Protoconnus robustus Franz

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2018, Revision of the Neotropical genus Protoconnus Franz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4392 (1), pp. 41-82 : 59-60

Protoconnus robustus Franz

( Figs 37 , 46–47 , 98 , 101 )

Protoconnus robustus Franz, 1980: 196 , fig. 180.

Type material. Holotype: BOLIVIA (Manuel María Caballero Province): ♂, three labels ( Fig. 92 ): "Nebelwald b. / Comarapa, Peru / lg.H.Franz" with "SA143" on the reverse side and "Peru" overwritten with "Boliv." [white, printed], " Protoconnus / robustus / m. / det.H.Franz" [white, handwritten and printed], "Typus" [red, handwritten] (NHMW). Paratypes: 2 ♀♀, same data as for the holotype, with standard yellow "Paratypus" labels (NHMW).

Revised diagnosis. BL 1.30–1.38 mm; body relatively slender, elytra 1.61–1.80 times as broad as moderately transverse pronotum; frons in male between supraantennal tubercles flat; vertex unmodified, rounded; pronotal base with distinct pits and groove; lateral pronotal carinae distinct in posterior third; humeral carinae rounded; aedeagus in ventral view with sinuate lateral margins, apical region of median lobe slightly shorter than basal capsule, with subtriangular and pointed apex; parameres nearly parallel-sided.

Redescription. Body of male ( Fig. 37 ) strongly convex, brown with slightly lighter elytra and appendages, setae distinctly lighter than cuticle; BL 1.38 mm.

Head broadest at large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.25 mm, HW 0.29 mm; tempora in lateral view as long as about 1/3 of the longest diameter of eye; vertex distinctly convex, rounded and unmodified, its posterior margin laterally confluent with evenly rounded tempora; frons between prominent supraantennal tubercles flat. Punctures on frons and vertex inconspicuous; setae short, moderately dense and suberect. Antennae slender, AnL 0.59 mm, less than half as long as body, club distinctly delimited; antennomeres I and II each more than twice as long as broad; III–VIII each about as long as broad or indistinctly elongate, IX and X each distinctly transverse, XI much longer than X, about 1.1 × as long as broad.

Pronotum slightly transverse, subtrapezoidal, broadest shortly in front of base; PL 0.30 mm, PW 0.38 mm. Anterior and posterior margins weakly convex, lateral margins weakly rounded; lateral carinae distinct in posterior third; relatively large antebasal pits and transverse antebasal groove distinct. Punctures on pronotal disc inconspicuous; setae sparse, short, suberect.

Elytra much more convex than pronotum, oval, broadest in front of middle; EL 0.83 mm, EW 0.68 mm, EI 1.22; humeral carinae indistinct, rounded. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotum.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 46–47 ) slender; AeL 0.24 mm; in ventral view basal capsule slightly longer than distal region, distinctly narrowed distad; distal region laterally delimited from sides of basal capsule by relatively gradual narrowing, slender, subtriangular with slightly sinuate sides and pointed apex, in lateral view distal half straight with only the very tip slightly bent dorsad; in lateral view area above parameral bases only slightly convex; parameres divergent distad, sinuate, each with one long apical seta.

Female similar to male but slightly lighter and with distinctly smaller eyes; tempora in lateral view as long as 3/4 of the longest diameter of eye. BL 1.30–1.35 mm; HL 0.25 mm, HW 0.30 mm, AnL 0.60–0.65 mm; PL 0.30– 0.33 mm, PW 0.39–0.40 mm; EL 0.75–0.78 mm, EW 0.63–0.68 mm, EI 1.11–1.24.

Distribution. Central Bolivia ( Fig. 101 ).

Remarks. Protoconnus robustus has the largest males among all known species representing the 'typical' stout body form of the genus; only P. volcanbaru is larger, but its body is more slender, more densely setose and its aedeagus has a strikingly different shape. The body length ≥ 1.30 mm, the long elytra in relation to the pronotum, very slender antennae and the uniquely shaped aedeagus allow for easy identification of P. robustus .

Figures

FIGURE 101. Distribution of nominal Protoconnus species.

FIGURES 34–39. Dorsal habitus of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus araguanus Franz (34); P. paraguayanus Franz (35); P. peruensis Franz (36); P. robustus Franz (37); P. minutus Franz (38); P. minutissimus Franz (39).

FIGURES 40–47. Aedeagi of Protoconnus species. Protoconnus araguanus Franz (40–41); P. paraguayanus Franz (42–43); P. peruensis Franz (44–45); P. robustus Franz (46–47).

FIGURES 90–100. Original labels of primary type specimens of previously described Protoconnus species. Protoconnus andicola Franz (90); P. venezolanus Franz (91); P. bolivianus Franz (92); P. comarapae Franz (93); P. princeps (Franz) (94); P. araguanus Franz (95); P. paraguayanus Franz (96); P. peruensis Franz (97); P. robustus Franz (98); P. minutus Franz (99); P. minutissimus Franz (100).