Passalus (Passalus) luederwaldti Hincks, 1940

Bevilaqua, Marcus & Fonseca, Claudio Ruy Vasconcelos da, 2020, Redescription of the species of Passalus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera: Passalidae) described by Walter Douglas Hincks (1906 - 1961) deposited in the Museum of the University of Manchester, Journal of Natural History 54 (5 - 6), pp. 321-350 : 339-344

Passalus (Passalus) luederwaldti Hincks, 1940 ( Figures 9 – 10 )

Hincks 1940: 495; Hincks, 1949: 62; Hincks and Dibb 1958: 17; Reyes-Castillo 1970: 204;

Reyes-Castillo and Amat-Garcia 1991: 504; Amat-García et al. 2004: 177; Fonseca and

Reyes-Castillo, 2004: 7; Jiménez-Ferbans and Reyes-Castillo 2014: 36; Miles 2017: 120, fig 17.

Diagnosis. Large size species; convex body; straight anterior edge of the front; transversal mediofrontal area with rough or shagreened surface; long central tubercle with free apex slightly downward projecting to the front edge; small eyes; mentum with smooth mediobasal area; broad pronotum with rounded contour and few punctuations; prepimerum and humeri poorly pubescent; metasternal disc poorly delimited with group of coarse punctures located in posterior region; aedeagus longer than wide, with basal piece separated from the parameres in ventral view.

Redescription. Body ( Figure 9 ): habitus: convex; size: big (<30 mm in length). Head ( Figure 10 (a,c)): Labrum: anterior border concave. Clypeus: hidden under the frons; with anterior angles under the lateral + mediofrontal tubercles. Anterior frontal edge: straight, with a notch in the median region. Secondary mediofrontal tubercles: absent. Laterofrontal + mediofrontal tubercles: conspicuous, with slightly obtuse apexes and projected forward. Mediofrontal area: transverse, 3.7x wider than long, flat; wrikled surface, with denser wrinkles in the anterior area. Cephalic nodule: absent. Inner tubercles: small, inconspicuous, not detached from the posterofrontal ridges, smaller than the laterofrontal + mediofrontal tubercles, located midway between them at the base of the central tubercle. Anterofrontal ridges: straight, smaller, and weaker than the posterofrontal ridges, almost inconspicuous. Posterofrontal ridges: low, strong, and practically transversal to the base of the central tubercle, where they begin. Laterofrontal areas: slightly concave; with rough surface. Central tubercle: conical, large, high, with broadly free apex and dilated back with an inconspicuous groove; reaching beyond the anterior frontal edge, slightly downward. Lateroposterior tubercles: conspicuous, close to the central tubercle, with a coniform shape. Postfrontal area: flat, smooth surface. Postfrontal groove: well marked and without notch. Lateropostfrontal areas: poorly shallow and glabrous surface, with two strong diagonal ridges dividing the areas. Epicranial sutures: well marked. Epicranial pits: deep and very visible. Anterior angles of the head: small, with obtuse apices, smaller than the laterofrontal + mediofrontal tubercles. Canthus ocular: apex straight or slightly rounded not reaching half eye. Antennas: trilamellate, with robust lamellae, the distal being wider than the other two. Mouthparts ( Figures 9 (b), 10(b)): Ligula : tridentate with a larger middle tooth and wider than the lateral teeth, which are almost inconspicuous. Hypostomal process: wide, glabrous, and separated the mentum. Mentum mediobasal area: not dilated, smooth and glabrous, with non-protruding anterior region, notched in the middle. Mentum lateral lobes: rounded apexes. Mentum lateral scars: shallow, rounded, and large. Mandibles: incisor lobe with three well-formed teeth at apex; suprainternal teeth bifid and robust in left mandible; incospical infrabasal pits. Maxilla: lacinia bidentate at the apex. Prothorax. Pronotum ( Figures 9 (a,c), 10(a – c)): Anterior edge: straight medially. Anterior angles: obtuse. Marginal groove: well-marked, shallow, and narrow in all its length, with few punctures only at the apex, which is not dilated; reaching almost two-thirds of the pronotal width in the anterior margin. Lateral fossae: large, poorly marked and shallow; slightly oval-shape. Pronotal punctuations: absent, except for the marginal groove. Prosternum ( Figures 9 (b), 10(d)): Prepisternum: not dilated in the anterior region; fine pubescence throughout the lateroposterior region. Prepimerum glabrous. Prosternelum: rhomboid with truncated apex. Mesosternum ( Figures 9 (b), 10(d)): smooth, shiny, and glabrous. Mesosternal scars: long, narrow and shallow like a matt area; without punctuations or pubescence. Metasternum ( Figures 9 (b), 10(e)): Metasternal disc: well delimited by punctuations, but without lateral carina. Metasternal punctuations: group of large punctuations in the lateroposterior region. Metasternal pubescence: absent. Metasternal lateral groove: narrow, thinner than mesotibiae, deep, without punctures or bristles. Elytra ( Figure 9 (a)): Approximately 2.1x longer and 1.1x wider than pronotum. Striae: narrower than the interstriae, marked with round and inconspicuous punctuations on the dorsal striae and well defined in lateral striae. Epipleura : glabrous. Humeri: glabrous. Legs ( Figures 9 (a,b), 10(e)): Profemur: ventral anterior border with well-marked groove, reaching the apex of the profemur; ventral posterior border with few setae only near the apex. Protibiae: not dilated. Mesotibiae: two small spines, almost inconspícuos, on the outer face. Metatibiae: without spine. Abdomen ( Figure 9 (b)): sternite VII with incomplete and poorly marked groove; rough sides. Aedeagus ( Figure 10 (f)): In ventral view mediam lobe with smaller width than the parameres and the basal piece together and almost as long as these; with two sclerotised plaques on the lateral margin. Basal piece and parameres separate; parameres projections not reaching one-fourth of the length of the mediam lobe; arched anterior edege of the parameres, with a groove separating them medially; basal piece with re-enactment at anterior region. In side view, slightly rounded apex of the parameres. In dorsal view with separate parameres.

