Tetradonia vonbeerensis Gualdrón-Diaz & Chani-Posse, 2024

Gualdrón-Díaz, Juliette C. & Chani-Posse, Mariana R., 2024, First record of the genus Tetradonia Wasmann, 1894 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) in Colombia, with description of two new species, Zootaxa 5474 (2), pp. 181-191 : 183-186

Tetradonia vonbeerensis Gualdrón-Diaz & Chani-Posse sp. n.

Figs. 1–17

Material studied. Type material. Holotype ♂, COLOMBIA, with one labels: [white label] “COLOMBIA, Cundinamarca / San Antonio del Tequendama / Reserva Chicaque refugio / Trampa de luz UV, 04°36.892N 74°18.677W / 2221m, 8-12.iv.2013, Duque N leg.” [white, printed] ( MPUJ _ENT) . Paratypes, 6 ♂ (3 in alcohol 96% and 2 dissected on slides): same data as for holotype .

Diagnosis. T. vonbeerensis Gualdrón-Diaz & Chani-Posse sp. n. differs from the other species of Tetradonia by the following combination of characters: pronotum with a carina near to posterior margin and four long macrosetae along lateral margin (the first two setae long and the others short); elytral surface weakly punctate with a thin ridge along the lateral margin; sternite III with a very short extension from posterior angle and tergite III with two macrosetae, tergite VII with 4+4 macrosetae in a small, raised area postero-laterally.

Description.

Measurements: LPL: 1.43; LEL: 2.42; HW: 0.80; HL: 0.62; AL: 2.81; PW: 0.79; PL: 0.72; EL: 0.46; TL: 0.03; NW: 0.31; EtW: 0.74; EtL: 0.99.

Body length, 4.53–5.25 mm ( Figs. 1–2 ). Yellowish-brown but head dark brown; pronotum with carina near to posterior margin; abdomen with long erect dark brown setae and short recumbent light brown setae; head, pronotum and elytra with short recumbent light brown setae; whole body shining.

Head capsule transverse (HW/HL = 1.29), as wide as pronotum at widest point (HW/PW = 1.01), surface smooth and glossy, covered with long thin recumbent light brown setae; eyes extremely large, occupying almost entire sides of head, notably much longer than temples (EL/TL=15.33) seen from above ( Fig. 1 ); antennae long, longer than head, pronotum and elytra combined (AL= 2.81mm) ( Fig. 3 ); all antennomeres longer than wide; antennomere 1 and 11 almost the same size; antennomeres 2–11 slightly wider at apex; scape widened medially; pedicel with apical area translucent; antennomere 10 short (0.16 mm), 2.37 x shorter than scape; last antennomere narrowed apically into a pointed apex.

Labrum transverse, 1.56 x as wide as long, with 18 setae on each side of midline, most of them on anterior half, lateral margins convex, anterior margin concave, and posterior margin nearly straight with two long apodemes ( Fig. 4 ); apico-medial margin of epipharynx not modified into setose or spinose process; basal region of epipharynx with four pores, medial region of epipharynx with approximately 28 pseudopores in an irregular array; lateral pores row extended to anterior 1/2–1/3 of epipharynx; labium with ligula bifid and short, apically rounded lobes; prementum with discal seta widely separated, medial pseudopore field with a few pseudopores near base, lateral pseudopore fields with two real pores and one setal pore; labial palpi 3-articled, first article long, subequal in length to 3, article 2 shorter in length, the first two articles bear several setae and some pores; mentum sub-trapezoidal, with 2 pseudopores, and several sensory pores primarily on each side of midline ( Fig. 5 ); mandibles nearly symmetrical, but right mandible with one large tooth, left mandible lacking teeth ( Fig. 6 ). Maxillae with galea elongate and densely setose at apex, lacinia elongate, longer and wider than galea, with some short setae near base, numerous long setae on middle third and densenly setose toward at apex; maxillary palpi with palpomere I tranverse and very short, palpomere II a bit longer than III, with few long setae, palpomere III a bit wider than II, with several long setae, apical palpomere much narrower, lacking setae ( Fig. 7 ).

