Cylloepus reitteri Grouvelle, 1889

Monte, Cinzia & Mascagni, Alessandro, 2016, Redescriptions and lectotype designations for two neotropical Elminae (Coleoptera: Elmidae), Zootaxa 4175 (2), pp. 167-179 : 173-178

Cylloepus reitteri Grouvelle, 1889

( Figs 8–12)

Cylloepus reitteri Grouvelle 1889: 399 ; Zaitzev 1908: 298; Zaitzev 1910: 21; Blackwelder 1944: 271; Hinton 1945b: 52; Passos & Felix 2004: 183; Passos et al. 2009: 379; Sampaio et al. 2011: 58, 61, 62; Segura et al. 2012: 4 ; Segura et al. 2013: 15; Jäch et al. 2016: 38.

Status: Lectotype male herewith designated, housed in MNHN. The lectotype bears the following labels ( Fig. 8): “ Brésil / Blumenau [h], [w]”, “ ♂ [p]”, “ J. Delève det., 1966 / Cylloepus reitteri / Grouv. [p, h], [w]”.

Condition: The lectotype is damaged: last three tarsomeres of right medial leg and last four tarsomeres of right posterior leg are missing.

Diagnosis. This species may be distinguished from all other known Cylloepus species by the following combination of characters: 1) color pale brown, head dark brown; 2) pronotal disc with median longitudinal groove extending from anterior margin to base; 3) disc on basal third with sides of median groove forming two broadly convex, moderately elevated median ridges, narrower towards base and diverging toward but fading before anterior margin; surface of median ridges covered by long golden setae; 4) pronotum with sublateral carinae, moderately elevated, converging towards anterior margin, reaching it nearer to each other than on posterior margin; 5) each elytron with 6th and 8th intervals carinate, outer reaching declivity of elytra, inner slightly shorter; interval III more elevated on basal third, remaining intervals with dense small round granules and small punctures, each one with long golden seta; 6) pro-, meso- and metatibiae with single lateral fringe of tomentum; 7) last ventrite with medial longitudinal depression at apical margin, delimited by fringe of very long golden setae; 8) parameres tapering towards apex, reaching about apex of median lobe, base oblique and largely rounded, apex subtruncate, hardly spatulate and slightly bent downwards; 9) median lobe broad at base, laterally with long apophyses, tapering towards narrow, subacute apex, sides almost straight; in lateral view distinctly flattened just after mid-length, apically spatulate; 10) phallobase slightly longer than parameres.

Redescription. Cylloepus reitteri Grouvelle. Lectotype: Male ( Figs 9–12 ). BL: 3.3 mm, PL: 1.0 mm, PW: 1.1 mm, EL: 2.7 mm, EW: 1.4 mm, ID: 0.36. Males size range (n = 3): BL: 3.15‒3.2 mm, PL: 0.9‒0.95 mm, PW: 1.0‒ 1.02 mm, EL: 2.25‒2.35 mm, EW: 1.27‒1.3 mm, ID: 0.3‒0.35 mm.

Body sub-parallel. General color paler brown, head dark brown, antennae, mouthparts, and tarsi yellowishbrown; surface glossy, moderately covered by long, scattered golden setae.

Head. Partly retracted into prothorax, without distinct impressions. Surface densely granulate. Eyes laterally protruding. Antennae 11-segmented, filiform; first two basal segments thicker than remaining ones; segments 8‒10 with golden setae distally on lateral margin; apical segment long. Labrum short, surface glossy with some short golden setae. Clypeus sub-rectangular; frontoclypeal suture distinct. Frons densely granulate, with round coarse granules and dense, long golden setae.

Thorax. Pronotum about as wide as long, anterior edge narrower than posterior one; maximum width slightly behind mid-length; anterior margin convex, anterior angles produced, acute, posterior ones slightly acute; base trisinuate. Sublateral carinae extending from base to anterior margin, these converging towards anterior margin, reaching it nearer to each other than on posterior margin; moderately elevated, stronger on basal third. Disc with median longitudinal groove extending from anterior margin to base, very faint anteriorly, deeper and broader in middle, narrower and shallower basally. Disc on basal third with sides of median groove forming two broadly convex, moderately elevated median ridges, narrower towards base and diverging toward but fading before anterior margin; surface of median ridges covered by long golden setae. Prebasally, surface between sublateral carinae and median ridges with slightly oblique depression followed by very feeble sub-circular elevation. Pronotal surface with dense coarse granules, each with long golden setae, but smooth and glossy with very sparse granules on subcircular elevations and basal portion of pronotum. Elytra more than twice as long as pronotum; nearly parallelsided; lateral margin slightly crenulated and covered by long golden setae; anterior margin convex; humeral angles broadly rounded; apex slightly produced and broadly rounded. Each elytron with ten striae formed by row of coarse, well separated punctures ( Fig. 9 ). Intervals slightly convex, flattened towards apex; 6th and 8th intervals carinate, outer reaching to declivity of elytra, inner slightly shorter; 3th interval more elevated on basal third. Elytral surface with dense small round granules and small punctures, each one with long golden seta. Scutellum heartshaped. Prosternum ( Fig. 10 ) distinctly produced anteriorly, in lateral view with anterior two-thirds slightly bent downwards; surface densely granulate with short, stout golden setae; prosternal process slightly longer than wide, granulate; apical and lateral margins feebly elevated; surface feebly depressed but slightly raised medially; apex slightly obtuse. Hypomera wrinkled and tomentose. Mesoventrite ( Fig. 10 ) deeply grooved medially for reception of prosternal process; groove narrower anteriorly, largely rounded posteriorly. Metaventrite ( Fig. 10 ) with wide, deep longitudinal medial groove in entire length; disc and sides with coarse, round, dense granules, areas between granules strongly wrinkled and with short, stout golden setae; sides of metaventrite tomentose. Legs thin, covered by dense, oblong granules, each one with long golden seta. Pro-, meso- and metatibiae with single lateral fringe of tomentum extending from about middle to nearly tip. Tibiae straight, with a pair of apical spines at posterior margin. Hind tarsi elongate nearly as long as tibiae. Distally all tarsomeres except the most distal, with short, stout golden setae on ventral surface.

