Chileanthicus elmorado, Kejval, 2009

Kejval, Zbyněk, 2009, Taxonomic revision of the genus Chileanthicus Werner (Coleoptera: Anthicidae) 2180, Zootaxa 2180 (1), pp. 1-82 : 15-17

Chileanthicus elmorado sp. nov.

( Figs 17–20 , 43 )

Chileanthicus lafertei ; Werner (1966): 223, figs 1, 2, 5, 7; not Solier (1851).

Type locality. Chile, Atacama, Huasco Prov., S of Freirina, Mineral El Morado.

Description (male, holotype). Head and pronotum rufous; elytra largely brown, with base, suture and lateral margins pale rufous, with rather narrow, vaguely outlined, transverse, yellowish band close behind mid-length, interrupted on suture, not touching lateral margins; legs, antennae and palpi rufous.

Head 1.2 times as long as wide, nearly evenly rounded posteriorly in dorsal view; tempora subparallel closely behind eyes; posterior temporal angles rounded, indistinct. Dorsal surface glossy, sparsely punctured, unwrinkled; punctation somewhat heterogeneous, mostly fine, with scattered, more or less coarser punctures (bearing longer setae). Setation conspicuous, mostly decumbent, with numerous very long, suberect to erect setae. Eyes medium to small, only moderately convex. Antennae slender, at most slightly enlarged in terminal third; antennomere III 3.2 times as long as wide, moderately longer than IV; antennomere X 1.6 times, XI 2.1 times as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.4 times as long as wide, as wide as head including eyes, regularly rounded anteriorly in dorsal view; pronotal disc convex, dorso-lateral side entirely rounded, lateral outlines slightly sinuous in dorsal view. Dorsal surface rather glossy, unwrinkled; punctation and setation similar to that on head, coarser punctures more numerous and prominent dorso-laterally in posterior half.

Elytra 1.6 times as long as wide, rather convex, narrowed, subtruncate to nearly conjointly rounded apically in dorsal view. Surface glossy, sparsely punctured; basal punctation similar to that on head. Setation as on head.

Metafemora unidentate ( Fig. 43 ), subapical process distinctly protruding, nearly thorn-like shaped, pointed, facing outer side of tibia. Setation rather uniformly short and fine.

Abdominal sternum VII modified ( Fig. 17 ), its posterior margin rather deeply emarginate medially, lateral sides of emargination each with 6–8 peg-like setae. Tergum VII nearly evenly rounded posteriorly. Sternite VIII ( Figs 18, 19 ); paired prongs simple, sharply curved ventrad, rather evenly narrow distally, each with 11–13 peg-like setae ventrally. Tergite VIII with posterior margin rather distinctly emarginate medially.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 20 ); apical portion of tegmen short, 0.4 times as long as basal-piece, simple, narrowing towards evenly rounded apex in ventral view, with small denticle (short transverse edge) dorsally, and with straight, bluntly pointed apex in lateral view; median lobe of aedeagus with a pair of slender, pointed and sclerotized projections apically.

Female. Externally differing from male mainly by sternum VII simple, evenly rounded posteriorly; tergum VII subtriangular, more narrowed posteriorly than in male, with rounded apical margin.

Body length (♂ ♀). 2.7–4.0 mm (holotype 3.9 mm).

Variation. The body may be more or less darker coloured dorsally, in an extreme case nearly brown black (except transverse band). Nearly half of the paratypes have the head and/or pronotum more or less distinctly corrugated dorsally; corrugation of pronotum more frequent, mostly fine and limited to median line, but in several specimens rather coarse and covering nearly the entire dorsal side. For differences in some additional specimens see Remarks.

Type material. Holotype: ♂, CHILE: Atacama Pr.: Mineral El Morado in coast region 20 Sept.1963 under stones L. Peña // Chileanthicus lafertei male (Solier) det.FGWerner ’65 ( MCZC) . Paratypes: 19 ♂♂, 16 ♀♀, same data as holotype ( UAIC, 8 specimens ZKDC, 1 specimen each in DCDC, FRSC, MNNC) ; 1 ♂, same data as holotype, in addition with: Fig. by S. Oman 1965 [h; pink label] // Spm. redescribed Werner ’65 [h] ( UAIC) ; 1 ♂, same data as holotype, in addition with: Chileanthicus lafertei (Solier) det. F. Werner ’65 [p, h] ( UAIC) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀ [both dissected by Werner ], same data as holotype, in addition with: Genit. Fig .# 1 ♂ or Genit. Fig.# 2 ♀ ( DCDC) ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, Chile, Atacama, Huasco Prov., Vista Alegre , 6.x.1991, J. E. Barriga leg. ( JEBC) .