Pronotum almost slightly wider than long (WP/LP= 1.09), distinctly margined; dorsal surface smoothly convex, with carina near to posterior margin ( Fig. 1 ), covered with short recumbent light brown setae; with two short macrosetae along anterior margin and four long macrosetae along lateral margin (the first two setae long and the others short); anterior margin straight to slightly sinuous on midline, angles rounded; lateral margins nearly straight, slightly constricted in posterior third; posterior margin slightly convex; hypomera visible in lateral view; elytra longer than pronotum (EL/PL= 1.37), weakly punctate, shining, covered with short recumbent light brown setae and without macrosetae ( Fig. 10 ), lateral margins broadly convex, with thin ridge along the lateral margins in dorsal view, and with anteromesial border densely scaled; hind wings fully developed, wing flabellum with 8 rays attached to short broad lobe ( Fig. 9 ). Mesoventrite with intercoxal process extremely short and broad; metaventral process longer than mesoventral process, ending in a V shape with the apex rounded.

Abdomen with tergite III–VI with two macrosetae; sternite III with very short extension from posterior angle ( Fig. 8a ); sternite IV with pair of gland reservoir on anterior margin ( Fig. 8 ); tergite VII ( Fig. 11 ) with 4 + 4 macrosetae on postero-laterally raised area, 8+8 macrosetae along apical margin, and with dense apical comb consisting of two types of teeth ( Fig. 11a ); tergite VIII ( Fig. 12 ) with four distinct processes on posterior margin, two on each side of longitudinal midline, 4+4 long macrosetae in raised area and several short macrosetae on lateral margin; sternite VIII as in Fig. 13 ; tergite and sternite IX ( Fig. 14 ) with 4 + 4 macrosetae on lateral lobes and 4 + 4 macrosetae and row of yellow fine setae at base on median lobe.

Male. Aedeagus elongated and sclerotized ( Fig. 15 ); parameres, as in Fig. 16 ; median lobe with bulbous base and apical portion gradually narrowed toward apex, with athetine bridge present ( Fig. 17 ).

Female. Unknown

Remarks. T. vonbeerensis is similar to T. alvarengai Borgmeier, 1959 sharing the presence of a thin ridge along the lateral margin of the elytra and eyes extremely large, occupying almost the entire sides of head. However, T. vonbeerensis can be distinguished from T. alvarengai by the number of macrosetae on the tergite III ( T. vonbeerensis has 2 macrosetae and T. alvarengai has 4) and tergite VII (4+4 against 3+3 respectively) as well as by having the posterior margin of outer paratergite III not extended, opposite to T. alvarengai where it is extended to form a long point.

Geographical distribution. The new species is only known from its type locality, San Antonio del Tequendama in Cundinamarca, Colombia .

Etymology. The specific epithet honors Dr. Christoph von Beeren, a distinguished staphylinologist, who has contributed to the study of various aspects of myrmecophile biology.

Natural history and habits. The specimens were collected using an UV light trap at 2221 m.a.s.l. The type locality, Reserva Chicaque, is located in the municipality of San Antonio del Tequendama , southwest of Bogotá, and is surrounded by high Andean Forest .

Figures

FIGURES 1–2. Tetradonia vonbeerensis sp. n., male holotype [MPUJ_ENT ©], (1) habitus dorsal; (2) habitus lateral.

FIGURES 3–7. Tetradonia vonbeerensis sp. n., male paratype [MPUJ_ENT ©], (3) antenna; (4) labrum, dorsal view; (5) labium and mentum, ventral view; (6) right and left mandibles respectively, ventral view; (7) maxilla, dorsal view.

FIGURES 8–17. Tetradonia vonbeerensis sp. n., male paratype [MPUJ_ENT ©], (8) abdominal sternites III–V, ventral view, white head rows showing sternite IV with a pair of gland reservoir on the anterior margin; (8a) paratergite and sternite III, lateral view, white head row showing sternite III with a short extension from posterior angle; (9) wing flabellum, numbers in the photo showing the number of rays; (10) elytron, dorsal view; (11) tergite VII with a dense comb on the posterior margin (11a); (12) tergite VIII; (13) sternite VIII; (14) tergite and sternite IX; (15) aedeagus, lateral view; (16) parameres, lateral view above and dorsal view below (17) median lobe, ventral view above, dorsal view middle and lateral view below.