Abdomen ( Fig. 10 ). First ventrite with admedian carinae originating near hind coxae from lateral margins of intercoxal process and almost reaching posterior margin of ventrite. Between admedian carinae and lateral margins raised of intercoxal process, an area plane, glossy with few, round, superficial punctures, each with long golden setae; rest of ventrite entirely tomentose. Ventrite II medially plane, covered by few coarse, round punctures, each with long golden seta; rest of ventrite tomentose. Ventrites III‒IV like II. Last ventrite with medial longitudinal depression at apical margin, delimited by fringe of very long golden setae; posterolateral margins slightly produced.

Genitalia. Length: 0.8 mm. Parameres in dorsal view ( Fig. 11 ) tapering towards apex, reaching about apex of median lobe, base oblique and largely rounded with internal angle slightly rounded, apex subtruncate, hardly spatulate and slightly bent downwards; in lateral view ( Fig. 12 ) gradually narrowed towards apex. Penis in dorsal view ( Fig. 11 ) broad at base, laterally with long apophyses, tapering towards narrow, subacute apex, sides almost straight; in lateral view ( Fig. 12 ) distinctly flattened just after mid-length, apically spatulate and bent downwards. Phallobase ( Figs 11, 12 ) slightly longer than parameres, in dorsal view broad, fairly asymmetrical, in lateral view moderately flattened, with no constriction.

Female. Unknown.

Intraspecific variation. The examined specimens show no significant morphological variability.

Comparative notes. Grouvelle’s original description lacks definitive characters for identifying Cylloepus reitteri . Until today, all the characters that were generally used to distinguish this species from the other Cylloepus species were those published by Hinton (1945) in his paper “A Synopsis of the Brazilian species of Cylloepus ”. In his paper Hinton quote some detailed characters, all based on two specimens of Cylloepus reitteri : “a male from Rio de Janeiro (J.W.Miers) and a female from the Miers’ collection in the Oxford University Museum”. Hinton writes that the male specimen “has been identified by Grouvelle and bears a name-label in his handwriting”. The following characters are from his paper: “Both sexes have a short, acute, ventrally-directed spine on the middle of the anterior prosternal margin, and both have an acute spine on the distal fourth of the ventral margin of the hind trochanter”. When Hinton compare the sexes writes that the female differs from the male as follow: … “(2) the side of the metasternal disk is gibbous, but there is here an very prominent and sharply circumscribed gibbosity as in the male; (3) the disk of the second abdominal sternites is not depressed, whereas in the male the anterior half of the disk has a broad and shallow but distinct median depression; (4) the fifth abdominal sternite is more or less horizontal and has a broad, deep, longitudinal, navicular depression on anterior half, whereas in the male the apex of the fifth sternite is strongly declivous and there is no distinct longitudinal depression; …and (6) the tibiae are shorter and the middle tibiae are not distinctly curved near apex”.

To our examination none of these characters, referring to male specimens, has been found in the type series, and therefore, we believe that the two specimens studied by Hinton are not Cylloepus reitteri and one of them is incorrectly labelled. All characters that we have listed in “Diagnosis” for Cylloepus reitteri , taken together, it distinguished from all other species of Cylloepus .

Type series. Cylloepus reitteri Grouv. : Lectotype: see above. Paralectotypes: 1 ♂, “ Brésil [h]”, “ ♂ [p]”, “ J. Delève det., 1966 / Cylloepus reitteri / Grouv. [p, h], [w]” ; 1 ♂, “ Blumenau / Brésil . mer [the next word illegible], [h], [yellowish label]”, “♂ [p]”, “J. Delève det., 1966 / Cylloepus reitteri / Grouv. [p, h], [w]; 1 ♂, “ Blumenau / Brésil [h]”, “ ♂ [p]”, “Prépar. genit. / N° 28666.4 [p, h], [reddish label] [the genitalia are missing]”, “ J. Delève det., 1966 / Cyll. reitteri Gr. [p, h], [w]”.

Remarks. The description of this taxon was based on an unspecified number of male specimens from “ Brésil: Blumenau ”. The examined type series of Cylloepus reitteri consists of 4 males, all slightly damaged, one of them without genitalia.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Lectotype male of Cylloepus reitteri: habitus, dorsal view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURE 10. Lectotype male of Cylloepus reitteri: habitus, ventral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 11 – 12. Lectotype male of Cylloepus reitteri: 9) male genitalia, dorsal view; 10) male genitalia, lateral view. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.