Baconia patula Lewis, 1885

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2013, A systematic revision of Baconia Lewis (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 343, pp. 1-297 : 26-28

Baconia patula Lewis, 1885 Figs 3 C–D4A–FMap 1

Baconia patula Lewis, 1885: 463.

Type locality.

BRAZIL: Santa Catarina: Blumenau [26.9°S, 49.0°W].

Type material.

Neotype male (ZMHB): "Blumenau Bras." / "Baconia patula" / "Caterino/Tishechkin Exosternini Voucher EXO-00442" / "NEOTYPE Baconia patula Lewis Desg. M.Caterino & A.Tishechkin, 2011".

Other material.

BRAZIL: 1: Espirito Santo: Venda Nova do Imigrante, 20°16'S, 41°25'W, xii.2000, FIT, forest, F. Vaz-de-Mello (AKTC); 1: Santa Catarina: Blumenau (ZMHB); 1: Nova Teutonia, 10.iv.1957, Bambusa , F. Plaumann (FMNH), 3: 10.vi.1960, 5: 11.vi.1960, 2: 11.vii.1957, 3: 12.v.1960, 5: 12.vi.1960, 4: 13.vi.1960, 5: 19.v.1960, 4: 2.vi.1960, 1: 2.vii.1959, 5: 20.v.1960, 2: 20.vi.1960, 8: 21.v.1960, 7: 22.vii.1960, 4: 23.v.1960, 5: 24.v.1960, 5: 25.v.1950, 2: 26.v.1960, 3: 27.v.1960, 4: 28.v.1960, 5: 3.vi.1960, 2: 4.vi.1960, 6: 5.vi.1960, 11: 6.vi.1960, 6: 7.vi.1960, 5: 8.vi.1960, 4: 9.vi.1960 (all: Bambusa taquara , F. Plaumann leg., FMNH).

Diagnostic description.

Length: 2.0-2.7mm, width: 1.8-2.3mm; body broadly subquadrate, slightly but distinctly widening toward the front, very strongly depressed, glabrous; color rufo-brunneus throughout; frons broad, shallowly depressed at middle, interocular margins weakly convergent dorsad, disk with few sparse median punctures, frontal stria fine, present along inner margin of eye, bent mediad at front, but broadly interrupted medially, supraorbital stria absent; antennal club distinctly elongate, sides subparallel; epistoma with apical margin straight; labrum about 4 ×wider than long, apically emarginate; both mandibles with basal tooth; pronotal sides almost evenly arcuate to apex, subexplanate at sides, lateral marginal stria complete around lateral and anterior margins, very fine and close to margin, submarginal stria absent; pronotal disk with only fine ground punctation over median three-fourths of disk, with small, shallowly impressed secondary punctures sparsely interspersed at sides; elytra with two complete epipleural striae and fragments of a third, outer subhumeral stria absent, inner subhumeral stria variably impressed in basal half, dorsal stria 1 complete, 2nd stria abbreviated at extreme base, 3rd stria very fine, scratchlike, present in basal half only, 4th, 5th and sutural striae absent, elytral disk with very small secondary punctures in apical fifth; prosternal keel broad, weakly convex, base weakly produced, carinal striae more or less complete, may be slightly abbreviated anteriorly, separate, subparallel; prosternal lobe about half keel length, apical margin broadly rounded, marginal stria present, obsolete at sides; mesoventrite broadly and distinctly emarginate, marginal stria complete; mesometaventral stria present at middle, detached laterally, inner lateral metaventral stria continuing from apex of marginal mesoventral stria, extending obliquely posterolaterad toward outer corner of metacoxa, abbreviated apically, outer lateral metaventral stria absent, metaventral disk impunctate at middle; abdominal ventrite 1 with single, complete lateral stria, disk impunctate between; protibia narrow, elongate, with three marginal teeth, outer margin very finely serrulate between; mesotibia with single, inconspicuous subapical spine, and weak, oblique, submarginal carina near midpoint of anterior face; outer metatibial margin smooth; pygidia short and wide, propygidium with transverse basal stria, with moderately large ocellate punctures separated by about their diameters at middle, denser toward sides; propygidial gland openings very small, visible posterad ends of transverse basal stria; pygidium with sparse ground punctation and small secondary punctures evenly interspersed, separated by about their diameters. Male genitalia (Figs 4A-F): T8 broad, sides rounded to apex, basal rim slightly widened, basal emargination shallow, subangulate, apical emargination deep, narrow, ventrolateral apodemes weakly sclerotized, short, opposing, separated by about one-half tegmen width; S8 short, divided, with distinct, stronger ventromedial subsclerotizations, inner edges strongly divergent in apical half, outer margins weakly divergent, apical guides widening to broadly rounded apices, without conspicuous setae; T9 with basal apodemes long, thin, about one-half total length, T9 apices very narrowly rounded, glabrous, ventrolateral apodemes very poorly developed; T10 entire; S9 weakly widened to rounded base, head abruptly widened, sides attenuate, sclerotized along lateral and distal margins, not apically divided; tegmen narrowest near base, widening weakly to near apex, tegmen in lateral aspect rather thick throughout, weakly curved ventrad just at apex; median lobe simple, about one-third tegmen length; basal piece about one-fifth tegmen length, apical emarginations deep.

Remarks.

The original type of Baconia patula is unfortunately lost. There is an empty point in the BMNH, with labels that unambiguously associate the mount with the original type specimen. However, the specimen has been sought on multiple occasions, by the senior author and by BMNH personnel, and no corresponding specimen could be found. Because of the strong similarity among Baconia species the designation of an unambiguous Neotype seemed appropriate. The Neotype bears the same data as the original type, and may in fact be a syntype, although this can only be speculated.

This species is very distinct in its strongly flattened (Fig. 3C), non-metallic, rufobrunneus appearance, its emarginate labrum (Fig. 3B), and weakly convex prosternal keel (Fig. 3D). The association with 'Bambusa taquara’, is not as specific as it appears, as no species of Bambusa currently bears this name, and taquara is generally used as a common name for various bamboos.