Protoconnus napoanus, Jałoszyński, 2018

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2018, Revision of the Neotropical genus Protoconnus Franz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4392 (1), pp. 41-82 : 65

Protoconnus napoanus sp. n.

( Figs 50 , 58–59 , 101 )

Type material. Holotype: ECUADOR (Napo Province): ♂, two labels: "ECUADOR 50, Napo Prov. / Cosanga vic., Yanayacu / Station, hill above station, / sifting litter, 2000-2200 m / 00°35'S, 77°53'W / 3 XII 2009, leg. R. RUTA" [white, printed], " PROTOCONNUS / napoanus m. / P. JAŁOSZYŃSKI, 2018 / HOLOTYPUS" [red, printed] (MNHW).

Diagnosis. BL 0.98 mm; body stout, elytra 1.81 times as broad as strongly transverse pronotum; frons in male between supraantennal tubercles flat and narrow; vertex weakly convex, its posterior margin indistinctly concave in its median portion; pronotal base with small but distinct pits and distinct groove; lateral pronotal carinae distinct and sharp in posterior half; humeral carinae distinct, rounded and broad anteriorly, distinctly narrowing posterad, where they are sharply marked; aedeagus in ventral view with basal capsule very short, only about as long as 1/3 of median lobe, distal region long and slender, parallel-sided in proximal 2/3, distally narrowed to subtriangular, pointed and slightly asymmetrical apex; parameres slender, strongly curved laterad.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 50 ) strongly convex, brown, covered with setae distinctly lighter than cuticle; BL 0.98 mm.

Head broadest at very large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.20 mm; tempora in lateral view as long as 1/3 of the longest diameter of eye; vertex weakly convex, posterior margin broadly but very weakly concave in its median portion, laterally forming rounded but distinct angles with rounded tempora; frons between large supraantennal tubercles flat and narrow. Punctures on frons and vertex inconspicuous; setae short, sparse and suberect. Antennae slender, AnL 0.43 mm, shorter than half BL, club distinctly delimited; antennomere I twice as long as broad, II about 1.5 × as long as broad, III–VI each slightly transverse, VII and VIII about as long as broad, IX and X each distinctly transverse, XI much longer than X, about 1.2 × as long as broad.

Pronotum moderately transverse, subtrapezoidal, broadest at base; PL 0.23 mm, PW 0.28 mm. Anterior and posterior margins weakly convex, lateral margins weakly rounded; lateral carinae distinct and sharp in posterior half; transverse antebasal groove and five pits distinct. Punctures on pronotal disc inconspicuous; setae sparse, short, suberect.

Elytra much more convex than pronotum, oval, broadest in front of middle; EL 0.58 mm, EW 0.50 mm, EI 1.15; humeral carinae distinct and long, anteriorly broad and rounded, posteriorly narrowing and sharply marked, although weakly elevated. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotum.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 58–59 ) slender; AeL 0.13 mm; in ventral view basal capsule about as long as half of distal region, slightly narrowed distad; distal region laterally delimited from sides of basal capsule by rapid narrowing, very slender, parallel-sided in basal 2/3, with subtriangular, slightly asymmetrical and pointed apex, in lateral view distal half distinctly curved ventrad; in lateral view area above parameral bases forming a conspicuously large, rounded subtriangular projection; parameres strongly divergent distad, each with one long apical and one short subapical seta.

Female unknown.

Distribution. North-central Ecuador ( Fig. 101 ).

Etymology. Locotypical, after the Ecuadorian province of Napo.

Remarks. This species is externally unremarkable and the aedeagus must be examined for unambiguous identification. The basal capsule only as long as 1/3 of median lobe, the largely parallel-sided distal portion of median lobe, and a very large, rounded dorsal 'flange' above the parameral bases are unique for this species.

Figures

FIGURE 101. Distribution of nominal Protoconnus species.

FIGURES 48–53. Dorsal habitus of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus quillabambanus sp. n. (48); P. ecuadoranus sp. n. (49); P. napoanus sp. n. (50); P. impressifrons sp. n. (51); P. angustus sp. n. (52); P. maximus sp. n. (53).

FIGURES 54–61. Aedeagi of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus quillabambanus sp. n. (54–55); P. ecuadoranus sp. n. (56– 57); P. napoanus sp. n. (58–59); P. impressifrons sp. n. (60–61).