Additional material. 1 ♀, Chile, Atacama, Huasco Prov. , S of Freirina, Mineral El Morado, 20.ix.1963, L. Peña leg. (coll. Bonadona, MNHN) ; 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, Chile, Atacama, 40 km S of Copiapo , 23.x.1983, L. E. Peña leg. ( ZKDC) ; 5 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, Chile, Atacama, Huasco Prov., Domeyco , 7.xi.1991, J. E. Barriga leg. ( JEBC, ZKDC) ; 1 ♀, Chile, Atacama, Huasco Prov., Huasco , 14.x.1992, M. Beeche leg. ( MNNC) .

Differential diagnosis. Externally, Chileanthicus elmorado sp. nov. resembles C. hirsutus sp. nov., but differs in the male characters, mainly by the setation of male sternite VIII (cf. Figs 18, 19 and 28, 29 ), and form of the apical portion of the tegmen (cf. Figs 20 , 31 ).

Etymology. Named after the type locality.

Distribution. Chile (Atacama).

Remarks. The type series of C. elmorado sp. nov. is comprised of the specimens F. G. Werner used in his redescription of C. lafertei ( Werner, 1966; see labels in the paratypes from UAIC, DCDC). The female specimen in the collection of P. Bonadona in MNHN bears the same labels and originates from the same locality sample. It is not included in the type series, as I only noted its presence in MNHN before beginning of this study.

The single female specimen from Huasco (additional material, MNNC) displays external characters of C. elmorado sp. nov., however its identity is somewhat uncertain because of lack of a male from the same locality sample. The identity of the specimens from Domeyco and a place 40 km S of Copiaco (additional material, ZKDC, JEBC) is uncertain as well. They are rather tentatively listed under C. elmorado sp. nov. with respect to similar form of male sternum VII and tegmen of aedeagus. However, they differ by head somewhat widely rounded posteriorly in dorsal view, elytra rather truncate apically (sharply truncate in a male specimen from Domeyco), as well as in male characters (moderately). It is obvious, that aptery of Chileanthicus and rather broken terrain of the Chilean Coast Range support occurrence of more or less aberrant regional populations, and that extensive material is needed to deal with their identity, problems of variability, etc.

Figures

FIGURES 17–26: Chileanthicus elmorado sp. nov., male, holotype: 17, sternum VII; 18, sternite VIII (half), dorsal view; 19, sternite VIII, lateral view; 20, aedeagus in ventral (left) and its apical portion in lateral (right) view; 21, C. femineus sp. nov., female, holotype, sternum VII; C. femineus sp. nov., male, paratype: 22, sternum VII; 23, sternite VIII (half), dorsal view; 24, sternite VIII, lateral view; 25, tergite VIII; 26, aedeagus (lacking apical portion), lateral view. Scale (0.5 mm): A, 20, 26; B, 17, 22; C, 21, 25; D, 18, 19, 23, 24.

FIGURES 34–44: Chilenathicus lafertei (Solier), female, syntype (MNHN): 34, body form; 35, metafemur, lateral view; 36, sternum VII; 37, tergum VII; C. maritimus sp. nov., male, holotype: 38, sternum VII; 39, sternite VIII (half), dorsal view; 40, sternite VIII, lateral view; 41, aedeagus, ventral (right) and lateral (left) view; 42, apex of aedeagus, ventral view; Metafemur, lateral view: 43, C. elmorado sp. nov.; 44, C. femineus sp. nov. Scale (0.5 mm): A, 39, 40; B, 38; C, 41, 42; D, 35, 36, 38, 43, 44; (1 mm): E, 34.

FIGURES 27–33: Chileanthicus hirsutus sp. nov., male, holotype: 27, sternum VII; 28, sternite VIII (half), dorsal view; 29, sternite VIII, lateral view; 30, tergite VIII; 31, aedeagus, ventral (left) and lateral (right) view; antennomeres I–VI: 32, C. hirsutus sp. nov.; 33, C. maritimus sp. nov. Scale (0.5 mm): A, 28, 29; B, 27; C, 31; D, 30, 32; E, 33.