Dyscolus verecundior Moret, 2020

Moret, Pierre & Murienne, Jérôme, 2020, Integrative taxonomy of the genus Dyscolus (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Platynini) in Ecuadorian Andes, European Journal of Taxonomy 646, pp. 1-55 : 47-48

Dyscolus verecundior Moret sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DAB1A22E-25D1-438C-AE2E-25542AF7E50F

Figs 54 , 58

Dyscolus verecundus Moret, 1998: 20 , pro parte.

Dyscolus (Dyscolus) verecundus – Moret 2005: 142, pro parte.

Etymology

Comparative form of the Latin adjective ‘ verecundus ’, which is the name of a closely related species.

Type material

Holotype

ECUADOR • ♂; Pichincha Province, Volcán Illiniza, ENE slope, Waypoint 136 ; 0.644404º S, 78.703469º W; 4335 m a.s.l.; 15 Jul. 2016; P. Moret and A. Barragán leg.; COI voucher in ethanol PM136-04, BOLD sequence SUM062-18; MNHN.

Paratypes (2 ♂♂)

ECUADOR – Pichincha Province • 1 ♂ (red printed label: “ Dyscolus verecundus Moret, 1998 , Paratype”); Volcán Illiniza, NE slope; 4080 m a.s.l.; 7 Aug. 1985; P. Moret leg.; Polylepis forest; CPM • 1 ♂ (red printed label: “ Dyscolus verecundus Moret, 1998 , Paratype”); E slope of Volcán Corazón; 4450 m a.s.l.; 24 Jan. 1986; P. Moret leg.; CPM.

Diagnostic description

Habitus: Fig. 54 . Wingless. Body length: 10.8–11.0 mm. Body colour variable, from reddish brown to piceous black, the vertex and the sutural zone of the elytra reddish; legs, antennae and mouthparts reddish. Elytral microsculpture isodiametric, distinctly impressed. Head robust, convex, neck strongly constricted, eyes moderately bulging, genae almost flat in dorsal view; antennae short. Pronotum transverse, subquadrate; sides moderately arcuate distally, weakly sinuate in basal third; hind angles variable, obtuse or almost quadrate, but always blunt; two pairs of lateral setae. Elytra subparallel, disc almost depressed; humeri rounded but not effaced, subapical sinuation obsolete; striae thin, shallowly impressed; intervals flat; third elytral interval with 3–5 discal setae. Fourth metatarsomere triangular, with one pair of lateroapical setae and without subapical dorsolateral setae; apical lobes very short, the inner one not extending beyond the insertion point of the lateroapical seta; fifth metatarsomere asetose ventrally. Last visible abdominal ventrite of the male with one pair of setae along its apical margin (♂). Male genitalia: Fig. 58 . Median lobe weakly arcuate; apical blade bluntly triangular in dorsal view; endophallus with two sclerotized squamose areas, ovoid in shape, median and subapical. Female genitalia: unknown.

Comparisons

This species closely resembles D. verecundus , now restricted to Mt Pichincha, its type locality. Dyscolus verecundior Moret sp. nov. differs from D. verecundus in a few external and genital characters: genae almost flat (convex in D. verecundus ); antennae slightly thicker, the second antennomere of the male 1.41 to 1.49 times as long as wide (1.50 to 1.65 times in D. verecundus ); fourth metatarsomere thinner, 1.16 to 1.20 times as long as wide (1.07 to 1.13 times in D. verecundus ); apical blade of the median lobe thinner in lateral view (compare Figs 56–57 and 58 ); sclerotized areas of the endophallus bigger.

Habitat

Lower superpáramo from 4080 to 4450 m a.s.l.

Geographic distribution

Microendemic species, restricted to the Illiniza and Corazón volcanoes in the Western Cordillera.

Figures

Figs 54–55. Dyscolus spp., habitus. 54. D. verecundior Moret sp. nov., male holotype (MNHN, COI voucher PM136-04). 55. D. verecundissimus Moret sp. nov., male holotype (MNHN).

Figs 56–59. Group of Dyscolus verecundus Moret, 1998, male aedeagus, median lobe in lateral and dorsal view. 56. D. verecundus, paratype from Rucu Pichincha. 57. D. verecundus, paratype from Guagua Pichincha. 58. D. verecundior Moret sp. nov., holotype (MNHN, COI voucher PM136- 04);.59. D. verecundissimus Moret sp. nov., holotype (MNHN).