Dimensions. Total length: 31 mm; cephalic length: 3.5 mm; cephalic width: 7.1 mm; mediofrontal area length: 0.7 mm; mediofrontal area width: 2.6 mm; canthus ocular length: 0.9 mm; canthus ocular width: 0.4 mm; area of the mediofrontal area: 1.9 mm 2; mandibles external angle: 144º; antennal club length: 1.5 mm; antennal club width: 1.4 mm; distal lamella length: 0.7 mm; medial lamella length: 0.2 mm; width of the mentum at the lateral scars: 3.5 mm; mentum mediobasal area width: 1.6 mm; diameter of the mentum lateral scars: 0.8 mm; pronotal length: 7.9 mm; pronotal width: 10.3 mm; length of the pronotal anterior groove: 2.6 mm; elytral length: 17.3 mm; elytral width: 11.6 mm; humeral width: 9.4 mm; profemur length: 5.1 mm; length of the anterior ventral groove of the profemur: 3.6 mm; protibiae width: 1.6 mm; protarsal length: 3.3 mm; length of the last protarsomer: 1.2 mm; mesotibiae width: 1 mm; metasternal lateral groove width: 0.5 mm; metasternal disc length: 7.1 mm; abdomen length: 8.3 mm; aedeagus length: 3.6 mm; aedeagus width: 2 mm; median lobe length: 2 mm; paremeres projection lenght: 0.4 mm; basal piece lenght: 1.1 mm.

Material examined: type material. Holotype (♂) F2439.23. COLOMBIA: Muzo // Columbia // Ex Staudinger &/ Bang Haas , Dresden //Mus. Hincks/and Dibb // Type // Passalus /(Petrejus)/luederwaldti/ Hincks / Type //[illeg.]// Manchester Museum / HOLOTYPE // F2439.23 ( MMUE) .

Remarks. In the description of Passalus luederwaldti, Hincks does not any comment comparing this species with other; however, in one of the labels attached to the holotype, there is a mention of comparing the species to Passalus sagittarius Smith and P. inca Zang. In addition, other species very similar to P. luederwaldti are P. chingaensis Reyes-Castillo and Amat-Garcia and P. brachypterus Jiménez-Ferbans et al. All species mentioned present straight anterior frontal edge with a small notch in the middle, mediofronal area wider that long, with wrinkled or shagreened surface, long central tubercle with very free apex reaching the anterior frontal edge, broad pronotum with few punctuations, reduced wings and metasternal disc with punctuations in the lateroposterior region. Of the five species, the one that most differs from the others is P. inca , since it has the broader central tubercle and possesses fairly pubescent prepisternum in the lateroposterior region, as well as the humeri. Based on the descriptions and drawings contained therein, P. luederwaldti is very similar to P. sagittarius , P. chingaensis and P. brachypterus . These species can be differentiated mainly by the size of the central tubercle and by the size and position of the lateroposterior tubercles. P. luederwaldti and P. brachypterus present a central tubercle slightly beyond the anterior frontal edge, while P. sagittarius and P. chingaensis present central tubercle fairly beyond the anterior frontal edge, besides P. luederwaldti presents lateroposterior tubercles conspicuous, located close and just ahead of the posterior region of the central tubercle, while in P. sagittarius they are obsolete, in P. chingaensis they are small and located near the posterior region of the central tubercle, and in P. brachypterus they are large longitudinally. Additionally, in the description of P. brachypterus, Jiménez-Ferbans and Reyes-Castillo (2014) comment that this species still differs from P. luederwaldti by presents a larger size, smooth and shiny mediofrontal area and by the absence of a groove in the posterior region of the central tubercle.

If such differential characters are treated as weak or variable within this species group, maybe possibly both P. luederwaldti , P. chingaensis and P. brachypterus are synonyms of P. sagittarius , however it would be necessary to analyse the type and additional material from all species to support such decision. For now, we prefer to maintain a valid species status.

Distribution. Colombia (Muzo and Villavicencio).

Figures

Figure 9. Passalus (Passalus) luederwaldti Hincks, 1940 male holotype: (a) habitus dorsal; (b) habitus ventral; (c) habitus lateral.

Figure 10. Passalus (Passalus) luederwaldti Hincks, 1940 male holotype: (a) head; (b) mentum; (c) head and pronotum in dorsolateral view; (d) mesosternum; (e) metasternum; (f) aedeagus.