P. okeefei: C dorsal habitus D ventral habitus E, F P. blairoides: E dorsal habitus F ventral habitus G, H P. pirana: G dorsal habitus H ventral habitus.

Figure 39. Male genitalia Phelister blairoides A aedeagus, dorsal B aedeagus, lateral.