Bolitogyrus thomasi Brunke

Brunke, Adam J. & Solodovnikov, Alexey, 2014, A revision of the Neotropical species of Bolitogyrus Chevrolat, a geographically disjunct lineage of Staphylinini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), ZooKeys 423, pp. 1-113 : 53-54

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Bolitogyrus thomasi Brunke sp. n. Figs 14F, 22 G–I, 24K, 30D (map)

Type locality.

COSTA RICA, Heredia, 16 km SSE of La Virgen.

Type material.

Holotype ♂ (PTC): COSTA RICA, Heredia, 16 SSE La Virgen, 1050-1150 MTS. [white printed label] / ex. flight intercept, ‘11/TN/06/001’, 21/Mar/01, ALAS-INBIO [white printed label] / Holotype, Bolitogyrus thomasi Brunke, sp. n. [red printed label].

Diagnosis.

Within the Bullatus Lineage: pronotum with three punctures in dorsal row (c.f. Fig. 7D); lateral margins of pronotum strongly converging anteriad (c.f. Fig. 7C); male sternite VII strongly emarginate and about as deep as wide; median lobe entire and evenly converging to apex (Fig. 22G).

Description.

Measurements ♂ (n=1): HW/HL 2.05; PW/PL 1.63; EW/EL 1.27; ESut/PL 0.76; PW/HW 1.13; forebody length 3.9 mm.

Similar to Bolitogyrus cornutus and differing only in the following: body much paler, pale to medium brown-orange, without metallic reflections; paler portions of pronotum yellowish brown, pronotal protuberance only slightly paler; elytra paler than in Bolitogyrus cornutus , reddish-brown, epipleuron paler, yellow but less strongly contrasting with disc; dorsal abdomen with tergites III–V slightly paler than VI–VII, apex of tergite VII with nearly linear, pale marking; tergite VIII pale, yellowish-brown but with lateral darkening; antennomeres I–V pale, yellowish brown, apical antennomere distinctly paler than and contrasting with previous segments, yellow to light yellow; profemur with distinct, dark subapical band, meso- and metafemur with dark subapical band far from apex; frons finely and densely sculptured, less glossy than in Bolitogyrus cornutus ; base of head with posterior protuberances less pronounced, flattened, their surface with coarse, asetose and often rugose punctures; microsculpture absent dorsally except as broken lines in depressions and near punctures and well-developed fine lines on temples; pronotal disc with moderately dense, coarse, asetose punctures and micropunctures, microsculpture absent except as broken lines in depressions and near punctures; lateral areas with denser punctation; pronotal protuberance well developed and produced into a horn in males, smaller than that of Bolitogyrus cornutus , apex rounded not truncate; lateral margins of pronotum strongly convergent anteriad; with three punctures in dorsal row; median lobe entire but apical portion with median suture and minutely notched; in lateral view, median lobe slightly produced ventrad, narrowed to acute apex, apical portion with slight flange (Fig. 22H); paramere nearly reaching apex of median lobe; in parameral view, median lobe gradually narrowing from apical third to apex, lateral portions more strongly sclerotized and indicating potential traces of lateral lobes (Fig. 22G); paramere entire but with median suture, apical portion in parameral view with triangular notch and very narrowly divided at middle by suture for a short distance; in parameral view, paramere subparallel distal from base, gradually dilated to apex in apical fourth (Fig. 22G); peg setae fields present as a pair of lateral rows of nearly uniform width, extending from apical fourth to apex (Fig. 22I); male sternite VII with distinct and deep emargination, about as deep as broad, with broad and elongate, flattened, glabrous area (Fig. 14F); male sternite VIII with transverse basal line broken at middle, with apex slightly more emarginate than in Bolitogyrus cornutus , impressed and glabrous in elongate, triangular area near emargination; male sternite IX with base more strongly asymmetrical, apex as narrow but not as deep (Fig. 24K). Female unknown.

Distribution.

Figure 30D. Known only from the type locality on the Caribbean foothills of Barva Volcano in the Central Cordillera, Costa Rica.

Bionomics.

The holotype was captured by a flight intercept trap at 1050-1150 m in March.

Etymology.

The first author would like to dedicate this species to his colleague Paul N. Thomas (Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.), whose collecting expeditions in Costa Rica resulted in a significant and dominant portion of the material studied for the present revision.

Comments.

Bolitogyrus thomasi is most similar to other species of the Cornutus Group, especially Bolitogyrus bufo . However, none of these species are sympatric with it. Without distributional information, males may be identified by the deep emargination on sternite VII, which is about as deep as wide.